1999 Pontiac Grand Am GT from North America - Comments

We have bought a Grand Am GT 1999 for our son 16 yrs old about a month ago from a second owner of the car... he said there were no problems that he knows of..but it started leaking fluid after about 2weeks of us buying it, now it is in the shop being looked at and they said so far it is not the water pump (they said it has a new water pump on it) hmmmmm... and they are still looking to see where the leak is coming from... but reading all these comments on here... not sure what is is going to be. Really hope it is not bad news as of some of these stories... cause he really likes his car and is proud of it, him being 16 and all... well, guess we will found out soon... Arab AL.

I have a 99 Grand Am. The front two windows need regulators as well as the rear passenger window. The air/ heat will not work on setting one or two. I have to use everything on setting three and just adjust my vents & hot/cold air temp. Recently I have been experiencing my battery not charging & when I try to crank it the trunk pops open. I automatically thought it was the alternator because it has been replaced twice, thank goodness it wasn't.

Hello.

I also bought a 99 pontiac grand am se brand new. I did not have any problems with the car until 2001. New breaks, etc.

Then the alternator went out. Then the water pump, then I needed a new battery. My left strut snapped. My radio knob doesn't know if its going up or down. The screen doesn't work either. And now my power steering pump just went completely out. I don't know hard that is to remove or the cost of repair. I should have never bought a pontiac. I should have bought a CHEVY like I had before...

Well. I recently bought a 99 Pontiac Grand Am GT from a personal party. I only paid a couple thousand for the car, so that's not too bad. Although I have only had it for about a month now, and the problems do not stop.

First it started with both front windows not rolling down at all, totally stuck, then the passenger window suddenly fell in the door.

Another major problem; the blinkers rarely ever want to work. I have to push on a couple wires in the dashboard to get them to work.

My steering wheel stays very crooked.

I hear a ticking noise in the dashboard.

The check engine light is always on.

The hood lever is broken so I have to open the hood from the front of the car.

The dashboard lights occasionally choose to work.

No stereo, no speakers!

Front windshield is cracked also.

Car overheats sometimes because the fans have to be turned on manually by connecting the red wire with the blue wire.

Gas tank had a hole in it, so my boyfriend had to fix that immediately, cost $165 to get a new one. Lucky my boyfriend's a mechanic!

And last, but definitely not least, we just had to replace the left front brake pads and brake, because we were driving and the car started making a terrible grinding sound, especially when started braking, that was really really scary.

I love the look of this car, it is gorgeous, but so many problems, I'm scared that it's not gonna last me much longer.

My wife and I bought a 1999 Grand Am GT from a private party around July of 2006. It had 100,000 plus miles on it. Shortly thereafter, we noticed a grinding noise each time we hit the brakes. $700 dollars later, we have four new rotors and lifetime brakes. The blinker sounds like its blinking even though the turn signals not applied. It's always a gamble whether or not the driver-side window will roll down. Sometimes it will, sometimes it won't! The volume knob does the opposite of whatever you want it to do. The fan only works on settings 4 and 5. We just found out that oil leaks into the coolant and vice versa so the car is in the shop right now getting the air intake gasket replaced along with the coils, and now a leaky fuel filter. Goodbye $1400! Last, but not least, at highway speeds, the steering wheel shakes. Let's just hope it's only a matter of balancing the tires!

Pontiac owners Anonymous.

We are paying on a 1999 Pontiac Grand Am GT. It is nice and would be great to keep.

We have replaced brakes, rotor, and hub assemblies in the front.

The blinker still makes a noise even when off.

The radio turns up when I want it to go down, or down when I want it to go up.

We also have to turn the heater on to keep it from overheating in idle or during the summer; not sure what that is and how hot the engine is really supposed to be.

Would it be OK to take out the thermostat? If you have any ideas please reply.

After reading the other comments, I can hardly believe how many people are having the exact same problems with the same make and model of vehicle.

1. Let's start with the power windows. My back two windows no longer work and my two front windows are showing signs of the same problem. A person cannot just ignore the problem since the windows fall when the part breaks. As of yet, I have not replaced the defective parts, so I have had to tape them up.

2. Next, let's address the wonderful clicking noise that appeared one day out of the blue. It sounds as if the hazard lights are continuously on.

3. Oh, let's not forget the volume control on the radio. A person needs to exercise caution when turning the radio down because it has a mind of its own and might just blast your ear drums.

4. On a hot day, the clock and radio dial completely disappear or decide to go spastic and display all kinds of weird images.

5. Cheap plastic parts have fallen off all inside the interior of the car: the clothes hanger, the seat belt cover, the cup holder, etc.

6. One of my outside mirrors fell off and has had to be permanently attached with a screw.

7. I have had to replace my alternator. (Everything under the hood looks as though the intent of the design was to see how difficult it could be made when it comes time to fix it.)

8. Adding coolant is just as common as filling the tank with gas.

9. My service engine soon light stays on, but I have no idea what the problem is.

I can ignore the cosmetic problems if I have to, but the coolant problem and the possible engine problems scare me. I have always maintained my car well. I bought it used with around 40,000 miles and it only has 80,000 now. I can only imagine the trouble I will have down the line.

Is there nothing that can be done when so many people seem to be experiencing the same defects?

I own a 1999 Grand Am SE 6 cylinder automatic. I have owned it 5 plus years and it now has about 120000 miles on it. I have had all of the problems everyone else has had, and some. Now there is a new problem that I haven't seen much on forums. When I start the car and let it run for a minute, sometimes it starts to "chug" and shake and then it will kill. If I go to drive it right away before all of this, the rpm meter will be bouncing up and down without me giving it gas and if I do give it gas, it will be as if I'm not or it will accelerate a little bit without me giving gas. Finally, it may kill after all of this at a stop sign or a red light. The crazy thing is that once it warm up, say 3 miles of driving or so, the problems disappear and it drives mostly normal. What in the heck could it be, any takers?

Wow, I have to laugh at all the people having the exact same problems as me. My wife bought our '99 G/A SE (AT, 4-cyl) in 2004 before we met and now I am stuck driving it to work and making repairs. For the record, I would never buy this car, because my dad has told me that Pontiacs are POS since as long as I can remember.

It has 170K miles. (Anyone make it to 200K?)

Major problems:

- The ignition broke and my wife got stuck in a parking lot because the key wouldn't turn. Cost $300 or more to replace the steering column.

- Power steering pump and lines leaked and had to be replaced a year ago. Now its leaking again and the pump or rack may need replacing.

- Dexcool Coolant slowly disappearing... after reading the comments on this site, I'm a little worried.

- Slow oil leak, to be expected I suppose.

- Clutch is starting to go. The car vibrates a lot when idling in gear.

Small Problems:

- Serpentine belt keeps breaking.

- AC #1 and #2 settings don't work.

- Radio volume knob has a mind of it's own.

- Water infiltration onto the passenger side carpet, which makes a lovely stench during the winter time.

- Radio display sometimes doesn't work and displays weird characters. I found that cleaning the battery leads helps with this. (The battery was briefly loosing connection during starting, causing all sorts of electrical problems and false warning lights to come on.)

- The previous owner broke the headlight mounts trying to replace the bulbs. So the entire headlight assembly pops out every once in a while and the car looks cross-eyed.

- Turn signal does not work in below-freezing temperatures.

Also, after refueling the car, it takes about 6 seconds of cranking the starter before the engine starts... like the engine is getting flooded or something.

I hate this car, but I guess I should feel lucky that I haven't had more major problems yet. (Luckily, mine doesn't have power windows.) Next time my G/A takes a dump, I'll buy a new car instead of trying to fix this poorly engineered POS. Too many people seem to be flushing their money down the toilet! I'll feel kinda bad selling it to someone else. Maybe I should just destroy it so no one else has to suffer.

Actually my neighbor currently has 215,000 miles on his 2000 Grand AM, my brother's friend finally retired his 1999 at 267,000, and in nearly 8 years now my 2001 SE-1 has had not a single repair except a set of front brake pads at 70,000 miles (the back linings are still original and still not worn out).

My experience has been that 99% of the problems people are reporting with the Grand Am are due to lack of maintenance or abuse. In every case I've known of those flimsy window clips failing, it has been caused by slamming the door violently. Most of the other problems on here I have never heard about personally from anyone owning a Grand Am.

I have noticed that the old "quad 4" engines seem to be far more reliable in the long run than the V-6. My car and the two I mentioned are all the Quad 4.

I just wanted to post a response to the last poster who claimed that most of the problems reported by others on this site were due to lack of maintenance or neglect. I find that amusing, as I religiously had my oil changed, tires rotated, etc. I still had just about every problem that has been listed on this site. Most of the issues appear to be with the 3.4L V6 engine. I finally retired my 1999 Grand Am after I had just shelled out $1900 to have the lower intake manifold gasket replaced for the second time, along with all of the hoses from the cooling system. I then had to replace the power steering pump and then my engine threw in the towel at 175,000 miles. I traded (put out of its misery) the engine-less car in for $300 and a free tow to the Saturn dealership. This car was a certified POS, and should have never been manufactured by Pontiac!

Why couldn't I have read all of your comments about the lovely pontiac grand am before I went out searching high and low for that car that I love so much. I have a 2002 grand am gt coupe I purchased the car almost three weeks ago and from the first day I had two small problems and I hope that don't get as bad as what I've been reading. from day one I had to get my front driver side strut fixed but I'm happy to say that the dealer that I got the car from replaced it for "free". but all of a sudden now when I drive it sounds like my front driver side tired is wobbling I'm scared to drive it in a far distance so I only go to work and back home but if anyone else has had this problem can you please let me know what was causing the problem before I take it to the shop and they want to charge me an arm and leg just to look at it and who knows how much it will cost to fix it.

To 2:57:

It sounds like you could have a wheel out of balance or perhaps a wheel bearing is starting to go. Does the steering wheel shake when you get to around 60mph (100km/h)? If so, it is most likely a balancing issue. If it tends to make noise at lower speeds, then it is probably a wheel bearing. Your best bet is to take it in for a free estimate. If it is a balance issue then your in luck, they're generally about $20 or so.

Good Luck,

I have a 1999 Pontiac Grand AM GT and have had it for almost three years now. About a month after I bought it, the alternator went out. About a year ago, it overheated and the temperature gauge went all the way up and the red light came on. When I was getting it fixed, they replaced the water pump and the thermostat. It seemed to run fine for about a month and ever since then it keeps running hot. I have tried to get it fixed twice, but noone seems to know why it is overheating. I have had two water pumps, three different thermostats and two radiator caps. It doesn't seem to be a cracked head or anything... at least that's what I'm told. I am tired of spending money and keep having the same problems. I have also had the radiator flushed to make sure all the junk is out of the radiator, not making any obstructions. Recently my coolant has nasty brownish looking crap all in it (it used to have dex-cool in it, but I had that flushed out and had the regular green stuff put in it). But I have no idea why this nasty stuff is showing up in my coolant.

I have lights go out on my car all the time. A few times my car has decided to not start and the security light comes on... whatever that means. Something on the inside of my driver side door cracked and now my car makes an annoying pop everytime I open it. This has actually caused part of the front end of my car to shift forward... my headlight is starting to pop out and the stripping around my windshield is falling off.

My brakes are horrible. I have had the brakes/rotars changed twice in two years and they sound horrible ALL the time. I feel like it does not stop correctly and it's a little scary on the highway.

The alloy rims suck! Air will never ever stay in my tires. They leak all the time and that stupid check tire pressure light comes on and it's just a pain in the butt. I have to put air in my tires about every three or four days and it gets really low... like 20 pounds of pressure low! crazy! If I don't keep up with putting air in it, my car feels so out of control when I am driving, it's scary.

I love my car... when it's not having problems. I am so tired of all of the little things I have to deal with over and over. It's annoying and frustrating. I can't wait to get a new car!!!

To shut off dash warning lights, turn the key on (accessory) position and off in rapid succession, and leave it on the fifth time; it won't shut off the oil change light though; to do that turn ignition to on as above, but only once, and leave on and within the first five seconds fully depress and release the gas pedal 3 times and wait 10 seconds; voila!!!