The power steering was defective from the time the car was driven off of the lot. Who has ever heard of power steering so strong that the wheel can be tossed in either direction, spinning freely until it comes up against the stop? It took 4 tries for the dealer to correct this problem.
The climate control system is filled with "bugs" that the dealer insisted were intentional. For instance, while the air conditioning is off, the car blows cold air on my foot on a 90 degree day. Something is running that shouldn't be, but apparently this was not a symptom of something serious enough to be covered by the warranty.
The air conditioning started leaking condensate into the car at about 35000 miles and had to be replaced -- probably because it had been running continuously since the car was new.
The torque converter clutch stopped fully engaging at about 55000 miles.
The cars that I test drove all seemed to perform fine. However, this has not been true of the one that I ordered. I have never driven a car that can handle curves so well, but cannot hold a straight line. The most relaxing driving is generally on the interstate. But this car is literally all over the road at high speeds, requiring constant and complete attention to prevent drifting out of the lane.
As far as your problem with the cold air blowing on your foot goes... ALL GM VEHICLES DO THAT... You also should be paying attention if your driving at high speeds anyways. It's the people that don't that I have to cut out of cars when they wreck.
I have owned a gt for 3 years and have 83k on it. Your problem with the high speeds may have more to do with your tires... (air pressure, tire quality and speed rating, need for spin and balance) This plays a significant role in high speed performance.
I would like to know what part or parts "needed" to be replaced involving the condensation from the AC leaking into the car. There is a rubber drain with a 90 degree bend on the bulkhead or "firewall" at the rear of the engine compartment. This allows the condensation that gathers on the evaporator core, which is inside the car above the passenger side kick panel, to escape externally. A common problem I noticed while working at a GM dealer is that dirt and road grime can build up in this drain. The only other escape route ends up in your floor. Some of these drains can be reached from above, while others need to be accessed from underneath the vehicle. Just cleaning out this drain is all it takes.
The Grand Prix is not a very light car. The engine performance is good, especially in the GTP (I own a '99 GTP). There are many performance parts available for all V6 engines offered in these cars. If it's handling you would like to improve, start with suspension upgrades. Pay particular attention to the rear.
Mine also leaked condensate. I took off the rubber thing and poked something inside and a bunch of water gushed out. It was fine from that point, except that the blower motor needed replacement eventually (perhaps the bearings went due to water damage).
As for the blowing of cold air on the feet, I noticed that when the system is "off" any air that gets sucked through the vents (this happens a good bit when the sun roof is open pulling vacuum on the rest of the car) comes out at whatever temperature the system was last running at. So if you turn it on, set the temperature, and turn it off again, the temperature of the draft on your feet changes.
I think the heating system got whatever space happened to be left over after all the other engineers were done. In general I really love my '99 GTP, but I'm not crazy about the heating arrangement since the blower motor is inside the car instead of outside the firewall where it belongs.
Note: A Comments RSS Feed is available. New comments appear in the Members Area before the main site