1996 Pontiac Grand Am SE 4 dr 3.1 SFI V6 from North America
Faults:
SEATS ARE HORRIBLY WORN FOR DRIVER... must have been a fat person sitting in them before me.
Let me tell you what happened with this car of mine...
The gas tank leaked 1 day after I got it, so $1680 + gas tank $400...
2 days after that the serpentine belt was gonna snap, changed that $230 because you have to UNMOUNT the freaking engine... because on my particular model they used the side mount. I don't know why, it seems to be random.
That same day... MY ALTERNATOR $230 went as well.
I drove up north to North Bay 400km.. and what do ya know, my crappy plastic radiator side tank cracked; $70 for a used one, $60 for labor.
Oh but guess what... that moron overfilled the tank so the very next day... my HEATER CORE EXPLODED again... cheap GM plastic again.. but this time buckets of fluid, I could not drive it, so far... $60 for replacement that didn't fit... 3 hours labour at a 24 hour shop at 60/hr, so $240 IF and only IF part source has a new part with the piping REVERSED.. they built it backwards you see.
Oh yeah, I had to get new tires; $160 (used), my AC charged for $80, and before I bought it the brakes for $180 (he paid), so let's tally that up... in 3 weeks, count em 3 weeks I spent $1690 + 400 + 230 + 230 + 70 + 60 + 20 + 20 + 30 + 80 + 160 = $2990.. DON'T EVER BUY A GRAND AM.
General Comments:
My next car is a G6...
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 3rd August, 2008
10th Jun 2008, 16:09
I owned a 96 Grand Am also and feel your pain on this. Mine had more problems in 30,000 miles than my last three vehicles have had combined. And this car is known to have issues, just read some of the colorful review on this website about it.
My suggestion to you is that you dump that lemon as soon as possible. Trust me, pouring money into it will NOT fix the problem. It was a cheaply built economy car that will only give you grief.
And RESEARCH your next vehicle carefully before buying. This site is a good resource along with Consumer Reports and sites like MSN Autos that allow readers to post reviews. One of the biggest mistakes a car buyer can make is falling in love with a vehicle because of looks without finding out its reliability record.