9th Mar 2003, 03:34
An alternator and water pump $1100? At Auto Zone the Alternator costs about $120 with life time warranty. The water pump is less than $20. I think you must have a very wealthy repairman if he can make over $1000 for 2 hours work.
18th Mar 2003, 10:14
I have a 1997 Pontiac Grand Am, Gold. I brought this car with only 20,000 miles on it. I have had to replace the alternator, water pump and the coil pack. The quote that I did get for changing my water pump was 800.00 dollars. I have had my car for going on four years, and nothing really major besides those things I mentioned at the top have went wrong. I can truly say my car is doing great.
5th Apr 2003, 09:55
Worst car I have every owned! I had the same "death-trap" experience on a 1996 Grand Am I bought new. Right from the beginning the computer had a thermal intermittent that would cause it to stop randomly (usually in the middle of an intersection or in a freeway on-ramp). Since it only happened every few months and the problem would go away after 20 minutes, Pontiac's service dept claimed I had no problem and Pontiac headquarters refused to do anything about it. Needless do say, my wife drove one of our older vehicles. The computer started to fail consistently 2 weeks after the warranty ended; but Pontiac did finally replace this since the ugly history had been on its service record many times. This was only the beginning of endless problems. The car is poorly designed (water pump is an example) and poorly made. It is like a cheap toy. This is the last GM car I will ever own!
15th Apr 2003, 05:57
I'm just disgusted with my 1997 Grand Am. First few years are ok, then everything goes. Maybe bad years for the line, but I'm staying away from similar GM products in the future to be sure. I've had similar electrical problems that come and go on their own and some behaviors are simply bizarre. I replace my alternator about as much as my oil and the window motor mounting rivets broke off on driver and front passenger doors. The ABS light comes on for no apparent reason and basically kills the battery (never see a battery light either) only to act fine for a time before freaking again. On one of these episodes, I had the accelerator decide to climb to 6,000 rpm on it's own in park. You can plan on getting your key stuck a few times. You can lose power at any speed and have the steering lock. This car is a complete hassle and a potential death trap.
15th Jun 2003, 09:10
I've had almost every motor go wrong on this car. I have already replace the drivers side window motor, am currently working on the sun roof motor, and the passenger side window motor is about ready to go. and all at 66000 miles.
15th Aug 2003, 13:42
My girlfriend has a 1997 Grand Am and I have become it's caretaker. When it was new she had constant front brake problems (solved by installing none OEM rotors). At about 60,000 miles the water pump went. It's the four cylinder model, so yeah it was in excess of $600 to repair. The A/C blower motor has gone twice. Now at 120,000 miles the water pump is gone again. Thinking about trying the fix this time myself. All I can say is GM must be consistent. Each water pump lasted almost exactly 60,000 miles. I joked to the service manager that it was strange that GM started putting coolant designed to last 100,000 miles in a car with a pump that wouldn't pump it for more than 60,000.
8th Sep 2003, 15:26
I just bought a 97 Grand am SE in March of 2003. On April 1 I made the mistake of using the emergency brake while parked on a hill. I could not get my car to shift from park and the ABS, emergency park light and check engine light came on. We finally got it to drive and the car felt like it was dragging and the RP-M's were really high. The problem was a fuse that kept blowing every time I shifted it from park. Finally last month I took it to an electrical shop and they "fixed the problem". One week after that my ABS light came back on and now the battery is dead. So Far I've spent more time on a city bus than driving my car.
19th Oct 2003, 10:26
My girlfriend also owns a 97 Grand Am GT, and it has had most of the same problems. The alternator has gone out once going up a very steep canyon, leaving her stranded; and now it has just gone out again! Alternators should never go out, there must be something in the wiring? Also her passangers side power door lock went out several months ago. So far the "dying" problem has not come, and for her sake, I pray it never will.
14th Nov 2004, 10:27
I recently purchased a 1997 Grand AM with the 4 cylinder. I have a huge problem with the car that I cannot figure out. The car starts for about a second and a half then dies immediately. It will not start again without turning the ignition off then back on. Any help is appreciated. Any ideas? Please e-mail me at japhaxer@hotmail.com.
13th Aug 2002, 21:24
Have you ever heard of the "Lemon Law"..? You didn't mention what kind of driving conditions you subjected the car to... I have heard of the window problem - My '91 Grand Am's windows don't work and they're not power either; But, That AC system still impresses people even after 135,000 miles. It's red and I bought it two years ago with 58,000 miles for $1600 and now I'm Buying a '96 GT with 60,000 for $4500 - This has been the most problem free car I have found.