Faults:

My distributor broke about 2 months after I purchased the car, but it was cheap to replace.

The major thing wrong with this car is that it is constantly over-heating! I have replaced the water pump, the radiator, the thermostat, the overflow tank, and the heater coil. Nothing has fixed it yet...

It wears brakes very quickly.

It also goes through tires pretty fast.

My air condition went out last year and like I read in another review "the AC costs more to fix than the car is worth".

General Comments:

All and all I love my Grand Am.

It is usually very reliable.

It has a lot of take-off power and does really well on gas mileage!

This is a good car for the price, it just has a few bugs!

The driver seat is comfortable, but the others are not really.

Faults:

The alternator died at 80000 miles. The battery of course, died around the same time. I seem to be constantly getting new tires, they suggested using low-profile tires, but they tend to wear extremely fast and the car is the roughest ride I have ever driven. (I think the shocks may have gone around 90000 miles ago!)

General Comments:

I really love my Grand Am, it is disappointing that it is in such great condition and they came out with a new model, it killed the value of the car. If it was not for the blue book I believe this would be a great car to purchase. It continues to run excellent at 140000 miles. I have always taken care of it and the only bad aspect is that the air conditioning went out a couple years ago and according to the blue book, air conditioning costs more than the value of the car!

Riders have complained about the passenger seat being uncomfortable, but other than that most people can't believe how old the car is for how well it runs. (hopefully, I did not just jinx the car and it won't start now...)

Faults:

The drivers side window has just started having problems going up and down. It does not track properly and binds on the trim.

There is an occasional oil leak in cold weather.

The alternator was replaced at 120,000 miles.

The drivers seat tends to shift slightly in hard braking. It has done this since I bought it new. The dealer has attempted several fixes, but the problem is not in the bolting of the seat itself.

The hard plastic is starting to rattle, but at nearly 150000 that is not unusual.

General Comments:

This car has been a great purchase. A nice solid feel and good acceleration. The handling of the front wheel drive is great in snow and ice.

The finish still looks great with just a wash.

The trade off for me has been the ride. I enjoy the tight feel and the stiffer suspension, but for longer trips it will become tiring.

Faults:

Master Cylinder went out at 50,000 miles. You need a pressure brake bleeder for this, most likely you have to take it to the dealer.

Drivers power window motor went out at about 65,000. Replaced it myself for $50.00.

Eats batteries like crazy. 5 year batteries last about 2.5 years.

Ditto for alternators. Changed 3 "lifetime" alternators.

Transmission went out at 75,000. $2000.00 contribution to mechanics boat fund.

Motor mount is a funky liquid filled design. Failed at about 95,000. Only about $30.00 to replace this, but a real bugger drilling out the old insert.

Fan belt tensioner exploded at about 100,000. This cost about $80.00, but was a real bear to replace. Fortunately, you can take apart the inside of the passenger side fender to access.

One injector went bad at 80,000. (not bad).

Radiator failed at 90,000. The cheap plastic sides of the radiator cracked.

Thermostat bad, still haven't replace it (failed open and I live in Texas).

3 sets of "Lifetime" plug wires.

EGR valve failure at 80,000.

2 fan belts, but these were preventive maintenance kind of things. Screwy design requires undoing the top motor mount to slip belt in.

Right rear drum brakes came apart and had to replace all the springs and wheel cylinder. 60,000 miles.

Multi-function turn signal switch would turn off the headlights for about 5 seconds when you turned on the brights. $80.00 to replace this switch. 75,000 miles. Not too bad.

Tilt wheel has some slop in it. Was able to improve things slightly by taking apart the steering column and bending the hinge pin.

Floor mounted gear selector lockout broke. Had to buy the whole assembly for about $100.00. 95,000 miles.

Gas tank door release cable mounting bracket had to be replaced. 25,000 miles.

Air conditioner compressor is making noise. I expect to replace it soon. 115,000.

General Comments:

This year (1995) is kind of a cross-over year for ODB1 to ODBII. You can't blink out codes using the dash lights like you used to be able to. It also means that you can't use the low cost ODBII code scanners. So you are at the mercy of the dealer unless you want to shell out major $ for a Tech1 scan tool.

Paint has held up very well. Looks like GM got the clear coat problem solved.

Still fun to drive. 3.1 has lots of low end torque and barely breaks a sweat at 90 mph.