I don't even know where to start. I purchased this car in May of 2000. It was my first 'real' car. Within the first couple of months, the speedometer quit working. After yelling with the dealership, they fixed it for free since it was covered by warranty.
In the last six years, I have put front and back brakes on at least seven times and replaced the rotors three times.
Both window motors have been broke two times a piece.
The fan only works on 3, 4, and 5. I have no clue why it quit working on 1 and 2.
There is a constant coolant leak. It is actually getting worse now.
The electronic switch on the driver seat no longer works.
The blinkers quit working, but were fixed through a recall.
The horn honks when the car is in park for about 15 seconds. No idea what is up with that.
I've had to replace the battery once after it exploded, the wheel bearings once, the alternator once, and the water pump once.
The door locks will constantly lock and unlock when driving down the highway... starting to think that the car is possessed.
The new thing now is Service Vehicle Soon, ABS, and Trac off lights are now on. I'm almost scared to see what's wrong with it because I have put so much money into this car.
I loved this car when I first bought it. Being only 19 and finally purchasing my first new car, I was so excited. I didn't know 6 years later, I would have had this many problems with it. Don't get me wrong, it looks nice, but looks are so deceiving!! I have talked several people out of buying this car.
Was that thing a first model year or something (for a redesign)? Why'd you have to yell at the dealer about the speedometer?
Just remove the offending dash light bulbs and sell the wreck on guy.
Buy something substantial if you're buying new next time. Not some economy car. Buy those used.
The fan only working on 3,4,5 is a common problem in the Grand Am. It is actually a very easy and cheap DIY fix. Just get a new blower motor resistor, and replace it yourself. The part is about $25 dollars and is located beneath the panel under the passenger side dash. Coolant leak may be your water pump or the LIM gasket which is a very common problem on the 3.4L engine, and there is actually a class action lawsuit being filed in Ontario about it.
I have a 2000 Grand Am, and I also have had problems with it, I bought this car brand new, 9 miles on it.
3 months after I bought it, both calipers had to be replaced because they were leaking.
One year later, my battery blew up, then my blinkers would sometimes work and sometimes not. To get them to work, I would have to turn the emergency blinkers on and off, and then they would work. GM sent me a recall letter to have them fixed, now the switch makes a flickering sound all the time.
Last August my intake manifold gasket blew along with the water pump, major bucks there. My mechanic showed me a letter from GM about the gaskets, it seems they knew the gaskets were bad and had to make new gaskets for this type of engine and others, so I called GM to tell them since they knew what was going on, they should do a recall and I should not have to pay for this replacement. Their answer, there is nothing we can do because it was not fixed at the dealer, I told them that this shop was GM certified, she said Sorry.
One year later and I think it is happening again, two more payments until it is paid for, and Toyota here I come.
My Grand am 2000 has had similar problems. I cannot believe how poorly made these cars are. My latest problem started when the car over heated on the highway. The GM dealership said it was the result of the missing air foil on the front of the car. Now, I am waiting to see if the extended warranty will cover it.
From my searchs around the web, it sounds like that a batch of Grand am 2000 SE 2 have had common problems.
BL.
Air Foil? Is that the little plastic grille or the little spoiler thing just under the front bumper? Because that is missing on my car (thanks to high speed bumps) and it runs a little hot too, someone told me it was because of that.
The plastic guard below the bumper is designed to throw air across the radiator while at speed. Your car will run hot while at speed. It is a large piece of plastic running into the fenderwells and the underside of the car.
Thanks for the info. This car is like a bottomless money pit, I swear, I will never buy another one of these.
ABS trac off and SVC mean a wheel bearing sensor is gone as for the blower moter working on 345 change the blower motor resistor located behind the blower motor by the fire wall.
I recently sold my 2000 grand am and had the same problems. The final straw was the car kept cutting out around 2500 rpm. The fuel pump, oxygen sensor, were replaced. We finally broke down and took it to a gm dealer. They tried to replace the same parts we just put on earlier that week. They guaranteed us that it was the coil pack, they replaced it and it kept doing the same thing. Here it was a burnt wire, but gm would not give us back the old coil pack (which was fine) and charged us another $800.00 on top of the $800.00 we just spent. Oh yeah, the transmission was slipping as well. We recently sold it (dirt cheap) and purchased a new KIA sorento. Hopefully we'll have better luck!!!
I bought my 2000 Grand Am new and it has been an excellent car. I had to have the turn signal switch fixed once, when it was still under warranty. I've only just recently had to replace the tires!!! I had a gas smell recently, when I turn the heater on and just had it repaired. There was a leak in something, and when it is very cold is the only time the fuel would be up far enough for it to leak, which is why it only happens on very cold days. The part cost about $80 plus labor. I don't have my car serviced at the dealership, but at a reputable service station. I have been extremely happy with this car.
I have a 2000 Grand Am SE and have experienced most of the problems that you all have mentioned, the first thing I had trouble with was the paint pealing, I've had the driver seat motor replaced twice, my blinkers work on and off and I have to push in the emergency blinkers to get it to start working properly (i never got that fixed with the recall), the ac only worked on 3,4,5 so we had to replace the circuit board just behind the glove box. both passenger and driver window button panels had to be replaced and my most recent issue is my shifter, while I'm driving down the road the shifter button actually fell out and then I couldn't get the car to shift into or out of park without using both hands to squeeze with all my might! luckily I have a great fiance who is great at fixing things and he fixes the little things on my car for me. he has found a lot of the replacement parts on Ebay. right now my car works great, but for how long? I'm so sad because I love the interior of my car, the set up, the steering wheel, the color. I just havn't found any other cars that I like as much so I'm hanging onto my car until it flat out dies on me!
I have a 2001 Pontiac Grand Am Se and like everyone else I have experienced similar issues. I'm glad I stumbled across this page. 3,4 and 5 only work on my cark and I'm glad to know that its not too much to fix. I also received a recall on my turn signal defect. Some new problems are now occurring. First, when I turn my wheel my trac/service engine light pop on which is very annoying. My brothers told me its just a sensor that's off so I have ignored it. But it is slighty annoying to hear that noise randomly when I turn my wheels. My car is actually sitting at a gas station right now because it will not start. About two weeks ago, my car wouldn't start, which I haven't had this issue and I've owned it for 4 years. My brother towed it back to his place and right before he started to troubleshoot to find the problem, it started up. Weird, I know. So I went on my merry little way and I got stranded at WaWa last night. Went in the store to buy some cigarettes and now it will not start. I'm not sure what the problem could be. My car apparently has a mind of its own, it will start when it feels like it...haha. I still love my car though. Its paid off and hopefully this will be an easy problem to fix!!
The not starting is the ignition switch that has a very low voltage magnetic type resistance that the computer detects to allow the car to start very common problem there to if it does it to you you leave the key on for ohhhhh 10 min or so till the check engine light goes off and wah lah it will start.