2006 Pontiac G5 Pursuit 2.2 from North America

Summary:

Cheap. Crap. Gone

Faults:

Minor wear & tear items such as brake pads etc.

Driver's door handle broke.

Driver's seat adjustment broke.

General Comments:

You get what you pay for I suppose; cheaply made, cheap to buy. The automatic transmission was easily the worst I've ever used; I think GM borrowed the microprocessor used to control the gear changes from an old pocket calculator; it would pick gears seemingly at random any time you pressed the gas pedal at anything over, say, 60kmh. The Pursuit name was presumably a joke, as the car would have trouble pursuing a reasonably healthy jogger up the street. I've seen more power and performance from a 1400cc engine in Europe, but that's GM for you; they love their museum piece engineering.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 15th June, 2011

15th Jun 2011, 21:11

What you got was basically a Cobalt, but these issues sound typical for most GMs. Hasty designs and cheap engineering.

15th Jun 2011, 21:58

"that's GM for you; they love their museum piece engineering."

- One of the many reasons that GM hit the skids.

16th Jun 2011, 20:51

I bought a 2010 Cobalt 2LT, it wasn't too bad at first. However the fit and finish for a 24,000 sticker price car is highway robbery. I find new faults appearing in the shoddy build quality every day, but I paid too much for it, and to trade, I would lose big, since I have a loan for it.

2nd Jul 2014, 04:31

If it's so disappointing, why did you say "I don't know if I would buy another"?

2006 Pontiac G5 Pursuit SE 2.2 from North America

Summary:

I don't recommend this car, I will not buy GM again

Faults:

In very cold weather, -10c for example, if I drive the car through a car wash, and park the car outside, then apply the parking brake, they freeze in the applied position. The dealer says it's a natural thing, but I had many cars before that went through the same routine and never had a parking brake freeze. I tend to believe the dealer knows of the flaw, can do nothing about it, and has only cheap excuses to manage the problem.

Ahhh! The all too known "control arm bushing" problem. Loud clanging noises from the front suspension when crossing bumps, or driving through even slight rough road. The dealer replaces the control arm bushing, this takes care of the problem initially, then it starts coming back after about 10000 km. Certainly a defect in the suspension, as pointed out in many other reviews on the vehicle.

When I hit the brake at high speed, the front end vibrates heavily. I took it into the dealership, they claimed that the brakes (all four of them) needed replacing. Very expensive work. Replacing the brakes did not resolve the problem. While the car was in the dealership for the brake work, they damaged it, and needed to keep it longer to fix the damage. I rented another G5 for the period, guess what... same problem with the rental G5, high speed braking vibration.

The car pulls to the left at high speed. I have to put effort into keeping the car straight. I tried all lanes on the highway, in all cases, the car pulls left. The dealer checked the alignment, they claim its all within spec. Tire pressures and tire quality are good. They test drive the car, they say it's OK, but it's not. Dealers seem to have to make a lot of excuses for this poor product.

After three years, I had to get the tires serviced. Apparently they lost their bond with the rim and were all leaking slowly.

Recalls: Injectors replaced, power steering control motor replaced.

General Comments:

Lots of defects and issues that even the dealer can't resolve.

Really dislike the dishonesty of the dealers on problems that they see each day and refuse to tell the truth.

Too much wasted time and money taking this thing into the shop.

Really hate the dealer selling services that are not necessary for the vehicle.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 22nd August, 2010

22nd Aug 2010, 12:45

Wow! It looks like the only thing your dealer DID NOT lie about was the frozen parking brake. The dealer is actually right about this one, as it is possible for the parking brake to freeze in any car. The fact that this did not happen to your other cars really is just pure luck.