4th Jul 2002, 21:26

Hi, I own a Pontiac Grand AM 99'. I brought it when it had 16000 miles on it. Right now it has 25000 miles on it. I am quite happy with the performance.

However, I have experienced problems with brakes. They vibrate a lot when braking at high speeds. I was told by the mechanic that I will need to replace the rotor, calipers etc at 28000 miles. I also hear some noise when I am on a ramp or doing a turn.

11th Aug 2002, 07:42

I am the owner of a 99 Grand Am GT which I bought new. I've been reading the other peoples' comments. I had some of the same problems. I had noise from the wheels and when I took the car back to the dealer they couldn't find the problem. Of couse, they didn't hear anything, because the car was up on the lift when they ran it. From the comments at this site, I suggested to the technician that it could be tire related. The second time I took it back they finally listened to the suggestion about the tires. They could hear the noise when they drove it, and heard nothing when on the lift. The dealer said I should try changing to another brand tire to see if the noise goes away. I had 26,000 miles on the original tires. I changed to a different brand and I don't hear the noise anymore. By the way the dealer would not stand behind the tires because they said Goodyear would not back them up either.

16th Aug 2002, 11:13

I had a problem with the intake manifold gasket leaking with only 40,000 miles on the car. The dealer would not cover the $800 dollar repair. A co worker of mine has the same car with 36,000 miles on it. It has the same problem and the dealer will not cover it because he is just out of warranty. Is this a coincidence? Also, I had the same noise problem with the brakes. Of course there was nothing wrong with it. Last I had a bad hazard light switch, this was causing my turn signals to not function. It took a lot of fighting to get that fixed, even though I was still under warranty.

30th Aug 2002, 00:59

All who have had front brake problems, try having the rear brakes cleaned and adjusted (if rear drum equipped). it will lighten the work load on the front.

If rear brakes are disc, set the parking brake when the car is parked. This keeps them from "freezing up" and maintains adjustment.

I'm not defending poor dealerships or lying auto mechanics. This advice should be used with any automobile, and most honest auto techs will tell their customers.

And yes... I was an auto tech for 10 years.

13th Feb 2003, 10:30

02/12/03

I bought my Grand Am new and had the power steering bracket break the first year. The rotors were fixed twice. The vinyl trim on the rear doors by the windows keep coming loose also. Today the resistor switch went bad and I purchased a new one. Other than those few problems I just love the car as it has a lot of bang for the buck.

R.S.

Indiana.

9th Mar 2003, 19:40

I just had my driver side strut spring break and puncture my tire while backing out of my garage. Anyone else have this type of problem?

Ohio.

10th Mar 2003, 08:40

Hi, My name is David.

I own a Pontiac Grand Am 99 with 69,000 miles on it. I've had the Alternator replaced. The Water Pump replaced. The radio replaced (because of a volume knob that actually turns the volume UP when you're turning the knob down. Hmmmmm) The right side view mirror replaced TWICE because it ripped off going through a car wash. And now, I need a new intake Manifold Gasket!!! 600.00 repair! My family has had a lot of problems with GM cars. I think my next car is going to be a HONDA. I hear nothing but great things and that they last well over 100,000 miles.

I guess the good thing is that I've never had a problem with my brakes like the people on this message board. Or maybe I did. I can't remember... I probably did back when I first bought the car.

All in all, the warranty sucks and it never seems to cover the things that should be covered.

Love,

David.

10th Mar 2003, 09:55

I am now on my second replacement of the blower motor resistor card. I spoke with the dealer about it - they said it is a very common Grand Am problem, they can't believe it's not a recall of some sorts. If you lose all or part of your blower speed control, it's this stupid card!

22nd Apr 2003, 12:50

I too have a 99 Grand Am GT. I have had the blower resistor replaced at 47000km's. All the light's (front and back) hold moisture under the lenses. I have had all 4 tires replaced for humming noises coming from front end. Rear rotors were machined. Front wheel bearings were replaced at 50000km's. At 37000km's new pads and rotor's had to be put on. Now at 58000km's they are telling me I need to replace the pads, rotors and have front and rear caliper service done. The only things that were covered under warranty on this was my resistor and wheel bearings. Oh yeah, my trim on my doors (interior) is also falling off. All this in a fairly new car! I bought a lemon!!!

2nd May 2003, 20:20

I own a 1999 Grand Am Gt with many of the problems listed before me, but one thing that hasn't been mentioned is the clanking sound that comes from my front end when making turns. A lot of problems for a car with only 36000 miles!!

9th May 2003, 01:48

I too have been having problems with my 1999 Grand AM GT, it's a V6 with approximately 126k, mainly highway.

There is a constant rubbing or grinding noise coming from the front right area. Thanks to previous comments, I now have something to tell the local garage to check.

The passenger window motor assembly is shattered and needs to be replaced, with the driver side about to go soon. Luckily both are being replaced.

The engine coolant is constantly leaking and no one can give me a straight answer as to a cause.

The fan blowing into the car at max. goes from whisper quiet at two and then super blow at three.

Finally, there is multiple peelings of paint in and around the doors.

Even with all these problems, I still enjoy my car because it's mine... but in the future, I'll look to another car company!

3rd Jun 2003, 20:30

My 2000 Grand Am Gt was great until the strange noises coming from the front end at 13,000 miles. I was an auto tech earlier on in life and had never heard a noise like it. It was not your typical scraping or grinding of the rotors, but a metal like rubbing noise that never amplified into a typical break noise. After two visits to the dealer and sitting thru the insulting tire slipping on the rim excuse, "the head tech even went so far as putting the car on the rack and spraying both sides of the wheel where the tire bead contacts the rim with silicon". The tech then proudly said "now we'll take it for a ride and you'll see the noise is gone"! Two blocks later I was asking him what his next plan was to get rid of the noise that was still there. Not ready to yet give up on the pesky tire excuse, he even went as far as pulling two front wheels and tires off a brand new Grand Am and putting them on my car for a test ride, of course the noise was still there. At this point he shook his head in amazement and said "well, I'll have to think about this for a minute". I then told him while your thinking about it, go grab me a rotor off the shelf so I can make this noise go away. He finally gave up and replaced the front rotors and pads "which had no visible ware on them at all" and the noise was gone, AMAZING.

23,000 miles, back to the dealer for the front rotor noise again, This time they dismounted the front tires so they could glue them to the rims. While doing so they chewed up the aluminum rim and left the noise intact. Then changed the front left wheel hub. Of course noise still there. After threatening the service adviser they checked the front rotors again, Front pads are still like new, rotors look great, but sound terrible. Dealer not so nice this time. Cut one rotor, left original pads on car. Replaced rim they tore up and sent car on it's way, noise gone. They spent a lot of money on this repair to wind up just cutting one rotor.

30,000 miles and transmission sounds like it's going to fall out of car. Changed bad front left wheel hub again. Inner and outer tie rod ends and radio for faulty volume knob which actually works in reverse.

49,000 miles, time to do the front brakes. I'm thru with delco parts and replace both front rotors and pads with aftermarket parts. An hour and a half later I think I'm done so I snug up the lug nuts while the car is on jack stands, and will then torque the front wheels when I put the car on the ground. As I get up and lean on the left front wheel, it shakes in and out a 1/4 of an inch. Enter front wheel hub number three.

The following weekend I'm detailing my beautiful trouble free Grand Am Gt when while cleaning the engine, I notice the leak that has formed between the front head and the intake manifold on the drivers side. The day after I close on my new home I will be trading it in for a sport ute. Have owned 3 Pontiacs, this was the last one!!!