1994 Pontiac Trans Sport 3.8 litre

Summary:

A dependable van with good performance for families - a family man's sports car

Faults:

For the most part, I have only had to replace brakes, battery, and tires.

Recall on transmission cooling line that was fixed at no cost by dealer less than 1 year after buying it.

Air conditioning / heater fan high setting quit working - had to have a relay replaced.

High fan setting quit working again several years later (last month) - dealer replaced relay - took it home and it quit again - dealer had to replace blower motor - seems to have fixed the problem.

Anti-lock brake system works well except occasionally in wet weather (of course) gives warning light that one wheel sensor is not responding - this is a problem that seems to happen the most in winter weather with heavy salting of roads. I personally believe it is a poorly designed wheel sensor - dealer suggested not replacing it until it completely goes bad since sensor is not separate from wheel and whole unit must be replaced which is expensive.

Seat belt on driver's side quit working and had to be replaced - now passenger side is wearing out - seat belts are constantly twisting and jamming as belt goes through hanging bracket and constantly need untwisted and fixed taking a few minutes every so often.

May or may not have a recall for seat belt mechanism in rear middle seat - haven't taken it to the dealer yet to find out if mine is involved.

Sunroof pop-up clamp is hard to close.

Most aggravating, and consistent problem is with power door - quits working - then fuse must be pulled for about 60 seconds or so then put back and the door may or may not work - if not pull fuse again. After one or more times of going through this procedure described in owner's manual the door starts again - frequency of about 5 times a year.

General Comments:

Overall this has been a reliable vehicle with few pit stops at the garage.

Drives like a small car rather than a van, smooth ride, and very responsive in turns.

Anti-lock brakes have saved me from wrecking several times.

The 3.8 litre engine has enough power for passing and going up hills even with a full load and is easy on gas.

Individual bucket seats are easy to pull out in any combination to make mor e room to transport items. I have transported windows and doors, wood, cement stones, bags of cement and other items for different home improvement projects over the years with no problem. Large enough to carry all of the Girl Scout cases of cookies that my daughter's troop sold in one load for several years too!

While interior is not fancy or plush, the material the seats are made from has held up well.

Its very hard to clean the inside of the huge front window. You need a mini-me like person to climb up on the dashboard to be able to reach it.

My favorite part is the look. Its the sports car of vans in outside styling. Mine is the color aqua and sharp looking. The plastic body does not dent and except for a few scratches, it looks almost as good as the day I bought it and shines.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 4th August, 2002