Decent power from Quad-4 motor
Great headlights/foglights at night
Decent size alloys/tires

-Quad-4 motor blew up @60K, entire motor had to be replaced
- A/C mechanism seized
- Horrible Stereo
- Shocks did nothing to absorb bumps, horrible handling
- Very weak brakes
- If car had under 1/2 tank of gas, you would have to depress the accelerator about 5-7 seconds before it would start moving (fuel sending issue, possibly fuel pump)
- crappy heater/defrost
- horrible paint/rust integrity (hood/trunk/roof all faded after 5 years

This was my very first car, and was the most expensive "free" car I've ever owned.

Cheaply made, poorly designed abomination of an automobile. BEWARE!

The newer GA's have problems, and it all started with their ancestors . . . .

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1999 Dodge Neon, 2002 Dodge Stratus R/T coupe

Very comfortable, powerful, nice curves for an old car ;) fast!!! Very good fuel efficiency (about 38mpg on highway). Solid feel, replacement parts on the cheap side.

Brakes wear out quickly, head gasket...can't think of anything else

I own a 1995 Pontiac Grand Am SE with a 2.3L Quad4 inline-4 with a 4 speed overdrive automatic transmission ( w/ no options at all) and it has 146000km (90000miles).
I bought that car used from a dealer in Eastern Canada 6 years ago(2001). It has been wrecked, declared total loss, and rebuilt just before I got it. I thought it would cause me many problems but no! It has been good to me so far. I travelled across the country a few times without any concerns. NEVER needed a drop of oil.
The major repairs that I had to do on this car were; it overheated in 2004, so head gasket and water pump; in 2005 a connecting rod bearing spun (fixed it myself for 850$CDN).

Seriously, I really like this car, even though I came close to selling it countless times. I would've got rid of it if I wouldn't have been a home mechanic. From my knowledge, I know that the brakes are not the best around, they have been formerly manufactured to stop much smaller cars (like the Sunbird or Cavalier) and have been known to wear out fast.

Everybody I know that had experiences with Grand Ams always tell me that they like them.

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1988 Mercury Tracer
1982 Chevrolet Malibu Classic (still runs well!)

The Brandon, FL dealership provides excellent and professional service.

The car handles well and is sporty. Wider is better.

See review. Maintenance, reliability.

I have driven the Gran Am for 6 years and I do love the Pontiac driving experience. The car handles well on turns and corners and is fast. It is also sporty and practical.

Like other owners, I have had my share of issues with the car, however, the extended warranty was well worth the money. I have replaced two fuel pumps in 6 years. I have replaced the driver's side window twice (the first time it was the mechanism that held the window and the 2nd it was the actual motor). I have replaced two side view mirrors for the driver's side and one on the passenger's side.
Most recently the security system light comes on and often will not allow me to start my car. Fortunately the owner's manual and the local dealership have taught me the trick for getting it started. Fortunately, this issue has not happened when I needed to be somewhere important.

I have never owned anything other than an American car, this car is paid off and having no problems at the moment and pushing 100k miles. When I am in the market to buy my next car; I am likely to buy a Japanese or German made car.

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NONE NOT ONE

Who knows what will be next is what I am always thinking...

I have read reviews on this car since buying it and this is my first post. I can no longer only read and not confirm what a piece of crap this car has been. I have experienced most of the common problems mentioned, including but I am sure not limited to, literally replacing the pads and usually the rotors every six months...they always sound bad. None of my windows work anymore, my cd player does not work and the display occasionaly is not there, the transmission slips all the time, we have replaced the radiator and the heater core, water pump,there is a constant clicking noise coming from the dash, and the heater and ac only function on the 4 or 5 setting. I can not believe I have this great looking still rather new vehicle that is so dissapointing. I hate that I bought it and will never buy Pontiac or GM. It sucks to think so many of us were blinded by the looks of the car.

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1992 Toyota Tercel, 2001 Mitsubishi Galant

head gasket, coolant, heater fan motor, window motors

do not buy a used grand am. the coolant used eats away at the head gaskets and pontiac did not recall or notify their customers of this problem but they knew in 2002. most costomers did not notice until it was too late and now they are dumping aprox $2000.00 to fix or trying to unload them. Pontiac should have rectified this problem when they first found out and saved some of their customers engines. instead they have ignored it and give no support to those affected and do not warn the customers who have not had problems yet. all that you have to do is change out the coolant to avoid this problem. how hard is that? i wish i had known.

very reliable, was nice looking in it's day.

I can't honestly say we found anything really terrible with this car in 10 years.

I have to jump in here and give this car a good review. I drove my Grand Am for 10 years before replacing it very recently - the same week it turned 200,000 miles. It was an extremely reliable car that was drivien daily and also made many road trips. Don't get me wrong - it was time to replace it and with it being 15 years old it was certainly showing it's age. The repairs we have had to do were all expected - no surprises. My husband kept up on the maintenance and it is still in great condition. I am now enjoying a larger luxury vehicle, but will always remember my grand am fondly. Would recommend this car to anyone.

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Did I mention how long I drove this car?

Looked nice when i bought it, besides the scratches...

everything

I purchased my Pontiac on July 11th 2006, i drove it for 5 days then had to bring it back into the shop because my brakes went. they had it for about a week and a half. Between my car going back and forth to the shop the 1st month ive had it, which was a real pain, i finally started driving my car again on august 10th. On September 15th, 2006- a mere 2 months after i bought the car...it caught on fire right in front of my house. I started the car and ran back inside because i forgot something, got in the car and smoke started pouring out from my vents, so i ran back out of the car and in the matter of not even 5 minutes my car was ingulfed in flames, the fire dept came and said it was electrical. And now since my insurance only covered $10,000 and my warranty covered $1,450, i am stuck paying the rest. I tried contacting lawyers and they said there was nothing they could do about this, and from what ive been reading Pontiacs are nothing but garbage and a waste of money

Pretty to look at it ... BUT THAT'S WHERE IT ENDS!!!!

Everything, just name it!

- Head Gaskets
- Intake Manifold
- Electrical system
- Wheel hubs (expensive too)
- Burns through breaks!
- Breaks always squeel!
- Hard on gas.
- All show ... no substance
- Radio (CD player & Display problems)
- Catalytic Converter
- ABS & Tractions control systems can be tempermental!!

I bought this car 10 months ago and thought I got a great deal because it was an SE1 very few miles on it. However since I've bought the piece of crap, I've dumped an additional $3000.00. Between new hubs, Head Gaskets & BREAK (Oh my God the STUPID breaks) ... this car will Bankrupt you!!!! Ther eis currently a Class Action suit against GM in Canada. GM knows that there's a problem with their 3.4L V6 engines and they're dooing nothing about it. For more info, go to: www.classproceedings.ca

GRAND AM's are CRAP ... STAY FAR FAR AWAY!!!

fast,drives ok

breaks down alot cost alot of money out of pocket

WARNING!!!! This is the biggest piece of s***! nothing but problems. New intake manifold at 60K, now has 80K 5 sets of brakes whats up with that??? oh and by the way i was out of warranty of the intkae almost a 1,000 out of my pocket. IF you own one get rid of it. secerity problems leaves me waiting for it to start. total junk just paid it off too. buting a VW this time and im only gettin 2,000 for it!!!

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honda,audi

Acceleration
Sound System
Stability
Overall sound while running

Brakes
Tires wear out too fast

I'd have to say that this car has some really good points and some REALLY bad points. Pontaic has been having a problem with recalls..and my car just happened to be on of them. I've had to have the ignition line(i think) replaced after my car caught on fire when it refused to start.(recall)

Currently my drivers door feels as if it isn't shut all the way, but it is. The brakes and tires on this car wear out really fast.

The best part is that the car doesn't make much noise after starting.