Faults:

The rear child safety latch wouldn't unlatch. I don't blame GM though, because my 10 year old daughter always seemed to slam the door way too hard, and eventually the lever inside popped out of place. Simple fix at the dealer.

General Comments:

All around great car. One of the best I've owned, which says a lot. In the last 15 years, my family and I have owned two Chevrolets, three Pontiacs, a Hyundai, two Hondas, three Fords, a Triumph, three Nissans, a Mercedes, two Porches, a Chrysler, a Mazda, and two Dodges. We currently own a Honda Civic, a Dodge Durango, a Chevy Blazer, a Mazda Miata (my other car) and this Grand Prix, my daily driver.

The lease is up in Feb/01, and I think I just might buy the car. I love driving it, and even my 18 year old son likes to borrow it because the stereo is so good.

I'm not one of those fools who think Japanese is automatically good and American is automatically bad. This car is good, solid, all around construction and engineering, at a good price.

I will say that the dealer will make all the difference here, and Toyota & Honda dealers are the best, and GM dealers generally just suck.

Faults:

Left headlight lens fell off (around 40+K miles) (Fortunately, dealership was running a "sale" on headlamps - "sale" seemed to be sponsored by mfg. I think the price was around $30 vs. outrageous $.)

Right headlight lens started separating and water got inside (around 50+K) (Paid retailish price for replacement.)

Alternator (failed around 38K)

Main oil seal (small leak since around 65K or so)

Coolant smell in interior since around 65K.

Uses too much gas (waits too long to up shift).

Needs another higher gear and a fuel economy "switch" for earlier shifting.

General Comments:

I love the look of the car.

With new (good) Goodyear tires it handles super.

At 87K miles it sounds like it is running out of energy (kind of like it is making an effort to accelerate) but, if I hit the gas the acceleration is quite good.

Previous to this 98 Grand Prix I had an 89 Grand Prix and before that it was a Grand Am. Each time they got better, but each time they were disappointing, but had so very much "potential". I may (/probably will?) buy a Japanese product next time. I work in Detroit but not directly for one of the big 3.

Faults:

When I first purchased the car, it had a bad oil leak; however, it was fixed by the dealer. Next, the computer went out, but this too was covered by the dealer. Those two problems occurred before 60,000 miles. Next, I had to replaced a switch for the driver's side window, that would not go up (80,000 miles). Thereafter, some fuel sensor went out in the engine that cost me about $300 (90,000 miles). The kicker, however, was when the engine threw a rod at 100,000 miles. I had to get a whole new engine--$3,600. Now, the damn car only gets 20 miles a gallon, and I drive the car like an old lady. The dealer said that's normal and there's nothing they can do about it. I just love those guys at dealerships. They always take the easy way out and they've always experienced the problem you're having, and it's normal.

General Comments:

For all the problems I've had with this car, I love it. I think it's the nicest two-door car on the road (aside from really exotic cars). I get a lot of comments on it, and my next car will probably be the new Pontiac GTO.