1997 Pontiac Grand Am review from North America

The envy of my friends when I pulled into my driveway with my new car caused an immeasurable sense of satisfaction. I have since regretted having that feeling, God must have seen my satisfaction and decided to teach me a lesson. God proceeded to push the self-destruct button on my car.

At first it appeared to be a very appealing site with lots of little convenient buttons to make my life easier. It has a sporty look and I love it’s sunroof.

I do not remember in what order some of the following problems occurred, but I know that most of them still exist.

I recall driving when my dashboard lit up and the car died in the middle of nowhere. My alternator needed to be replaced oh…. and the battery goes right with the alternator too. After replacing both, my window progressively moved up and down slower and slower until it would only move down. I eventually got it to go back up where it remains to this day. This is not a convenient problem when Chicago has more tollbooths then I can fathom. Since I need to physically open my door now to pay I gave my car yet another opportunity to embarrass me. The door decided it was not going to close any more after I paid a toll in Chicago traffic. After looking stupid trying to close my door on the side of a toll way for about 10 minutes, where people continuously honked at me, I had to drive home while holding my door closed. My passenger window is starting to go now.

Oh…that sunroof that I loved so much stopped functioning after about a month.

At first I figured out a way to grip my radio knob to where I would have at least a fifty percent chance of it doing what I want. (Slightly pulling on it while turning it) This trick no longer works along with its ability to play 95% of any CDs. The radio constantly is ejecting CDs. The words are all rubbed of everything and the clock occasionally displays satanic symbols instead of time.

The plastic grid piece that covers the driver side speaker decided to fall off so I kept it in a plastic pocket in the driver side door molding until I can get it fixed. The molding is now starting to detach from the door.

The carpeting on the driver side is shot as well as the carpeting in the trunk. I only get to see this carpeting when I am changing the many tire blowouts I have had. I don’t understand how the carpet in the trunk wears because I rarely put anything in it.

Other small things that bother me that are not worth fixing includes the plastic piece that covers a seatbelt mechanism is M.I.A. My lighter does not work any more, the 12-15 rapid clicks that seem to come from the passenger airbag, my rattling window, the driver side mirror adjuster is broken courtesy of the dealer while investigating my window motor, my horn may or may not work when pressed, my rotors are warped which makes stopping an adventure in itself, and the chipping paint. It was not to long ago that I came to my car to find the adhesive gave out that holds my rear view mirror on the windshield.

My neighbor is a mechanic and replaced my MAP sensor yesterday after informing me of having bad spark- plug wires and that a pump somewhere under the hood it spitting fluid up and onto the hood underside. My neighbor was able to borrow the computer that hooks up to diagnose problems, one of the many reasons my check engine light is on is because the computer has determined that the transmission is slipping. I had the oil changed yesterday and the receipt informed me that I have an oil leak.

I really did like this car for a while, I don’t beat on it and maintain it regularly. After just very recently discovering that I have a very normal 97 Grand AM. I get to look forward to the almost certain water pump failure and necessary belt replacement.

If I won the lottery I would purposely drive my car into a large tree to put it out of it’s own misery. It only has around 100K miles I give it another 15 miles before I find my next headache.

It is a great car to drive down the highway if you don’t mind having the entire dashboard moderately shaking at you (This only occurs at 75-80MPH and only sometimes) and if you love surprises and looking like an ass on the side of the road you can buy mine from me.