1989 Pontiac LeMans le aero coupe 1.3L from North America

Summary:

Great first car

Faults:

The seat padding has begun to wear out.

Factory paint gone at 120000 miles.

Exhaust system went bad before I purchased the car, and was replaced.

The engine had to be replaced at 100000 miles.

Some rust over back wheel wells.

General Comments:

Very quick for a car with a 1.3 L engine.

Fun car to drive.

A great first car.

There are some problems in the higher miles, but that is to be expected from any economy car.

This car does not look out of date, it looks somewhat modern.

With a few personal touches and fix ups, this is a great car.

This car is a great head turner.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 10th July, 2002

1989 Pontiac LeMans LE 1.6L from North America

Summary:

The cost of replacement parts are too high

Faults:

The timing belt slipped at 100,000 miles.

A fuse short circuit to the fuel pump because of a exposed wire that led to the rear defroster switch in the dash board at 101,000 miles.

Failure of the electronic controls on the carburetor which is also known as the throttle body at 102,000 miles.

Driver side brake caliper locked up at 103,000 miles.

The thermostat failed at 103,000 miles.

The distributor went bad at 104,000 miles.

The head cracked in the spark plug hole at 120,000 miles.

The catalytic converter failed at 130,000 miles.

The power steering pump started leaking at 150,000 miles.

The muffler rusted out at 155,000 miles.

General Comments:

This car must be highly maintained in order to function properly.

This car runs great when kept up.

Great on fuel use and low on burning oil.

This car does get up and go for a four cylinder.

After 100,000 miles expect problems.

Learn how to work on it yourself or you will be taken to the bank or have more problems getting it back then when you started.

This car always had a problem passing California's smog tests even after a tune-up.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 2nd March, 2002

21st Apr 2003, 04:19

Hi, My Name is Kathy, I have a 1989 Pontiac Lemans Le, 1.6 liter, automatic. My Brother was helping me to replace the head gasket on the car for me, so he had to take off the Timing parts the pulley's and stuff and when he did he forgot to mark down how to reset the timing on my car, and how to line them up again. so if there is anyone out there that could please help me, if they know what the timing setting is, or explain how to line them up again, or has a diagram that shows how to. I would be very Grateful to anyone that can help me with this, if I could leave my email address. which is (kathy_m_b_63@yahoo.com). please send any information to this email. Thank You Sincerely Kathy Balderas.

16th Apr 2009, 10:37

The car does not get up and go at all. The LeMans (1990) was my first car when I was 16, and I don't remember it having any acceleration at all. Go drive an '04-'07 Subaru Impreza WRX STI (my next car), and you'll see what I mean. I got the LeMans with 65,000 miles and had a lot of problems with it. I dumped it after about 10,000 miles because I was sick of replacing parts.

1989 Pontiac LeMans LE from North America

Summary:

Not worth it if they paid you to take it

Faults:

The head gasket.

The brakes.

The steering.

The tape player (radio still works).

The passenger door (doesn't open from the outside).

The trunk (lock broke).

The ignition.

General Comments:

It's a very unreliable car. The lack of power steering doesn't help matters at all. You can't take off at any reasonable speed - you either creep out or fly out.

Half the time, it sounds like it's not gonna start. Half the time in the dampness, it stalls at least twice before you get it out of park.

The distributor cap never was right on it, my mechanic had to fit the cap from a Ford Escort (!) to make it work properly - before that you didn't make it out of the driveway if there was moisture in the air.

I see now why this car was given to me: the people knew they couldn't sell it!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 5th September, 2001