2000 Pontiac Montana 3.4 from North America
Summary:
It's a money pit, but needs fixed, and can't afford a car payment!!!
Faults:
We bought this van with 97,000 miles on it. Within 3 days of having it, we smelled antifreeze and checked, the water pump was bad; lucky for us we still had a warranty. Here is the list of items fixed at that time:
- Water pump.
- Thermostat.
- Head gaskets replaced and heads resurfaced.
- Air bag issue (fixed 3 times after this at $300 a pop, to find out it's a loose wire hanging under the seat, and NOTHING wrong with it mechanical wise; the wire just hangs down and was corrected with a tie wire).
- Ignition coil pack (if I remember right that is what it was called).
Cost: Unknown, due to the warranty paying for it (thank goodness).
Within 1 1/2 months of ownership of this grand ol vehicle, the warranty ran out, and we were fixing the following:
- EGR valve.
- Transmission issue (hard shift now and then, not consistent, still does it, but no mechanic can find anything wrong). Cost $975.
I cannot begin to list everything else we've had go wrong, anywhere from window motors, door motor broke, air shocks system failed and was astronomical to replace, so we put shocks on it that we air up when they need it, they work FANTASTIC, and was only $55 or $60 and a few hours of labor for my husband and his friends.
The current issue we're having, and yet again after several hundreds of non-confirming diagnosis, we are having problems, as follows:
- Hard shifting after it's been driven for a while.
- Periodically it will lose power when accelerating.
- Check engine light has never gone off since day 3 of owning the van, but when it loses power, the light will blink on and off. Have been told that it could be 1 of 2 things, or both knowing the luck of this money pit of a car; either 1.) misfiring or 2.) catalytic converter.
When it loses power, it all of a sudden just has no power, and will act like a vehicle does when it has bad gas.. putters along.. If you step into the gas pedal, it hesitates. Almost every time this happens, once the van sits for a little while and you restart it, it's fine!! UGH!!! It really doesn't act like a transmission problem to me, had that happen in our other van (1999 Pontiac Transport Montana). I love my van, I really do.. it's just really frustrating to deal with the problems these vehicles have!!!
I have a few other issues, but really want to see if anyone has answers about this. We can't afford a vehicle payment, but also can't afford to dump a bunch of money into it, so we'd like to fix the things we can that are most important right now, and work over a month or 2 to get this thing in tip top shape.
We have not neglected this vehicle; we keep the oil changed, and everything as in shape as possible, but honestly, it's a money pit!!!
Any suggestions or hints/ideas about what the current issues could be, would be great!!!
Thank you,
Lisa Manley (Hedrick, IA)
Please email at lisam_94@hotmail.com .. NO SPAM PLEASE!!! This is serious, and I'd like to figure out a solution..
Thank you!!!
General Comments:
Vehicle is comfortable to ride in, but mechanically is a pain in the toosh!!!
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 21st July, 2011
21st Jul 2011, 20:04
There are a lot of great used cars out there for under $4000.00. Please read your Consumers Reports Annual Auto Guide that comes out every year in April... there are 9 vehicles that did well enough to make their list. But even Consumers Reports doesn't know which cars are lemons and which cars are abused and on their last legs. Take it to a mechanic, and pay the $40-80 to have it inspected and get it on a lift to check for any prior accidents... it is well worth the money... especially when mechanics are charging $80.00 per hour for the smallest of repairs...and it doesn't include the cost of the parts...