2nd Jun 2009, 14:43

I am having all of these same exact problems with my 2000 Pontiac Grand Am.

I had bought this car as my very first car when I was about 18 or 19 years old for $3,000. Since then I've only had it for about 3 years now.

Right now it stands at over 170,000 miles, it had 100,000 when I purchased it. I keep getting told that I got a good deal on that car, but people that don't drive these cars don't realize how poorly these cars were made, and the other problem is the people I bought the car from never had the transmission fluid changed. If it was to be changed now then it would totally mess up the transmission.

I found on-line that GM has said that the cars didn't need to have the transmission fluid changed until 150,000 miles, which the fluid is supposed to be changed & they didn't need a transmission dipstick.

All of the electrical things are going out (i.e. driver seat, air conditioner only works at 3, 4, 5, clock only shows the time when it wants to, some of the windows would roll down but never go back up and now only one window rolls down, ABS & brake lights constantly stay on, cruise doesn't work, low coolant comes on all the time).

Shifter broke, knobs for the air conditioner broke, side mirrors have been broken off and had to replace those 2 or 3 times. I have also had the recall for the blinkers and had that fixed.

It has been nothing but a money hog since I bought it, I will never buy another Pontiac again that's for sure.

29th Sep 2009, 17:05

I agree with everyone's posts. Windows quit working. Drivers seat quit. Security system will not allow the car to start. Leaking Manifold. This car is a pile of crap. I will never buy a GM product ever! Honda, Nissan and Toyota will be my next choices. Do not buy a Pontiac new or used.

18th Nov 2009, 20:32

02 GRAND AM SE.

First off I paid way too much for this car used; my own fault.

Wipers jump all over the windshield when it's on low speed.

Traction control never worked.

Driver seat padding pushed in (no it's not that I’m a big guy). I’ve been to the wrecks and all the Grand Am's 2 GT's and a Grand Prix had the same problem. Only one of them had a messed up passenger seat.

After turning on my blinker to turn and it clicks back, I still hear the clicker going LOL so I just turn up the radio louder.

Head gasket cracked and was leaking into my motor. Cost me $2000 parts and labour. Then I find out that GM got lazy and put in a PLASTIC!!! head gasket!!! WTF!

Thermostat went it was a pain to replace, but I was still over heating when I sat at a light. Then I fine the dual fans don’t work. It would be OK if it was winter I could use the extra heat but in the summer on man!!!

Heater fans only work on 3,4,5.

Now that said I like my Grand AM SE, but hate all the BS with it. Most likely won't get another one when this one dies.

1st Dec 2009, 07:21

I just got in a wreck with my 2000 Grand Am and it was probably totaled. I will miss it. It has been a great car. Not many problems. Got the blinker fixed when the recall came out, and I've had to replace the battery once. It has about 150000 miles on it and it's been an awesome car. Not much maintenance required. Would definitely buy another one.

1st Dec 2009, 15:19

My sympathy on wrecking the Grand Am. My 2001 has been absolutely flawless with never a single repair. These cars are very under-rated.

8th Dec 2009, 22:05

H O L Y Crap!! I really thought it was just my car that was a piece of junk! OK, let me start out by saying I own a 2000 Grand Am SE (four door). I bought the car with 164,000 miles in '07 (it was only $3000) so I was expecting some difficulty, but not nearly of this caliber! So here's a list of the problems I've had with this car:

- Trunk latch bent (currently being held shut with a block of wood).

- Windshield wipers decide to stay on (in the winter) until you turn the car off and then back on.

- I've put about $1200 in the brakes (pads, calipers, etc).

- The air conditioning is broken.

- The blower fan only worked on 4 and 5, and now doesn't at all.

- The passengers door doesn't lock (whether you manually push it in, use the remote, or switch).

- The car would randomly accelerate while braking (usually in winter and only happened a few times)

- Alternator had to be replaced.

- Leaking coolant resulted in replacement of the thermal housing.

- The drivers and rear passengers are starting to go.

- Had to replace the main window switch panel.

- Had to replace the door latch (driver's door actually wouldn't close at one point).

- Had to replace the battery 3 times in 2.5 years.

I'm sure there's many more that I can't think of currently. I have NEVER had this amount of problems with a car. I am NEVER getting a Pontiac again!

30th Dec 2009, 14:38

Okay... I've had my 2000 Grand Am SE 2-dr. for 4 1/2 years. I would have to say that I guess I've gotten my $ out of it, but not without many perpetual headaches and incidents since the beginning.

The first thing that began acting up, which is still an issue to this day, is that the turn signals only function when they want to. After a couple years I realized that if I turned the hazard light switch off and on a few times, it usually triggered the turn signals to work.

I am on my third set of side mirrors!!! Why do they break so easily??? The passenger one was broken when I bought the car, although I didn't realize it at the time.

The blower for the heat and air has NEVER worked on 1 or 2 -- what's up with that?

I had an electric seat on the driver's side for the first several months I owned the car, but it suddenly ceased to work for no apparent reason.

The passenger side window was always slow going up, but it got to the point where I wouldn't roll it down more than halfway for fear it would be stuck in that position. I wasn't so fortunate one day when a passenger attempted to roll it down before I could tell them not to, and the entire window fell down inside the door. I had the window motor on that side replaced; shortly afterward the driver's side began doing the same thing, but I haven't had to replace it quite yet. I do, however, have to physically lift the driver's side window up so that it fits snugly up into the door seal to prevent leaks.

I have STILL not figured this one out, but any time there is an extreme amount of rain it collects in the floorboard of the car! I have tried trouble-shooting --- windows, door seals, etc. --- but have had this issue the entire time I've owned this car!

There is some sort of "speaker genie" that works like the turn signals, causing the speakers to randomly choose which one (s) will function on any given day.

I can't figure out why, but the headlight covers look "foggy" or "cloudy", which obviously inhibits full function of the lights at night.

I had motor work done --- the PLASTIC manifold was cracked and leaking oil --- in the first year I had the car. After that was fixed it caused the water pump to go out. Since then I've not any major repairs to do... until the radiator hose burst and caused the engine to severely overheat, cracking a head in the motor! At this point it would cost as much as what the car is worth to replace the engine, so I think my Grand Am has found the end of its road with me!