6th Oct 2009, 19:24

A 6 cyl. Grand Am? I would stay as far away from that as I could and then a little more. There are TOO many people out there that have had TOO many problems with them.

I have a 1999 Grand Am SE 4cyl. I am currently at 270,000 miles. No, that is not a typo, 270,000 miles. I change the oil every 3000 miles or so. Don't get me wrong, I have had a few problems with the car, but the majority of them were from poor maintenance.

The problems, I had to replace the heater fan resistor card to regain the two lower fan speeds.

The radio was confused which way the volume was supposed to go, up was down and down was up, so I replaced that as well.

The ignition switch went bad so the security light would blink at startup, and I would have to wait 10 minutes for it to clear BEFORE I could try to start it again. I have not yet replaced that, but I did put in a remote starter with the bypass for the passkey to start the car. I start it with the remote and THEN turn the ignition key on.

I replaced the alternator, both front wheel bearings, and the usual general stuff, tires, brakes, spark plugs, serpentine belt.

Now my fuel gauge does not work, and I have to watch my mileage to know when to fill up.

The fuel filter just plugged up last night on my way home from work. The car started chugging and I didn't think I was going to make it home. It was 2am and I was in a dead zone with my phone. This would be MY FAULT as the filter has NEVER been changed since the car was new.

Also, the transmission has NEVER been touched. Not even to change the oil and filter. I never expected to get over about 200,000 miles on the car so I never had it changed. Now, 270,000 miles later it is still running strong.

Over all I really can't complain because it has lasted a LOT of miles with a rather low maintenance bill.

25th Nov 2009, 10:50

Oh my god! I wish I would have seen this site before I bought this car!

I have a 99 Grand Am GT! 2 days after I bought the car the volume control went wacko. I would try to turn it down and the stereo would get louder and louder... Not so great when you have a newborn baby in the back seat.

It drives crappy in the winter... even with Winter tires.

I have had to replace the ignition twice cause the car wouldn't start properly... sometimes twice in a row and the security light would go on. So frustrating when you need to get somewhere, and can't because you have to wait 15 minutes for this flashing light to go off, and hope that it doesn't do it again. I went to my mechanic and he actually disconnected this feature for me.

I have replaced the brakes once. The wheel bearings once. I mean the list could go on and on. Everything on this car except the transmission has been replaced at least once.

The service engine soon light was off the first week I bought the car and ever since then it stays on. I have had the car E tested and it passed, and I have gone in several times to have the car fixed, but it still thinks that there is an emission problem... so I guess the service engine light will be on forever.

The track off and ABS light come on every time I hit a bump in the road or even when I just turn the car on...

The windshield wipers had to be fixed twice, cause they only wanted to turn on when they felt like it... or turn off when the wanted too. Kinda dangerous in a rain or snow storm and you can see to drive.

The antifreeze pump broke... on and on and on

This car drives me crazy... but with all the problems... I would feel bad selling it to someone else... So I'm just going to drive it until it dies... junk it and never by one again.

I do have to say that I love the inside of the car, it is really comfortable. I love the trunk space and the option of pulling the back seat down and expanding trunk room... that has really come in hand...

I was in love with the look of the car when I bought it too...

But... that car still sucks.

15th Dec 2009, 15:37

I have a 99 Grand Am SE. I only had to replace coolant recovery tank and front brakes. Other than that, the car runs great and drives fine too. I wouldn't exactly buy another one, But I haven't had any problems with mine. Mine seems to be one of the better ones. My stereo nor anything has problems now. I guess I'm just lucky.

10th Jan 2010, 19:05

I own a 2000 Pontiac Grand Am GT. Bought it used with 67,000 miles on it. It seemed to run fine for a awhile. Then I too noticed the problem with the flashers. Sometimes they wouldn't work, but if you would bump the hazard switch, then they would work again. The heater wouldn't work on the 1 and 2 switches, then when you drive down the road after about an hour the air would quit blowing out. Not good when it's freezing weather. Had the whole temperature switch or box, whatever you call it, fixed for about $350. Seemed to work fine for the rest of the winter that year, now it's back to doing what it was doing before. Can't afford another $350 to fix it. Now the intake manifold is leaking, like many others have talked about. I've also noticed the problem with the volume switch not working correctly at times and the Trac light coming on, with every bump you hit. Since blinker problem was recalled, will Pontiac still fix it, or will they charge you?

20th Jul 2010, 14:01

So I read a lot about the blinker problems on here, which my 99 GA GT has never had problems with. But I did have to replace my starter. I had a shop replace my ignition and my rack and pinion. But now I'm having a serious problem with my power steering and I think it might have been a faulty rack and pinion that the shop replaced. So I'm putting it up on a lift soon and seeing if that's the problem, because it doesn't turn left, but if I turn it right, I'm able to straighten it back, but not start turning left. It's like $200 to just get the part, but then I don't know if I can replace it myself ,so I know that I'm doing the right work or not. Any recommendations?