1998 Pontiac Grand Prix GT from North America - Comments

I bought the car with barely 90000 miles on it and everything worked fine. The features were great and it looked awesome. I have had it for less than one month and everything has gone wrong. It has terrible gas mileage, less than what websites say. The electronic display for how much fuel you have used and how mnay miles you have left continues to not turn on. When you start the car, it takes about a half an hour to turn on. There was recently a short in the car and now whenever I turn it on, it usually does not turn back on. The power windows will work just fine, but then they will roll down sometimes and they will not go up at all. Don't roll them down when it is cold outside. I hope that I never purchase another car from GM again. The car looks great, but it does not operate worth crap.

How can you blame the manufacturer for an 8 year old car with over 90,000 miles on it?

You seem to have expected a NEW car!!!

Like the commenter above I fail to see how General Motors is at fault. However I will give you some advice: If your getting poor mpg try taking it in for a tune up. Odds are you need your O2 sensor replaced and perhaps it's time for plugs as well. AS for your electrical issues, you may have a bad ground. Again when you take it into the mechanic he'll be able to diagnose it for you. This car needs maintenance. All cars do over their life. It's your job as the vehicle owner to keep it running properly, not GM's.

I agree with the previous comments in general. It is unfair to blame GM for your cars’ problems.

Unless you purchased your car from someone that you know you really don’t know how that car was treated or maintained before you took possession of it.

As cars age they tend to need a little more TLC then they do when they are new. Engines need tune-ups, spark plugs and plug wires wear out, fuel injectors do not last for ever, oil changes must be performed on a regular schedule, quality fuels from respective sources is critical and a host of other items need attention as well. When was the last time that the transmission fluid was changed in your car? If you cannot answer that question then you might want to think about getting that done. If you don’t then your problems have only just begun. A new transmission for your Grand Prix will set you back more than $2,000.00 dollars.

As stated previously your cars’ well being and your peace of mind are your responsibility.

Don, t even think about changing tranny fluid if the car has 90 k miles with no history of previous tranny fluid changes.there, s tons of discussion on "automotive forums.com" about that. you need to service the tranny right on schedule. after you pass the 60 k miles mark it is actually harmful to commence servicing. the old tranny fluid forms a gummy sealant effect on the tranny seals. when you flush it out a leak will develop shortly and soon you will need tranny rebuild. so my advice to you leave it alone. some "do it yourselfers" replace one pint of tranny fluid with each oil change. what you should be watching for now is a leaking lower intake manifold gasket!!! NIGHTMARE. research it!

Well first off, I bought my grand prix GT 1998 about a year ago. there was only one owner who took very good care of it, from inside and out. Oil changes regularly every 3000 miles or less and everything is in tip-top runing condition. The car has impressive power for its engine size and it is a very attractive looking car. I have not had a single problem... gas mileage is 20+ per gallon and it drives like a dream. My car has 140k miles on it and still is running strong as ever. I seriously think that in this case it is the owner not the car that isn't doing what its supposed to.

Answer me this!!! If you were sick, would you do what you're supposed to? (I know I wouldn't.) Here's a thought; set your standards lower, maintain your vehicles, and stop blaming the dealer for a car they made 8 years ago. Maybe then you will be satisfied.

I still think that the driver's side window thing is the smallest mechanical fault in design.

I'm positive it's the auto-down feature. As the cars' age it stops releasing as the window reaches the bottom. There's a clip that holds it down and unfortunately it stops letting go after a while the motor tries and eventually burns itself out. My mechanic broke the clip and the problems stopped instantenously. My car got hit real bad on the driver's door, got the door replaced with one from a wrecker and right back to the same non-sense, rather than pay my mechanic to break the clip, I just make a habit of never letting the window go all of the way down or if it does bringing it up a 1/4" after it bottoms. No delays, always works.

If you're one of these types that has the "intermittent problem where you put it down and sometimes it wants to go up and other times it doesn't, try doing what I said and see what you come up with.

As for the car itself, take it easy on the guy, it's frustrating when you buy a car that is supposed to be a good used car and then boom everything possible goes wrong. Most of us who are buying newer used cars are replacing older ones that have similar costing problems.

Last year I bought a certified used car, and the first thing it did (about 2-3 weeks later) was quite literally dump every bit of anti-freeze it had, requiring the replacement of 3 different gaskets and costing a pretty-penny. It's almost a year later on this '95 model and nothing else has provided me with problems.

The only thing that you can do to a car worse than having some psycho drive around like an idiot in it, is having it sitting around & not being used. Everything goes to hell in it. If there is one thing that I would advise on the used-car buying front, it would be to avoid anything that's been sitting for over 3 months. The history should give a good indication of that, ask questions, drill people on the car that are selling it, private or from a lot.