Faults:
At 75,000 miles, the transmission started shifting hard. Dealer installed a new Pressure Control Solenoid that fixed the problem. (Approx $350.00 covered under extended warranty.)
At 95,000 miles, the intake manifold gasket "ruptured". Lost all coolant on my way home from work. Dealer repaired. (Approx $800.00 covered under extended warranty.)
At 120,000 miles, the transmission started shifting hard again. Dealer installed another Pressure Control Solenoid. This also covered under extended warranty. (Approx $400.00. Some web sites state that there are still defective solenoids out there that the dealers are still installing.)
Also at 120,000 miles, the rear wiper motor needed replaced. The wiper blade froze to the window and the motor broke. ($175.00 covered under extended warranty.)
General Comments:
As you can see, my van has had the typical Montana problems. I was fortunate to buy the extended warranty. It was $900.00 total cost for a 36 month, bumper to bumper warranty, and that was for unlimited miles.
I think that GM should address some of these problems, but I will still buy GM products in the future.
The van has a great ride, and great gas mileage for the size of the vehicle.
Other than GM vehicles, I've owned a Toyota pick-up. (BIG MISTAKE!) This by far was the worst vehicle I have ever owned. Second worst would be my 94 Jeep Grand Cherokee. This vehicle spent most of it's time in the shop.
I've been very lucky with GM. I also own a Saturn L series, and have had 2 other Saturns previously. These are great cars, and I will continue to buy Saturns.
I see a lot of comments knocking the American car companies. I don't think all the negative comments are warranted. Some of us are proud to drive American! I've had 2 GM vehicles that made it to 250,000 miles. They are still far cheaper to fix than any foreign car.
2nd Feb 2009, 20:31
The air compressor was indeed handy on our 1998 Pontiac Transsport/Montana, as it provided an on-board tire pump for whatever we needed, especially bicycle tires. But it was a bloomin' nightmare for not knowing when to shut off when it was levelling the vehicle. The back end would begin sticking up on the road, and the van would ride violently for several minutes. The seat belts would be all that prevented the children from being thrown out of their seats.
Repeated complaints from us led to the levelling sensor being replaced, which brought relief for six months. Then it started doing it again, and repeated trips to the dealer "we couldn't find anything; can you bring it back when it is doing it?" failed to solve anything. A call from GM merely informed us that they had never heard of the problem. We had a garage disconnect the pump.