Congrats on the SE-2. I have a 2001 SE-1 that has been the best car I've ever owned. The only repair has been one battery and the front brake pads (which I did myself for about $18). I put high performance AA-traction rated 2:15/60 tires on mine and it helped the handling a LOT. I also own a new Mustang, and the Grand Am is more comfortable and fun to drive. When my Mustang club has another rally, I plan to drive my GRAND AM!!

Since this is your first car, I'm sure you want to take care of it. I'm a mechanic and own a Grand AM (I also made comment 17:26 above). I thought I'd give you a few pointers on keeping your Grand Am in good condition:

1. Never, ever, EVER let the heat gage get into the "hot" end of the scale. If it starts overheating STOP IMMEDIATELY and find out what's wrong. Even mildly overheating these engines will ruin them (usually blown head gaskets or worse, all VERY expensive).

2. Never slam the doors. The window clips on these cars break easily, but they WILL NOT unless the doors are slammed.

3. Use FULL SYNTHETIC OIL. Yes, it's expensive, and yes, it's worth it.

4. Run a can of injector cleaner through the car every 5000 miles or so. This can save you expensive MANUAL cleaning of the injectors.

5. As soon as your tires are worn out, replace them with some good high-traction rated tires in a slightly larger size (I run 215:60 Kumho AA-rated on my GA). You won't believe the improvement in traction, cornering and braking.

5. Keep your ignition key CLEAN. The ignition and security systems on these cars are prone to mess up, and it is often related to dirt in the ignition switch from a dirty key.

6. It's not a good idea to manually shift the automatic (you can do it, but it's just as fast if you let it shift on its own). Under no circumstances hold it in 3rd gear to more than 130mph.

Lots of luck, and enjoy your car!!