1997 Pontiac Grand Am SE 2.4 DOHC 4 from North America
Summary:
Nice car for the money
Faults:
The water pump went out at 51000.
The battery went out when it had 84000.
Alternator went out at 91000.
My starter went out at 77000.
General Comments:
My car seem to run very good for a six year old car. Ya it has some stuff I consider to be normal repairs - the water pump, battery, starter, and the alternator. I've had Ford, Chevy and Dodge that had the same stuff.
The power locks work good.
The engine doesn't use or leak a drop of oil.
Transmission shifts good.
Them damn engineers are stupid though for making something that go's out commonly hard to change - the water pump was only $59.00 from Autozone.
Changed water pump myself since the dealer wanted $800 to change, but I can see why, it took 10 hours to change it.
I don't know about other people's cars, why they're noisy going 75-80 mph, but mine is probably cause I bought it smashed and fixed it up. The car has a salvage title, had to get it inspected before I could register the car here in Wisconsin, which doesn't say much they only inspect if you're registering branded salvage, that's the only time they inspect.
Don't by GM replacement parts, they suck. I had to buy a replacement mirror cause the one on the pasenger side was ripped off from the accident. That thing faded fast, so it was like grey. All I did was repaint it black and it looks good.
All in all a very good car for cheap, since I bought it, fixed it myself for $6000 dollars in 1999 when they were still getting $12000 for a used one from the dealer.
The car shook real bad, but the rotors were cheap aftermarket ones from China. Bought ones made in America, still shake a real little bit, but probably cause it was smashed once.
My car is actually pretty nice for the money.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 12th August, 2003
27th Nov 2004, 22:32
I completely agree with you. I own the same vehicle and I have the ABS light problem and fuses blow. It still drives, but it seems like the minute you fix one thing something else fails almost immediately. You really need to have a lot of money to maintain this vehicle.