Faults:
While driving in rain, water enters the vehicle from the underside of the door (poor seals) Replaced seals at 5000 miles, 40,000, and 85,000.
Air conditioning speed switch failed at 20000 miles.
Brake lights (controller board) failed at 22000 miles.
Dashboard has shrunk in the heat. Looks horrible.
Plastic Keeper for headlight bulb dry rotted and disintegrated.
Dome light falls down regularly.
Water pump failed less than 6 months old.
Lower Intake Manifold Leak (Repair $1100)
Replacement of serpentine belt $98. Requires removal of an engine mount and raising of the engine for replacement.
At 90,000 miles Alternator fell completely off of engine. Brackets broke under normal driving conditions.
Replaced Thermostat 4 times before 96,000 miles. The location under the intake manifold almost assures that this job can only be accomplished a mechanic using specialized tools. $130 for each replacement.
Driver seat has worn area where metal protrudes and will tear or rip clothing. Poor cushions and reinforcement.
Fuel gauge failed at 82,000 miles.
Clips that hold electric windows have failed. These white plastic clips are designed for a specific life span. Luckily only one window shattered when the clips failed on our car. Replacement clips are $30. (for two pieces of plastic no bigger than a silver dollar)
General Comments:
The overall aesthetics of the car are nice for small person. So from the word go, Pontiac has no saving aspect in competition with the Asians.
The engineering of the engine compartment as well as many key components that utilize plastic components are substandard. This planned obsolescence is a why US buyers are refusing to buy American.
Whether the problem is cost reductions or incompetent component designers/engineers, Pontiac is leading the charge in Customer dissatisfaction.
Who in their right mind designs a car where you have to remove an engine mount to replace the serpentine belt? Any high school shop student could tell you what is wrong with that one. Not to mention the location of the thermostat.
Recently I heard a story that a US manufacture was forcing the employees to drive the product they were manufacturing. If you ask me, the only way GM has a chance in competing is that they force their engineers to drive Asians products. Learn how professionals do the job.
9th Nov 2006, 18:50
I hadn't owned a GM car since 1976 until I bought my 2001 Grand Am. I have never owned a better car than this Grand Am, and we've owned cars from every U.S. maker as well as two Japanese lemons and one German disaster. In almost 60,000 miles the car has never had a single rattle, squeak or any kind of problem. I deeply regret Pontiac's decision to stop making the Grand Am and replace it with the ugly G-6.
I'd buy a new Grand Am for my next car if they still made them. As it is, I'll most likely drive this one til I die. Some of our friends have well over 200,000 miles on their Grand Ams.