2004 Pontiac Grand Am SE 2 from North America - Comments

I used to own a 1998 Nissan maxima, however, I found it to be a money eater. Every month I had to fix this fix that. The car for it's age only had 45000 miles on it. However, when driving it you would think that it had 200,000 miles on it. The transmission was starting to slip when my parents gave it to me at 30,000 miles. The car might have been garage, but it was a piece of crap. And to get anything repaired on it cost an arm and a leg.

I currently own a 2004 Grand Am se2 it is a amazing car that is very reliable and fun to drive. I haven't had a single problem with it. And since its still under warranty until 80,000 miles. I'll think I will be okay. Also it looks better and is faster. I don't know about what other people say. But this car is awesome, and if you hate your car well it hates you. ALL VEHICLES WILL HAVE THEIR PROBLEMS THAT IS TO BE EXPECTED SOME MORE THAN OTHERS, but IF YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT SCIENCE AND NATURE U MUST KNOW THAT EVERY OBJECT OF MATTER BEGINS TO BREAK DOWN IF THERE IS NO ENERGY BEING PUT BACK INTO THAT MATTER. IN SHORT TAKE OF YOUR CAR AND IT WILL LAST!!

I own a 1998 Nissan Maxima SE and find it to be an excellent car. Passengers often tell how they enjoy the ride, rather it is a quick 10 minute ride or 4 hour road trip. With over 160k miles, a major accident, it has had no major mechanical repairs due to faulty manufacturing. The lights on the dash board go in and out, but after six years with no major maintenance problems, I am hooked on Nissan Maximas! What a beauty!

I am the proud owner of a 2004 Grand Am SE and find it to be an excellent car. I am glad to hear that you are so pleased with your car.

I can't blame you for getting rid of your Nissan. As a brand they are rife with problems. Just look at the newest (2004) JD Power ratings for problems with new vehicles. Your Pontiac outscored Nnissan, BMW, Volkswagen, and a number of others.

Since you have a later model Grand Am I wouldn't be worried about mechanical problems as you clearly are. The Grand Am is one of GM's biggest success is the midsize passenger car market. They sold these things like they were going out of style. Therefore Out of the millions of cars they sold some would have problems. Like many manufacturers, the first year ones (especially the '99) had some hiccups as they were working the bugs out. By 2004 the car is basically bomb proof and the issues have been taken car of. IF you have a good dealership then none of this should be a problem for you.

Those who post reviews on this sight are passionate about the cars they own. The reviews of this vehicle are even split between those who are thrilled with it and those who say it has been unreliable. So out of the hundreds of thousands of owners of this car, 973 have taken the time out of their lives to review it. Of those, 462 have had problems and the same number are thrilled. That's not so bad in my opinion.

I own a 2004 Pontiac Grand Am SE2 with a V6, and the car is nice. The car has good handling, and its fast. I love my car to death. I didn't have problems with my car yet. Whoever though about making a grand am, they came up with a great idea. What I love most about this car is the performance. This car will get up. I 've raced it aganist a malibu, honda, maxima, altima, madza, and haven't loss a race yet. I really love this car.

I own a 2004 Pontiac Grand Am SE2 with a V6, and the car is nice. The car has good handling, and its fast. I love my car to death. I didn't have problems with my car yet. Whoever though about making a grand am, they came up with a great idea. What I love most about this car is the performance. This car will get up. I 've raced it aganist a malibu, honda, maxima, altima, madza, and haven't loss a race yet. I really love this car.

It's such a tragedy that Pontiac dropped the sporty, great selling Grand Am and replaced it with the boring and plain G-6. I've driven the G-6, and in addition to being ugly as sin, the V-6 model was actually SLOWER than my 4-cylinder Grand Am SE-1. I fear Pontiac will soon follow Olds to that big car heaven in the sky. Their motto used to be "We build excitement". Now a more appropriate slogan would be "We build BORING."

I'm happy to see that more people are waking up to the myth that Japanese cars are so much better than American cars. We've owned cars from all US makers as well as Japanese and German cars, and I can assure you, the very WORST we owned were Japanese, followed very closely by the one German car (Volkswagen) that we owned. NOT ONE of our American cars has ever had a major problem, including some that went over 200,000 trouble-free miles. We are nearing our 60's and have owned a LOT of cars over the years, being a three-car family most of that time. The best car we have ever owned is one of the ones we currently own: A 2001 Grand Am.

I think if you gave the general public and especially car experst their choice between a 1998 Maxima and a Pontiac Grand Am, they'd take a while to stop laughing and then they'd say "give me a Maxima any day."

I don't think you're being honest and you must have an axe to grind with Nissan. Most Maxima owners absolutely love their cars and buy another Maxima when they hit 200K miles or so. Most Gran Am owners want to get rid of them and buy something else when they finally can. That's the truth, which is more than I can say for your posting.

The Maxima and the Grand Am are too different classes of car. Comparing them directly would be foolish. I have no axe to grind with Nissan, but they are not nearly as well made as there Japanese competition. If you would like specifics, look at the ratings for Altimas and Sentras (espically SE-R) on this site.

As for owners trading their vehicle in for a similar newer model, they isn't possible as they stopped making the Grand Am in 2005. The G6 is a nice car (expecially in 2 door) is the closest that you'll get. Personally I'm a little tired of the so called "car experts". They live in a theoretical world, where you can drive your car as hard as you want and price is no object. The Grand Am is good car the combines looks, price, and performance. I think it is more attractive then Nissans sedan offerings, but style is a subjective thing. So, in summary I would take a Pontiac over a Nissan.

I just managed to stop laughing long enough to regain my composure and add a comment. I'm a mechanic and car enthusiast, and I can assure you, there is no way any Nissan can stand up to the tough use and abuse that many drivers put the Grand Am thru. I've seen Grand Ams (especially the old "quad 4's") that had gone way over 200,000 miles without a problem. The GM engines are some of the best in the world, and the silky-smooth automatic transmissions are world class. The push-rod V-6 engines, though maligned by clueless car magazine writers who don't live in the real world, are some of the strongest, most reliable power plants made, and are far more reliable and less expensive to repair than than the (supposedly) more sophisticated OHC or DOHC 6's offered by the foreign competition. My personal cars are, and will continue to be, GM and Ford because I don't want my family stranded on the side of the road somewhere. In 35 years of driving, we've never had a problem with an American made car in our family, including some that went well over 300,000 miles. One of my current personal cars is a Grand Am (I have 3 cars) and it is the absolute best car and best value vehicle I've owned. As for being anxious to get rid of it... maybe in another 200,000 miles. Then when I DO, I can assure you it will be replaced by an American car. I work too hard to pay twice as much for half the quality.

Nissan (here at least) does not have a very good reputation for either reliability or dealer service. The Maxima is not a bad car, though I'd take a comparable GM or Ford over it any day because of the reliability issue. Several of our friends have owned Pathfinders and Sentras and have had a tough problem getting rid of them because they lost their value so quickly. A friend of ours bought their son a new Sentra some years back and basically had to junk it at around 45,000 miles because of all the problems. They bought him a Dodge Neon, which currently has about 140,000 on it with not a single problem.

The Grand Am is a real value in the used car market. They are very reliable, get great gas mileage and ride and drive great. I've seen Gran Ams with 90,000+ miles on them that ran and drove just like brand new. The older Quad 4 is by far the best and most trouble-free engine, and feels almost as strong as the 3.4 V-6. These cars are probably the absolute best buy in the used car market primarily because of the exaggerated prices of the competition. When I buy my next car, I'll be looking at used Grand Ams because they can be bought at a really great price and hold up so well in the long run.

Comparing almost ANY GM car to any Nissan is sort of like comparing oranges to rotten apples. While many Nissans may last long enough to impress clueless automotive magazine writers in brief tests, in the real world their reliability record is terrible. Although I'm no fan of Toyota or Honda, even they are far more reliable and will generally last almost as long as a good GM or Ford product. Where this incredibly naive notion of Japanese reliability comes from is beyond me. The facts in the real world tend to indicate otherwise.

Being a patriotic American I wouldn't buy a Japanese car even if they WERE better (and they aren't). As for the Grand Am, it's a shame pontiac replaced it with the dog-ugly G-6, which is also (for some reason) much slower than the Grand Am. I test drove two G-6's and even with the V-6 they were not as fast as my older "quad 4" Grand Am. I have owned Ford, GM and Chrysler and although NONE have given me any trouble, the Grand Am has been the best car I've ever owned by far.

Yes these cars are very reliable. We have a 1999 with 175000 miles on it and the only thing to go wrong was a window stopped working. I will be receiving it when my parents finally get there 2004. I cannot wait because it still looks brand new. Unlike lots of Japanese cars in Wisconsin. Take care of these cars and they will take care of you. Our first was a 1987 that was totaled with 223000 miles on it. Only problem on that one was it was burning a small amount of oil by that point. But all that mattered is that it saved my life while my mother was pregnant with me.