Faults:

Previous owner had puttied head gasket leak.

General corrosion due to road salt.

Severely damaged hood due to previous owner hitting a deer.

Weld at front of muffler has broken, causing pipe to rattle hard.

Severe engine knock at startup.

Headlight switch mooring broken off.

Also a short in head light switch.

Power windows work at random intervals.

Power locks ineffective.

Windshield washer switch broken.

General Comments:

My girlfriend calls it the 'rolling couch' due to it's bench front seat. Although, I don't have a power couch in my living room.

Very perky for a 17 year old car.

Heavy duty brakes were installed at some period. I recommend strong brakes. Especially in non-ABS vehicles.

Due to head gasket leak that I can't afford to repair, oil leaks onto the serpentine belt. This leads to a general splatter all over the motor, and unfortunately, onto the right front disk brake. This can make stopping interesting in wet weather or after a period of hard driving. I run 30 weight oil to help keep the motor from leaking so much.

Previous owner had installed a new thermostat that sticks like crazy in stop and go traffic. Radiator fan also doesn't work, which doesn't help the problem. I'm considering hardwiring a new fan to a toggle switch and removing the thermostat all together. It won't warm up so well, but there are work arounds to that problem as well.

I love this car, for all it's problems. It has great handling in slippery conditions and can keep up with the big dogs rolling down the freeways these days. She provides a very smooth drive, and comfortable seating for 4.

Faults:

Transmission went out at about 70,000 miles, but that was driving during an "emergency situation" at 100+ mph, shifting it manually.

Plastic "side" tank on aluminum radiator cracked and had to be replaced, (typical GM cost cutting)

General Comments:

I also have a 1997 Pontiac Grand Am, and it is a piece of crap. (It is made in USA, vs. my 6000 which was made in Canada of mostly German (Bosch) parts. My Grand Am has NO brakes after 2 hard stops, because the brake system is too small for such a big car. it takes longer to start than my 6000 that is 10 years older.

I also has a leak somewhere in the trunk, that cause it to have 2 inches of water to sit in the spare tire well all the time.

Faults:

At the end of the ownership the car had more replaced parts than the original ones. Air flow sensors, oxygen sensors, water pumps and fuel injectors were replaced on annual or semi-annual basis. The inflatable shocks died at 55,000 and the cost of replacing them was 1/4 of the car's value. If the car would be services at a dealer, out of the 115,000K 100K would be spent on trips between the repair shop and the house. The oil pump started acting up at 60,000 leading to sudden death at 115,000K. Until today, the family gathers yearly to celebrate the day this car was towed away.

General Comments:

One big GM misfit. Unfortunately, GM hasn't learned much from this mistake since Corsica's and Lumina's were made until 1999 with similar engineering solutions (and similar problems)!