1998 Pontiac Grand Am SE from North America - Comments

I just bought this high-mileage V6 car for a deal knowing it needed shocks, rotors, pads, CV joints, and a serpentine belt. But despite the problems I am extremely impressed with the looks, seat comfort, power, and handling in every category, even with very bad shocks. It is a great highway cruiser, with excellent tracking, stability, and passing power. I am an experienced race car driver and suspension engineer (not affiliated with any car company,) so I speak from knowledge of such things.

The car was totally rust free in Ohio where lots of salt is used on the roads. The high mileage engine idles perfectly and runs very strong.

The interior looks good and didn't seem unusually worn for a car of this mileage.

I noted many readers expressed dissatisfaction with brakes, saying the car was "junk." Yet experiences varied widely. When selecting after market pads, I noted that the stock replacement pad was a "metallic" brake pad, meaning along with the other materials in the pads there are fibers of metal. This type of pad is well known for causing brake dust that rusts on your rims, and the metal component causes rapid rotor wear. So it is very likely that only the stock pads are the culprit here and by merely specifying ceramic replacement pads (only about $26 a set for fronts at Advance) the wear problems will likely go away.

While GM may be faulted here, and the average consumer unwittingly cycled back into the problem if servicing the car at a dealer, the reflection on the general quality of the car due to brake problems is probably overstated. Those who merely go to a non-dealer affiliated repair shop and specify ceramic pads ($26 a set) and Bendix rotors (about $46 each at Advance--other after market retailers will have similar deals) will probably pay considerably less and have a good experience.

Brake and rotor replacements on modern cars are a snap and shouldn't take an experienced mechanic more than an hour to perform, and probably more like a half hour. Even at one hour and $80 a shop hour (and surely you can find someone willing to make the repair for far less) the total cost for pads and rotors is only $225. So brakes need not be a costly or frequent repair.

So does a bad stock pad this make the whole car a “lemon?” I would say not. Should you be upset with GM for the pad selection? Probably.

But for me this car is a keeper.

When you bought this vehicle, you knew that there were going to probably be inherent problems with it; it had high mileage, was probably abused by its previous owner (s), and is probably a car that no-one in there right minds would touch. As of today, and since 2000, GM has been producing high quality products, at great prices. Just look at the J.D. Power and Associate's ratings for GM; GM beat Toyota. So, don't blame your problems with your vehicle on GM. Any car with over 90,000 miles is bound to have some problems; even the "best of the best" cars out there will have problems at this high of mileage. It is not GM's fault, and you know it. You are just trying to put the blame for you faulty and not educated purchase on someone, and you chose GM.

First of all, if either of you think that a Grand AM SE is a "high performance" car then your both wrong. Yes GM does produce "some" decent vehicle, but I am willing to go out on a limb here and say the Grand AM does not fit that catagory. The Grand AM was an exceptional car a few years back. It suffers from poor build quality, reliability, and poor resale value. The Grand AM is a very dated car when compared to its competitors. I am happy to see the Grand AM leave the Pontiac lineup. At least Pontiac retired the Grand AM line on a somewhat positive note.

I own a Grand Am and used to work at a GM dealer. I can tell you right now that I would never buy a car from that dealer or have it serviced there, and I will never in my life buy another Grand Am.

You wait, I'll bet your intake manifold will start leaking within the next 20000 km's.

Last month my wife and I test drove several small, sporty cars. They included a new Scion Tc, Chevy Cobalt coupe, Saturn Ion, Dodge Calibre, Pontiac Vibe, Mustang V-6, Hyundai Tiburon and a used Pontiac Grand Am GT with 35,000 miles on it. The Grand Am was quieter, smoother, and would literally blow the doors off every other car we drove INCLUDING the Mustang. Performance car?? DEFINITELY.

One of my neighbors has a 2002 Grand Am GT and a BMW 325. I asked him how the two cars compared. His reply: "The BMW cost three times as much, requires three times as many repairs and will be gone three times as fast as the Grand Am!!" I drove by today and noticed the BMW is gone and the Grand Am is still there. I also own a Grand Am (2001) and it is absolutely the best car I have ever owned, and I've owned cars from all three U.S. auto makers as well as Japanese and German cars. None match the Grand Am for a balance of value, performance, ride and styling.

I just bought my second Grand Am and am very pleased. I was pleased with my first one, a 1998 Grand Am GT, I loved that car, put 100K on it, but as someone posted earlier the intake manifold went south of cheese, not to mention I bought the car out of state (Ohio) where yes, they put a lot of salt on the roads, I got it back to California and after 3 years here she went in for maintenance, and the undercarriage was rusted beyond repair. Sadly I traded her in that day. I am very pleased with the 2005 Grand Am SE I traded her for, smooth ride, quiet, comfy inside. I think Pontiac is a brand I will be sticking with for a while.

I own a 2001 Grand Am SE-1 with the great 2.4 litre twin-cam 4. I chose that engine for fuel efficiency (I get 30mpg) and the fact that it is very reliable and almost totally maintenance free (no stupid rubber timing belt to change every 50,000 miles). After 6 years this car looks, runs, and drives like it did the day it rolled off the lot. I have never had one single problem with the car. As for it being a "performance car", YES, definitely. I traded a Mustang V-8 in on this car, and the Grand Am is WAYYYYY more fun to drive. The acceleration is, amazingly, almost as good as the Mustang, the ride is a lot better, and I arrive feeling far less worn out after a long trip. I can get thru traffic quicker in the Grand Am than I could in the Mustang because it grips the road much better and corners more predictably, even though it leans more. This is also the ONLY car I've ever owned that DID NOT have a single rattle, squeak, or loose piece of trim after a few years. In the past 35 years we've owned cars from every US manufacturer as well as 2 Japanese cars (TALK ABOUT POOR BUILD QUALITY!!) and one German car (A TOTAL DISASTER!!). The Grand Am is by far the best built car we have ever owned...PERIOD. My only regret is that Pontiac dropped the sporty side cladding in 2004 and made the car look like a cheap fleet car, then replaced it in 2005 with the hideously ugly G-6.

I bought my used 2001 Grand Am in early 2003, trading in a high-performance V-8 muscle car that only had 40,000 miles, but got 11 mpg. The Grand Am is the absolute best car I've ever owned. It is much faster than anything in its class, gets 30 mpg, rides great, is quiet, and in over three years of driving it I have yet to have a single problem of any kind with it. As for it being a "performance car", if being faster than V-6 Mustangs, V-6 Camaros, Scion Tc's, V-6 Dodge Magnums and Chargers, and the Hyundai Tiburon V-6 qualifies it as a "performance car", then it qualifies. I test drove those cars and the Grand Am will eat them alive and do it for about half the price.

When I went to work for my present boss, I was surprised to discover that he drove an 8-year-old Grand Am. Since he is a multi-millionaire, I was a little surprised. He said the Grand Am was solid, smooth, reliable and totally trouble-free. He didn't feel that paying 10 times as much for an "image" made sense. I guess that is one reason he became a multi-millionaire. I bought one myself and I can see why an intelligent person would. They are great cars. I love mine and plan to keep it a very long time.

Purchased a one year old 2005 Grand Am with 25,000KM. It now has 28,000 Km on it and has had to have the Intake manifold gasket replaced. Glad it was covered under warranty as very expensive. Always have driven Mazda for the past 10 years and thought we would save some money and buy domestic. Big mistake.. I guess you get what you pay for. Will be selling this car before the warranty is up!!!

I just got a 2005 Grand Am SE and I love it. It is the best car I have ever had in my life. Who ever thinks that it is a bad car must never have owned one. Or simply do not know what they are talking about. The only thing I was worried about was getting a 4 door instead of a 2 door just for the reason I liked the look of the 2 door better. But I love my car and wouldn't trade it for anything. I will own it until it doesn't run any more. What I am trying to say is if you don't know what you are talking about. Then don't talk.

I used to enjoy working on and doing the routine maintenance on my cars (I do all my own repairs and servicing). In recent years I've gotten very busy and don't spend as much time with my vehicles. Last Saturday I was changing the oil in my 2001 Grand Am, and it dawned on me that in 6 years and 60,000 miles I had never even CHECKED the transmission fluid, brake fluid, coolant or power steering fluid in this car!! I checked them then, and they were all OK. The Grand Am is a "third car" in our family and gets all the dirty jobs. Since we've owned this car it has had one battery replaced, and other than oil changes and the air filter, that's it. Our GM cars spoil us. None of them has ever had a single problem, and I seldom even do brake jobs until around 100,000 miles. The Grand Am is still showroom new in appearance and performs very well. It is fast, smooth and fun to drive. Since I can't stand the ugly G-6 I will most likely drive my current Grand Am until I die of old age. My dad's Pontiac outlasted him. He died last year at the age of 101 and the family is still driving his 1955 Pontiac!!

I had a 1999 Grand Am that was driven mainly by my wife.

She loved it. To my surprise it was good in snow and ice, it did have traction control, got 31-32 mpg with a V-6.

We do a lot of highway driving. Besides a new set of tires, all I ever had to put into it was a water pump and that was right before we traded it with 159,000 miles on it. That was only because we need something bigger (a mini van).

Last year, I bought my 1998 Grand Am GT, and I LOVE it! The Grand Am is the smartest choice for any first time car buyer (like me). It has been very reliable, with only an Exhaust Gas Recirculation Valve and Exhaust Manifold leak to cause trouble. The features, performance AND fuel efficiency, and sporty styling contribute to it's appeal. The 3100 V6 provides excellent performance as well as 33 mpg. I'll be sticking with the Grand Am for a long time. Personally, anyone looking for a good first car would be crazy not to look at the Grand Am. It will get you to where you need to be, and will look as good in your driveway as it does in the pictures.