1994 Pontiac Grand Am SE from North America - Comments

What has not gone wrong with this wreck.

Radiator cracked on the Plastic Tank, replaced it with a Brand New one and Three Months later it has cracked again, think it needs a Heat Shield or something. The plastic Pipes that the Radiator Hoses go onto are almost impossible not to break when installing new Hoses.

The Heater Core went, so I just by passed it.

There was always a heavy Burning Oil Smell about the only thing to its credit was it did not use much Oil.

It was very expensive to get the Serpentine Belt replaced as the Mechanic even had to remove a Motor Mount.

I replaced both Ignition Coils myself, was easy.

Threw on a new Battery as a precaution.

In short the Engine bay always smelt of Burnt Oil, even though I religeously changed it each 2k Miles, and also an Acidic Electrical burning smell also.

I had to replace the Starter this was very hard to do, took hours and hours. I can change the one on my Honda in 45 Minutes.

Lots more went wrong, its main fault was stalling after a highway run, then not restarting for 2 hours.

I never liked the image or feeling, I always felt like white trash when driving this car.

I managed to sell it on 2 years later for 400 Bucks less than I had paid for it. I kinda broke even, even after parts, tires and stuff, I was only out $1300 not bad for 22k and less sale price included.

Never again though, I like my weekends much more now I am not a nervous wreck trying to fix this thing. My Honda has twice the miles, but it is solid.

I feel sorry for all Grand Am drivers now.

In my opinion this car should never have been sold to the General Public.

Please! You bought a 10 year old car with 132,000 miles on the odometer. What did you expect, it to perform as reliably as a new Camry?

I was not saying that the car should not have any problems due to the miles on it. I am simply saying that I have driven a Honda Accord from 127k to todays Mileage of 233k and have never been stranded. That is the point I am making. Some makes are better then others.

I also have owned a 1994 Pontaic Grand Am 3.1, with 150k miles on it when I finally got rid of it, but it was plagued with problems like the dashboard lights would intermittently come on & off, ABS problems, oil leaks as from the plastic valve covers.

Later I found there was a recall on + many rattles & poor designed suspension. It even over heated a few times, but they never found the cause at the dealership.

The only good thing is that it did always start.

I'm sorry to say (no I'm not), that my old 1996 Nissan Maxima was much better with 255k miles on it. The only reason why I sold it was the rust, body & paint. I truly believe Nissan is far superior to the Grand Am.