2000 Pontiac Grand Am SE from North America - Comments

I have had my 2000 Pontiac Grand Am SE for just a couple of months. The night I bought it, it started making a noise in the front end. It was very loud and made the car sound like a piece of crap. I had to take the car back to the dealer 4 times, each time they thought they fixed it the noise continued. I kind of just gave up on it. About a week after I bought it, the brakes needed replacement. Here it is, about 2000 miles later, they are starting to make a grinding noise again. About 3 weeks after I bought it, the driver side window motor broke, that was replaced under warranty. About a month after I bought it, the "Service Vehicle Soon" light came on. That worried me quite a bit; its usually something serious. The light kept going on and off, and one night as I turned my high beams on, my headlights flickered and then the Vehicle light came back on. This confirms that the problem is electrical and not the engine, which was a pretty big relief for me. Now, the blinkers sometimes don't work, and I have to turn my Hazards on for a second to get them to work. This makes no sense, but I can deal with it. I can't get the "Trac Off" light to turn off and the "ABS" light stays on all the time as well. I don't understand, I have never locked my breaks up yet the light is always on. To this day, my Service Vehicle light remains on at all times, but since I know it is nothing serious, I don't worry about it.

Over all I like the car, most of the bugs seem to be worked out and the only thing I am worried about now is the brakes needing replacement. This is a very nice looking car and I have a custom paint job (metallic blue) so it is very nice looking. I love the interior.

The 4 Cyl. 2.4 Twin Cam has more acceleration and overall power than my previous car which had a 3.0 Liter V6, and it's pretty noticeable. I test drove a Grand Am 3.4 Liter V6 Ram Air, and only has 25 more horsepower than my 4 cyl 2.4 Liter. The better engine's power and acceleration was barely better than mine, it was almost unnoticeable. This is the most powerful 4 banger I have ever owned, and the power surpassed my last car which was a 3.0 V6. This car handles very well and has very quick response. I love this car and none of the problems are serious, so they don't bother me.

I have 1999 Pontiac Grand Am SE (4 Cyl. 2.4 Twin Cam). The "Service Vehicle Soon" light came on today. I'm a student and I cannot afford a major car repair right now. In your review you said that you ignored this light and it remains on all the time. I was wondering did anything happen since you wrote this review?

I'm thinking to postpone the repair until next month when I have extra cash in my hand.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Four things:

1. As far as your brakes go, tell whoever is fixing them (and I hope it's not a dealership because they should know better and probably do) that GM has a bulletin regarding the brakes on the 2000+ Grand Ams regarding their rotors calipers. There angled in such a way that they eat the rotor away very quickly (GM rotors are thin to begin with). I've got 75000 on my Grand Am and have replaced the rotors (the original ones before I had the calipers fixed) once.

2. If your hazard and turn signals are still wigging out, there's actually a recall on the hazard signal relay. Bring it to the dealer and have them replace it (I figured that one out LONG before the recall and had it replaced right after I bought the car in 2001).

3. The Service Vehicle soon light usually means you have a headlight out or your daytime running lights are out. Mine's on now too and I'm working on figuring it out.

4. You don't seem to have this problem (yet) but have them check the air intake on your car. There's a fix for that too (bad seal). If it has not been fixed, have it fixed otherwise your fan blower motor will get corroded.

I gotta hand it to GM, they like to keep me busy. To be fair, all of the problems above have been relatively easy to fix and have cost me under $1000 over the past 3 years (the rotors being the bulk of that). I just treat it as an adventure.

ABS and Trac Off Lights come on in a pair, and will usually cause the Service Vehicle Soon light to come on. These vehicles are known for the front wheel speed sensors causing the three lights to come on. Their flaw is that they usually get dirty and have rust build up on them. If you clean up the rust, the light should go off. If that doesn't work, have it check out to find out which sensor is causing the problem. Only problem is that they have to be replaced with the entire hub assembly which will set you back a few bucks.

The service vehicle soon light in a 2000+ Grand Am has nothing to do with changing your oil, it has a "change engine oil" light for that. The SVS light is a body error, usually referring to a headlight or other light being out, however there are other things that cause this light to come on. Normal scan tools will not read these codes, so autozone can't help you. These codes must be read by a GM tech II scan tool. I have heard that some high end scanners may read body codes but I am not familiar with any that do.

If you have a SVS light on (not SES, ABS, or trac off) and all your lights are working, then you will probably have to take it to a dealer to have the body codes read, which will probably cost you $80 just to have them plug in the scanner. I am trying to find a list of all the things that could cause a SVS light but have not found one yet. Until I do, my SVS light will just have to stay on 'cause I'm not paying $80 when my car runs fine.