1989 Pontiac LeMans GSE from North America - Comments

Head gasket blew at 77,000.

Seats are wearing bad.

Dashboard switches have needed replacing.

New muffler at 89,000.

My Lemans came standard with a 2.0 liter single overhead cam 16 valve engine and a close ratio 5 speed transmission as well as a rally inspired suspension. This makes the car a blast to drive. It has great power and acceleration and handles like a sports car.

I blew a head gasket when the radiator fan quit, my fault I let it run hot trying to get home without a tow truck. The dashboard switches (I.E. headlights, heater fan, rear defrost etc...) are very cheaply made and tend to break on a regular basis, but at least their easy to replace.

Whats not easy is finding parts. I was told at the dealer that Pontiac had dropped this car from its parts catalog so now I'm down to searching the local salvage yards for spare parts. Since the car is a GSE edition this is a little hard because many of my parts have to come from a GSE car and there are not many of those around.

The car may say Pontiac Lemans on the deck lid, but it is actually a Daewoo Lanos. After owning this car I'm not sure if I would buy another Pontiac or not, but I would definitly buy another Daewoo.

I also owned an 89 Le Mans GSE from '90 to '93. I LOVED it for the first year plus, but then it began to steadily fall apart. As you said, though, it was an absolute blast to drive, when it ran well.

Well, actually Daewoo bought the rights from the German car manufacturer Opel when they discontinued their Opel Kadett which had been in production since the late 70's. So the Pontiac LeMans is actually an Opel Kadett in its third edition. The car has been hugely popular in Europe for years and years and upon moving to the U.S. I was astounded to see this car as a Pontiac. My mom had an '85 model for a few years and it is indeed a nice car for cheap money. Rarely any problems and the car is quite sporty in handling and suspension. The GSE as mentioned here is called GSI in Europe and the 16-valve version produces 170 horsepower which makes (made) the car very popular among the younger demographic of car buyers.

I bought a Pontiac new in 1989 and did 200,000kms in it with no problems at all, only tyres and regular maintenance. I sold it 2005 and now regret parting with it.

John.