20th Aug 2006, 14:08
The Grand Am is a great car, and getting 300,000 miles out of one is not unheard of. Some time ago I stopped to help a guy whose old Grand Am (not sure of the year) had died in an intersection. He told me it was time to start having trouble with it. It had 358,000 miles on it!! My 2001 has nowhere near that much, but in nearly 6 years of hard driving it has yet to have one single problem of any kind. I know people who have put over 200,000 relatively trouble-free miles on Grand Ams and Grand Prixs. Pontiacs are well built cars. Lots of luck with yours.
19th Feb 2008, 17:32
I have a 2004 Grand Am GT and I have has nothing, but problems. Both windows are broken and after reading everyone's comments I realize this has been going on for many years. I will NEVER buy another Pontiac in my life and will tell everyone I know the same. What a POS.
10th Jul 2008, 16:27
I haven't had a problem with my car as of yet (knock on wood). The mileage is better than advertised. Say's 29mpg on the highway, but going from Illinois to N.Y. I averaged 33mpg. Which at this time, with gas prices, is nice.
18th Mar 2009, 13:04
I bought my 2004 Grand Am GT new off the lot in '04 and have been very pleased with it ever since..
I had to replace the brakes at 47,000 miles, but other than that it's been a great car! Very easy to drive, lots of get up and go, and I love the dashboard when it lights up all red at night.
You do have to reset the 'change oil' light after an oil change, but all the guys at my Oil Can Henry's know how to do it, so it's not a big deal.. I would recommend this car to anyone! :)
19th Mar 2009, 18:03
Although having to do a brake job at only 47,000 miles sounds a bit premature, I'm glad you are enjoying your Grand Am. I know a lot of people seem to have problems with these cars, but mine is coming up on 9 years old now and so far it has had one light bulb replaced and the front brake pads replaced at 70,000 miles at a cost of $17. The rear pads are still the originals.
I'm a member of a Grand Am club, and NONE of the guys I know have had any of the window issues described in these comments. All of us are aware of the clips being a bit on the flimsy side and make sure that we or our passengers don't slam the doors. I also read a lot about the security system issues, but also don't know anyone personally who has ever had that problem either. Most of the issues could be related to poor maintenance or just neglecting to head off potential problems.
Personally, I think the Grand Am is one of the best buys in a good used car. They ride well, are economical, and can be bought very cheaply because car magazines hated them and gave them bad reviews.
28th Apr 2009, 15:07
I have a 2000 Grand Am, and it has almost 300,000 miles on it, and I have to say it has been pretty reliable until now.
In the past I have had to put 2 fuel pumps on it, and Lord Almighty they are NOT CHEAP!
This car was bought used in 2001 by my brother, and sold to me in 2004. And up until now it has been very reliable as I said. It has started with the ghost signal thing, and the window on the driver's side has a mind of its own for the last month.
The radio has always been hard to turn up or down, you have to go really slow to get it to work right, and as most have said, the heat and air blower only works on the 3 setting. It has been that way since 01 when he got it.
I have been very lucky not to have had the brake problems most seem to have, and I am grateful that it has lasted this long, but seems that the problems are universal in all of these Grand Am's.
And today my water pump decided to go out, and the part is cheap, but the labor on it is KILLER; you almost have to disassemble the whole car to get to it. So that's gonna cost me 50 bucks for the part and 375.00 for the labor. I still haven't decided if I am gonna fix it or just get another car, because it may not be worth the money with all the miles it has on it.
22nd Jul 2010, 21:45
I have a 2004 Grand Am GT. Bought it at the beginning of 2009, and I absolutely love the look of them.
I have to agree with some of the people who have commented about the windows. My window on the passenger side won't come down anymore; haven't looked into it yet because I just ended payments for the fixes.
After reading these comments, I have realized I am one of the worst car owners alive. I have hit 6 ditches through very poor winters, had to buy a tire for the back right, hit a huge rock, cracking my oil pan, and hit a deer and screwed my entire driver side front end. I just finished paying for the deer and oil pan in June, and by the end of June my axle was leaking, my muffler is hanging to the right and down, but I have looked and a lot of people I have noticed have a slight lean to the left as well. Oh, and I need three new tires.
I thought it was the car this whole time until I came on here. I just want to say thank you for showing me that I need to treat it better!! A lot better.
16th Oct 2010, 21:08
I was having brake problems with my 2004 Grand Am. After I changed the brakes, they would wear out on the outside of the passenger side. I changed the caliper and the pads. Still didn't fix it. I changed the brake hose and bled the brakes. Still had wear on the brakes.
I brought my car into a few mechanics, and they couldn't figure it out. Finally at Brakeway in Louisville, KY, they found out that I installed my brake pads backwards and the hardware (clips) weren't fitting properly. Each time I changed my brake pads, I would match them up with how they were previously. This way, they were always put on wrong!
So, if you have problems with the brakes wearing faster than normal, they may need to be properly installed. I hope this helps you!
26th Dec 2012, 00:12
I have 2004 Grand Am GT also. I had the same problem with the brakes wearing out on the outside only, but this was on both the passenger and driver's side front. I'm thinking the same thing also. Maybe they were on backwards. If so, it's my fault because I have been doing my own brakes for the past 50 years. I'm studying the shape and composition of both halves, and notice they both look the same and fit on either side of the rotor fine. But then I notice that the pad with the wear indicator has a taller upward slot on the top of the pad. Putting it on the inboard side seemed to be a better fit as far as having the entire piston on the caliper engaging it. I always thought the wear indicator had to be on the outboard side.
Anyway, this time around the wear indicator pad went on the inside due to the reason I stated above. I will try this and see if I get more even pad wear. Also, I upgraded to ceramic pads. My previous pads were semi-metallic. Their black dust made a mess of my wheels.
4th Aug 2005, 17:20
I Purchased my 2004 GRAND AM Sedan this past April, previously I owned a 1989 Pontiac Sunbird Coupe. The Sunbird still runs with 257k miles on it!...and still looks great... I had always admired the mid-sized GRAND AM and after 16 years it was time to move up. So far this car is AWESOME! Love everything about it. Driving it a night is like piloting a small airplane... love the dash, handling and the smooth ride. The only problem I have had is a damaged fog light and assembly that is being repaired by the dealer. As these lights are low to the ground, care must be taken not to go over a snowbank, curb etc. They are quite expensive to replace at $90.00 each retail + labor. This car is a true delight to own, if I get 257k miles on this one like the Sunbird I'll be truly happy!