1997 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP from North America - Comments

Both front bearings had to be replaced.

Heater motor resistor.

Strut mounts in the back

Had new tires put on, had a bad shake and thought it was an CV shaft gone, but rotated tires and the shake was gone.

The engine is leaking some coolant around the supercharger so needs new intake manifolds.

The valve cover gaskets are leaking oil.

One heater element in the driver seat, the resistor is gone for it and now it becomes extremely hot and can only be used for less than a minute.

General components like brakes, serpantine belts, tires, spark plugs, mufflers, put in synthetic trannie oil.

Window motors might need replacing soon.

The car's drivetrain is a good solid basic drivetrain that is dependable. After owning a 1990 Bonneville for 5 years, I am slightly disapointed in the quality and reliability of GM's newer cars. The drivetrains have been significantly refined, but the quality of the parts have been reduced a lot, such as wheeling bearings, they should at least last 300,000 kms, not 160,000 kms. The brakes are excellent on these cars with good feel and control. The steering is a bit numb and should have greasable tierod ends and balljoints to increase life of these parts. If I had to choose another Grand Prix it would not have a supercharger. The amount that it actually gets used, it is not worth having, unless you have a lead foot and love showing off. The car does not get good gas mileage until the supercharger is warmed up which can take quite a while, especially in the winter. My transmission looses pressure at stoplights sometimes and when taking off, it jolts into gear and then goes, I replaced trannie fluid with synthetic trannie oil, and it does it a little worse now because of the decreased viscosity.

The back seat is a bit crowded and the car might be a bit small if your over 6 foot tall. I find the car has lot of little rattles and squeaks. Many seem to come from the doors from the sound deafening foam insulation. The leather is fairly cheap and interior is covered with cheaper plastic. A nuisance is the radio. When it is cold outside below five celsius, the Cd player (E22 error shows up) won't work for about a half hour until it has warmed up. I love the HUD display and it is very convenient for driving.

The dual climate digital controlled heating could have much better control especially compared to the digital climate control of the 90 Bonneville, but it does have very good heat and warms the car fast in the winter.

I have driven the car with all three octanes of fuel in it and have not really noticed a difference. I never hear knock, but it is mostly driven lightly. I now only put midgrade in it, and the car runs fine and I don't notice a big difference in power or fuel economy compared to premium.

This car is a nice car to have if you are a backyard mechanic and have a brother as a diesel mechanic. Not that this car is a bad car, just always those little problems like brakes and wheel bearings, CV shafts, shocks, spark plugs, struts and strut mounts, engine gaskets, electrical component start going especially as it gets older and components wear out slowly and start to fail. The quality of the car is subpar compared to some of its competition and previous GM cars.

The car handles well, performance is respectable, gas economy is mediocre compared to non supercharged, the car has excellent looks, very well equipped such as sunroof, HUD, dual climate control, heated seat, and if you are looking for a decent good looking American car this is one.

I too own a GTP actually a 2000. These cars ONLY run on premium due to higher compression from the supercharger. You will only hear a knock when it is too late and the computer can no longer pull enough timing to compensate for the wrong fuel. This will result in the demise of your engine over time, sooner than later. You purchased a performance model and should expect to pay for premium fuel. I don't want to come off rude, but I work for GM and have seen many people ruin their engines by using lower octane than recommended in forced induction cars.