2002 Pontiac Montana from North America

Faults:

Several things had to be repaired at 50000 miles at a cost of $2500.00, rotors, struts, brake lining. The van is now in our garage not running needing a new head gasket. It cost $700.00 to have a mechanic find this out only to tell us that the head gasket was manufactured with a defect. Grooves in metal at top of head gasket. Seal will never sit on top properly. Have always had trouble with this until it blew. The tragedy of this is that GM will not stand by its products and do the right thing. For this reason, the American public is turning its back on All GM products and buying from its foreign competition. You better get your act together and take care of the people who supported you all of these years.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 18th May, 2006

18th May 2006, 19:43

IF this were a problem that pertained to ALL Montanas, then yes, GM would probably recall those vans. It just sounds like you got a bad model. My folks '03 Montana has the same mileage and has never had one problem.

4th Oct 2006, 21:58

I also purchased a used Montana recently and with 99700 km on the odometer the engine started to overheat and loose coolant.

The local dealer diagnosed (and fixed) a leaking right side cylinder head gasket and a leaking intake gasket.

Apparently this is a well known problem within the GM circle (according to the mechanic that did the repairs),however when I contacted GM customer services and requested assistance it was denied, resulting in a $1300.00 repair bill.

There are a number of class action law suits on the go for exactly these symptoms, looks like GM may have a problem!

View 19 more comments

2002 Pontiac Montana extended from North America

Summary:

Great Body - Bad Heart

Faults:

The brakes were never right.

The coolant leak at 30,000 miles.

Sensor went out at 35,000 miles.

Electric window controls erratic/sticks 35,000 miles.

Coolant leak threatens engine block cannot be repaired?!? 100,000 miles.

General Comments:

I like the van it looks cool! I will never purchase another one though. Too much trouble and expense.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 16th December, 2005

2002 Pontiac Montana from North America

Summary:

The car is a lemon and you won't get much help from the dealer

Faults:

First transmission went out before 50,000.

Second trans went out at 80,000.

Electric door locks don't work properly.

Electric windows don't work properly.

Gas gauge doesn't work at all was told it would cost $400.00 to replace.

Has a strange leak under drivers side dash.

Numerous other small annoying problems.

General Comments:

The car gets great gas mileage and looks sharp.

But has cost me way more than the car is worth in repairs.

I hate it and can't wait to get rid of it.

I will never have another Pontiac because of this car.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 26th November, 2005

2002 Pontiac Montana from North America

Summary:

Steer away from the Montana!

Faults:

The air conditioner has broken down twice.

The transmission gave out on me today.

We've had lots of tire problems and have been stranded on the highway a couple of times which resulted in us being forced to drive 200 km on a donut (not fun).

The car also seems to steer itself to the left all the time.

The CD player/radio volume is very sensitive. It is either really quiet or really loud. Also, the sound gets louder and louder as you speed up.

The heat/air conditioner controls in the back seat are useless. We think they are fake, they have never worked.

The ride is not at all smooth.

The dealership would not cover half of the things that went wrong with our Monty. What a piece of junk.

General Comments:

Steer away from the Montana! We hate it! What a hoax!

Seriously, don't buy it. You will regret it.

I don't get why so many people have Montanas.

They are ugly and they have so many problems.

We've had to have ours towed so many times and we are quite frankly tired of it.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 18th July, 2005

16th Aug 2005, 13:03

Welcome to the wonderful world of Montana:

Indeed, the Pontiac Montana is not at all reliable.

I had a lot of problems with it.

Transmission changed at 90000KM

Gasket (head) changed at 65000KM (my dealer accepted gladly to change it without charge even if my guarantee had expired)

Rotors changed three times.

Brake pads twice.

AC changed at 40000Km under guarantee

The motor of the rear wiper changed at 70000KM

Rust on the rear door.

Tire (General brand) changed after 50000KM.

And I'm not finished at 97000KM there is a noise coming from power steering or something.

It's last time I buy a GM product.

10th Mar 2006, 10:10

I'm sorry, but I have to dispute some of your comments.

I also own a 2001 Montana and have had nothing, but good luck with it. As far as the tire issues you have had, I don't think you can hold it against the van. There are many outside factors that could contribute to tire problems. I think you should be re-evaluating where you are purchasing your tires. The radio/c.d volume going up and down is actually a feature not a problem. It's supposed to go up and down based on the road noise. You can actually turn the feature off on the stereo if you don't like it. As for the rear heat controls... are you ensuring the front control is switched to the correct setting in order to give the person in the rear access to the controls? The front control can't be on the numbers, but needs to be turned to the left as far as you can. I believe it's an "O" rather than a number.

It's frustrating to see someone pointing fingers at issuses that I don't feel are valid complaints.

Signed,

A pleased Montana owner.

In reply to 10th Mar 2006, 10:10

30th Jun 2012, 17:36

My 2002 Pontiac Montana AWD rocks at 166000 miles.

Driver's rear door quit working automatically. Big deal; it slides faster now manually.

My Chevy Venture had 300,000 miles on it when I sold it 2 years ago, and saw it recently with 368,000 on it, running strong.

My concern is that 4th gear went out about 25,000 miles ago; now at 80mph, I'm turning 3500 RPM??

I drive 'em until the wheels fall off. We run a door to door business, and don't have time to send it to the shop.

Any suggestions?

Thanks, Jack Daniels in Montana.