Faults:
I would like to start from the beginning. We had 1995 Honda Accord EX, the car had 180k miles on it, and I was driving it pretty rough at times. Yet it had never stranded me or needed maintenance outside of the regular service.
Still, the car was getting old and mileage was high, so we decided to look for the replacement. Our targeted area was American (we tried to go against the myth that GM/Ford make B.S) cars.
We looked at few Mustangs - didn't like them. Then we looked at the 1999 Grand Prix GT coupe. After a test drive, we were in love with the car. 300 miles later, stuff started going off. It started when I was backing up from the garage, and shifted from R to D; the car started jumping and rattling like crazy. Check engine light came on, we took it to the nearest shop, and they said we'd got a random engine misfire. The car was left at the dealership... they found that the head gasket was blown, then spark plug wires were bad ($1600).
Well not even 1k miles after that, I pull up into the parking lot, and hear the buzzing sound and steam is coming from under the hood. Bam, the elbow from water pump to the engine cracked open. The car left me stranded there for 3 hours while a tow truck arrived; shop repaired the damage at no cost.
Now to the rest of the things that is going wrong.
- Random oil smell from under the hood when the car was running for an extended period of time.
- Brakes are squeaking terribly.
- Transmission shifts rough at times.
- While idling, the engine vibrates extensively.
- Speakers fading in/out.
- Fog in the headlights.
- Driver's side door panel and window are rattling.
- The car gets 14MPG at best.
General Comments:
This car is a coupe, and with the bra on it looks extremely aggressive.
Power is inadequate for the FWD car; every time I need to make a quick turn or while starting in the rain uphill, the tires spin like crazy. Traction control is not efficient at all.
Handling is not that great. Car has extreme under steer at higher speeds; I tried to turn an off ramp at 50 MPH... I wasn't turning at all.
Acceleration is great through all gears, but what good is it if I am scared to floor it because my mind keeps showing me images of something breaking.
Ride quality and comfort are pretty nice.
The car gets a lot of looks.
I would not recommend this car to people who need a reliable transportation. It's a one time rocket.
It would have been the BMW/Mercedes killer if it was reliable. Great performance and looks are overshadowed by poor reliability and quality.
9th Dec 2010, 11:19
Exactly! This shows these cars are great. All you have to do is the regular maintenance with good products. Now if you want to be a cheap skate and not do the maintenance then you will have expensive repairs. Your car will also be unreliable!