15th Aug 2007, 15:27

My wife bought a 99 Grand AM SE (4 door) used back in 2000. Up until 2003 the car ran fine, and still runs fine. It's all the cosmetic plastic that's falling apart.

1. The dash is pealing off starting from the windshield.

2. I've had to replace both door power mirrors. These are made out of cheap plastic.

3. I have replaced all 4 power window regulators. All the motors are fine... the pulley and cable system inside the door that pull the window up and down have small cheap plastic parts that break after years of use. Mind you, we don't have kids so the back windows are NEVER used, but we still had to replace. Each regualtor runs about $120-$140 a piece because you have to buy them WITH the window motors... unless you chance it and go to a junk yard. So far I've become pretty proficent at pulling door panels off and replacing these damn things.

4. Had to replace the light bulbs in the headlights (normal), all the plastic parts inside the headlight fell apart (broke) in my hand.

I will never purchase a car from Pontiac. They parts are cheap and over priced.

24th Aug 2007, 09:18

Hey, I have a 99 Grand Am GT and the clicking noise that you hear when you put your blinker on keeps on clicking, even if the blinker is off. Do you know what I should do about it, or how much it is going to cost to fix it?

6th Sep 2007, 15:51

I bought a 2002 Pontiac grand Am in 2004. I've had problems with it from day one. There was the noise from the front end. I was told I needed brakes and rotors. I've been replacing brakes and rotors every year since I've had the car. And it still has the noise. I replaced the alternator in 2005. I replaced the fuel tank in 2006. I then started hearing the famous clicking noise even though my signal isn't on. My hazard lights don't work. My radio/Cd player started doing strange things. My right headlight will be out one day and working the next. Now every time I use my turn signal a puff of smoke comes out. What is going on with these cars?

14th Sep 2007, 15:12

Hey everyone, just thought I pass on some advice to those of you who've posted here. I'm a owner of a 1999 Grand Am GT and have had most of the same problems as you. So here it goes...

First, and most importantly, GM vehicles (especially the Grand Am) use Dex-Cool engine coolant. Flush that stuff out as soon as you can and put the regular green stuff into your engine. Dex-Cool corrodes your head gaskets and will eventually cause coolant to leak into your engine, mixing with the engine oil (bad enough) while your engine overheats because all the coolant is now in the engine. GM says Dex-Cool lets you drive longer without replacing coolant, when in reality the longer you drive with Dex-Cool, the more time it has to corrode your engine. Normally you would flush your coolant every 50-60,000 miles or so, but GM says Dex-Cool allows you to go 100,000+ miles! I almost had to get new heads because of this problem. Luckily my small town mechanic new a guy at a machine shop who was able to fix up my existing heads like new. If your mechanic tells you that you should really use Dex-Cool anyway, don't listen to him and insist he put the regular green stuff in. It cools your engine just as good as Dex-Cool would without all the bad side effects. There is absolutely NO advantage to using Dex-Cool and I can't stress this enough. GM keeps putting it in their vehicles because of the problems it causes. Most people will either get a new car because the damage is so great or spend a ton of money on the costly repairs. Either way GM will make money because a lot of people will take their car to the dealership for these kind of repairs, and since their already at the GM dealership when the mechanic tells them the extent of the damage, they're more likely to get a new GM car.

Replacing window regulators are a part of life with GM vehicles (not just the Grand Ams). Don't buy a replacement from the dealer as not only do they rip you off, but it will eventually break down again. Score one off eBay--yes, you can find new parts on eBay!

I also had a problem with my fan blower only working on 3-5 but not 1 & 2. Turned out to be a relay that needed replacement. Check that out and see if it works for you too. Mine's been blowing perfectly on 1-5 now that I had the relay fixed.

The fuel gauge will be an expensive fix. You'll have to replace the entire fuel pump (between $500-600 depending on labor) as the mechanism for measuring the remaining fuel is built into the fuel pump and can't be replaced separately.

Dash peeling from the windshield is actually common for GM vehicles, but this is due more to heat warping the material. Try to keep your window cracked during hot days to keep it from getting worse. Your only other choice is to replace the entire dash.

The clicking sound you hear even when your blinker is not on will cost you around $200. The whole turn signal unit needs to be replaced.

And finally, for any other strange electrical problems you'll probably need to get your whole wire harness replaced. This will be expensive too (at the very least $400), so decide for yourself if it's worth it or if you'd rather get a new car.

19th Sep 2007, 18:41

The last poster's comments regarding the use of Dex-cool coolant was dead on the money. I am a former, and not so proud owner of a 1999 Pontiac Grand Am. I had to have my lower intake manifold gasket replaced at 60,000 miles due to my car overheating. I took my car to the Pontiac dealership where I purchased the car for the repairs. Not once was it mentioned that the gasket was corroded due to the Dex-cool coolant. I hadn't had my coolant flushed yet as the owners manual for my vehicle said this didn't need to be performed until 100,000 miles.

Well exactly 60,000 miles later I had the exact same problem. This time I took my car to a locally owned repair shop that was family owned and had an owner who would be thorough and honest with the customer. He gave me a very long explanation on how bad Dex-cool coolant is for your engine, etc. He said that he has at least 1-2 vehicles a week in for repairs due to the Dexcool coolant. He advised me that I replace not only the lower intake manifold gasket, but all of the hoses, etc. for the cooling system where the sludge from the Dex-cool had built up. He also indicated to me that there was an aftermarket gasket set that was made specifically to address this issue. He said Pontiac knew that there was a better gasket available, but chose not to use it as they make more money with repeat failures. This more robust gasket set cost little more than the factory gasket being used by Pontiac. Once all of my repairs were completed the owner of the shop recommended that if you continue to use Dex-cool coolant you flush the system and replace the coolant every 15,000-20,000 miles. I would as the last poster mentioned make the change to a regular green coolant.

After the second lower intake repair in the lifetime of my vehicle I contacted Pontiac to see what they had to say. They didn't think it was unusual to have this type of failure twice in the lifetime of a vehicle. This shouldn't happen once in the lifetime of a vehicle in my opinion.

Well needles to say after all of this and the expense at 120,000 miles to replace the lower intake manifold gasket and cooling system hoses my car finally overheated and died at 150,000 miles due to a cracked head. This was a blessing as I could finally stop putting money into this awful money pit!

Good luck to those of you who are still fighting the fight!