1997 Pontiac Grand Am review from North America

Very few over entire life of vehicle. The one's I recall are:

1) Radio volume control knob has a mind of its own, @ 50,000 miles.

2) Radio display illumination went out @ 75,000 miles.

3) Replaced original battery at 80,000 miles (which is not normal I suppose)

4) Received a recall notice on a bad ignition switch, but never took it in for replacement because my switch was fine.

5) Recent major headache - water pump!! I haven't done the job yet, but it looks like half the engine must be disassembled to get to the pump.

Can someone please tell the engineers over at Pontiac to join the 21st century and check under the heading of 'Maintainability' in their textbooks?

This is going to cost a bundle - and that's presupposing that I don't bungle anything doing this job in my driveway!

In spite of the above items, I'd buy this car again all day long. I put all 100,000 miles on it, and do not have any reservations over the performance, reliability, comfort or maintenance.

Some of the service history, most of which was done by me:

1) Changed the oil at 3,000 miles very faithfully.

2) Checked all the other fluids, rarely added any, never serviced transmission - very good up-shifting, and no slippage.

3) Replaced front brakes a couple of times, replaced rather than turned original rotors since they we beginning to flutter, got very good length of use from original and replacement pads.

4) This car doubles as a pick up truck for me - hauls all kinds of iron and tools in the trunk, and often in the passenger compartment. The suspension must be made of Krypton! Interior has held up very well.

5) Very good traction, handling, good turning radius and steering geometry, very good in snow.

6) I ran USED tires all around from 60,000 to 100,000 miles, with very good performance (lately have been replacing them with new rubber, just to avoid the hassles of keeping an eye on them).

Overall? Good unit, but this water pump thing has me a little perplexed. Will let you know how it goes with the replacement. I hope the local parts store guys have all the answers for me!