2006 Pontiac Grand Prix GXP 5.3 DOD from North America

Summary:

Like all the GM's I have loved, this one has finished its run

Faults:

Crack in windshield... It's strange, but this seems common on these cars.

Lumbar support has stopped working?

General Comments:

I feel Pontiac did a great job on this car; I have never been a fan of FWD, but when driving this car with the factory rims and tires, you could almost forget that it is FWD. It pulls from a stop very nicely; I have gotten 0-60 5.6. What's funny about this, is torque steer isn't a serious issue for this car.

I went from a Buick Roadmaster sedan (which I still own, but no longer daily drive) to this, and well this is no Buick.

It handles really well, has stiff seats and a stiff sport feel. It's fun to drive and fun on turns. There are thing I miss about my Buick; they are two very different cars, and it's taking me some getting use to, however I love driving this car.

I have heard a lot of people having problems with these cars, and after test driving a large amount of them, I feel it's the drivers who are mostly at fault.

I found a lot I drove had just been really beat on, and had interior wear, which reflected a driver who didn't care about their car. For example, I drove a 2006 with 76,000km on it, which has transmission issues. Along with this, it had an after market exhaust and balding front tires.

Any ways, like any car from any maker, if you beat on it on a daily basis, it won't last.

I have yet to get under 300,000 from any GM I have owned before selling the car. I have always bought GM, and will keep doing so until they give me reason not to! And they did an amazing job on this car.

My other cars right now are a Buick Ultra and Buick Roadmaster, my past cars have been a 1981 Cutlass 2 door, 1987 GMC Sierra (this one did die at 766,896kms) and a Buick Riviera, which I just sold.

The Grand Prix GXP is one of the most enjoyable cars I driven, and I love it! Keep up the good work GM!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 7th January, 2011

2006 Pontiac Grand Prix GXP 5.3L from North America

Summary:

Major headache, looks good, but no piece of mind

Faults:

Water pump, hub bearings, ABS module.

General Comments:

Love the car, but have had nothing but problems since I purchased it. Every time I turn around, I had to put it in the shop. Extremely high maintenance costs.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 11th October, 2010

2006 Pontiac Grand Prix GT 3.8L supercharged from North America

Summary:

Fast, handles great, and fun to drive

Faults:

None.

General Comments:

I recently bought a used 2006 GP GT at a GM dealership. I already owned a 2006 GP base model, and was originally going in to look for a G6 for my wife. The low mileage for an '06, and the fact it was supercharged and $13000, were the reasons we got that car instead.

My first impression of the GT was wow! Very different looking inside and to drive than the base model was. The GT has a 6 disk 240 watt, 9 speaker audio system that thumps pretty good for a stock system. The seats are leather, heated, and very comfortable.

The car handles extremely well for a mid size sedan with its widetrack 4 wheel independent suspension. It is very quick off of the line, and you feel the supercharger working immediately. This car has 260 HP and 280 lb/ ft of torque.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 14th September, 2010

2006 Pontiac Grand Prix GXP 5.3 V8 from North America

Summary:

Don't ever read a book by its cover; may look great on the outside, but it's the inside that matters

Faults:

This is a beautiful car. Loved it the minute I laid my eyes on it, and it was pretty sweet on the test drive. Jet black, all tinted out.. nice. So I had to have it.

Almost 25,000 dollars to finance this gorgeous used car, and now only 1 and a half years later I would be lucky to get 15,000 for it, if that. Ha, I still owe almost 18,000. That doesn't help.

But anyway, this car has been good to me; changed the oil, topped up the fluids, and have yet to have any issues till now... well the tires are bald, but hey that's what happens, and I need new brakes, but I can deal with that.

Took it out on a Saturday night, worked like a charm. Got in it Sunday morning and it would not go into reverse, it will drive in neutral though? I was completely dumbfounded. Did notice there was a nice mouse nest inside on top of the motor. Well I took it to the dealership, and a couple of days later got the dreaded call. The transmission is done. Will cost 4100.00 + GST to replace it. It will take at least 3 weeks to get the transmission delivered, I guess by snail mail, from the States, then however long to install it.

I am now vehicle-less... Not too fun when you live in the country, have 2 small kids and limited funds. I spoke to GM, they have opened a case for me, but pretty much said there will not be much they can do to help because the car is too old... 2006.. I thought I was old '76. Go figure...

Well not much I can do about it now, still have to make those pretty 600.00 per month payments car or no car. I've always had GM vehicles, but now I may be changing my heart and moving onto something better.

General Comments:

Honestly, my car has been great. Yeah, so I got some rock chips and need a 500.00 windshield (heads up display that I have never used), tires do wear out and brakes do go, that's normal isn't it?

Just a new transmission at 64,000 km? That's outrageous.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 17th June, 2010

23rd Jun 2010, 15:00

We have the same vehicle - had to have the entire transmission replaced at around 65,000 miles earlier this year. It was completely trashed, but for no real good reason (we don't hot rod it, we actually use it as a nice family car, and hubby likes the pep/power, but we don't abuse it, always have it maintained nicely, etc). Luckily, we had an extended warranty to cover this (that we paid for upfront when we bought the car), otherwise we would have had a very nice car, parked uselessly forever in our driveway (we were quoted around $4K - $5K on a replacement, labor, etc).

The thing wouldn't move when the transmission went out (worked one day, came back from a short road trip and then it wouldn't drive the next day - we were very lucky it didn't go out while we were on our road trip, and we had our 2 little boys with us, as well!).

Doing some searches on the internet, I see that there are tons of people out there with the exact same problem, having to deal with the transmission going completely kaput at around 40,000 - 75,000 miles or so (conveniently out of the general factory warranty for the 2006 models in particular). This is unacceptable! Why isn't GM doing anything about this? We will never buy another GM vehicle, either.

Just wanted to let you know that you are not the only one that this has happened to. It's actually quite scary!