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Gosh...
Anyway, I bought my 2nd GA GT at the end of July and I love it. Oh yeah, my nephew drives my 94 GA now with well over 100,000 miles. Up until recently there had been no problems. But he is like most teenagers and when the check engine light came on he ignored it. Big mistake, he let the oil run dry and now has to buy a new engine. Live and learn as they say!!
My wife has decided to purchase a GA SE1. With the current 0% financing, it fits perfectly into our budget. My question to everyone is this: What kind of profit does the dealership as well as the salesman make in selling a car to someone purchasing the vehicle with a GM employee discount? (My dad works on the assembly line at another GM division - so I can honestly say that he makes the cars.) They gave us a copy of the invoice which matches all of the figures posted on Edmunds. According to all the information they gave us and the research I've done, they will be selling it to us at the invoice price.
I know there is a holdback of 3% on Pontiacs, but the car has been on the lot since late June so I figure they won't make much from that. I can't find any other rebates out there. If anyone could answer my question or has some insight on why they're so eager to sell it (it is brand new and they even let us keep it for the weekend to decide if we wanted it) while "making no money", please let me know. I figure there has to be some built in profit whenever they have a customer with a GM employee discount.
Thanks in advance!
Anyway, it was the Honda's computer. Other than the CD unit and gasket, that almost sounds like the same problem with this 1999 Grand AM GT.
I have a 1999 Grand AM SE with a V-6 with 46k miles and still no problems other than what I mentioned in earlier messages here in this forum. No brake shutter, no power steering pump issues, nice gasoline mileage, no window scratches. In short, I just had some minor warranty problems. Oh yeah, I replaced those awful Goodrich tires.
Good car... no real problems.
after experiencing many of your problems, and the ones many others here and elsewhere have posted, i opted to get rid of the junk. (at a big loss)
i too have had good pontiac experiences, a 97 sunfire for starters.
the 99 ga is bad, real bad.
perhaps the 2000+ models have been improved?
The performance and handling are the absolute best in this price range. I love this car.
I would recommend it to anyone who doesn't wear panties.
Reminiscent of the true American muscle machines with safety and reliability added.
> to anyone
I have the same feel for my '99 GrandAm with 47k on it (ugh, the mileage keeps rolling upwards! -- What's with THAT???!)
Makes me wonder what the common denominator is for the "lemon" GrandAms as opposed to the "rose" GrandAms. My GrandAm is treated rather hard with terrible rural East Texas roads and salty Gulf Coastal air. And, driving down in Houston's work hour traffic, complete with pot holes, and 1 1/2 hour stop-and-go traffic doesn't help either. So, I get a smattering of pot hole freeways, and East Texas mud.
This is a good car. Even the crummy seats (Didn't like them even when they were new) regretfully are holding together. I was sort of hoping they would fall apart after the warranty so I could find something better to put in there. Ah well...
If this car holds up the way it has, I can see me keeping it for a long time. The car fits me like a glove, and I'm not a small person (6', 200 lbs). It is just plain fun to drive. I still park the car, get out, and stare at the bright red muscle. And with all the options on the car, I'm far from bored. I love the CD stereo and the sun roof. The car tells me when to change the oil and when a tire pressure is low. It has traction control, anti-lock brakes, power everything, and I can out accelerate most cars around town. What else could I ask for?
Ink
On the other hand, what you told about Buick Regal looks strange for me. I did not see many complaints concerning its rotors. This car have different design, build on the same W-platform as other bigger mid-size GM cars, like Pontiac GP or Chevy Impala.
My point is to give everyone who has been asking for the TSB# some relief...as for the Regal, if you go to the discussion notes over the last two years you will see there are complaints...apparently these people are correct bc (much to my surprise) the rotor problem was not specific to the 3 cars you mention...In fact, the same TSB # applies to the Regal as well...
Again, I have not experienced these problems on my GSE, but have taken the liberty of putting this up on the Regal chat as well.
I took the TSB# for the rotors into my dealer to have them replaced. They weren't aware of the bulletin, but they did check their computer which showed the same TSB#. I mentioned the durastop line to them, which they said were no better than the replacement rotors that GM wants the shop to replace them with. They also said that the rotors they are putting on the car are an upgrade from the rotors that came stock. They even said they think the durastop is a lesser quality GM line.
The pinging probably happens usually between speeds of 25 to 70 MPH. It happens more when I am accelerating slowly. It started happening very early on. A tech at the GM shop said that it could be the EGR vavle ( or something like that ). But unless they could hear it, or it set an alarm in the computer, they could do anything about it. Now it has gotten worse, so hopefully they can hear it.
I also hear lots of road noise when I'm driving on the freeway.
There might be even better tires but I haven't isolated those yet, probably Michelin. There have been some posts on tires in the IMPALA list and the messages there might be of help on the tires.
http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/engaged/edmund.cgi?&f=0&c=Maintenance&t=16&q=*
Unfortunately, whoever sold you the car never:
1) Mentioned getting it through the SMART BUY program. You wouldn't have had to worry about the negative equity or the %60 devaluation. Furthermore, you would have a super low payment.
2) Never offered you an extended warranty so that you wouldn't have had to spend $1,000 out of your pocket.
I hope that your next auto (whichever company) won't have problems.
Matthew J Drake I.S.M.
it new and it was a great car for years. Around
130,000 miles, she started falling apart. I have
gone through many problems, the worst being a
cracked head. Ever since I had the head replaced in
June 1998, I have been experiencing another
problem that umpteen mechanics and computers can't
pinpoint. While driving down the road, the car just
seems to bog down and lose power for a few
seconds. It jerks and chugs and carries on at this
point. It spews black puffs of smoke while doing
this. It appears to be running rich and my gas
mileage has decreased. It does this at any speed,
but seems to be better when going 65-70 mph plus.
Has anybody else had this experience? I am on the
road alot, as my miles will tell you. I don't want
it to just leave me sitting some day far away from
home.
>..It appears to be running rich and
> my gas mileage has decreased. It does
> this at any speed, but seems to be
> better when going 65-70 mph plus.
Had this to happen with an Olds '85 Calais. Drove the mechanics nuts. It would start doing this about 30 minutes into driving and the computer diagnostics couldn't find anything. One mechanic drove it home, determined to figure it out. About 30 minutes into driving, it started to shut down on him, lots of black smoke.
He did a quick diagnostic on the computer and found it was ok. Amazingly, he found a distributor cap was going bad. It would begin arcing internally after it heated up. Replacing the cap solved the problem.
Not sure if this is the problem, but if your mechanics would drive the car, and take with them some key ignition parts to isolate the problem, they might find the problem.
1. The day I brought it home, it stalled like 5 times. I turned around and went back to the dealer and they said it might have been the gas. Well, after they took the car and put 200miles on it, they figured out it was a kinked air induction hose.
2. At 7k miles, the rotors warped. The dealer (a different dealer) deamed there was no problem. They gave the car back to me without fixing it. I blew a hissy and had to make another appointment to have them cut them for me. When it happens again(and it will), I will refer to the TSB.
3. Also at 7k, the cd radio had to be replaced due to a bad volume control.
4. At 11k, the car developed an oil leak. The oil pan was dropped and the gasket replaced.
I had my last new car for 10yrs. It doesn't seem like this one will last that long.
I've heard of the radio and rotor problems, but not oil leaks.
I don't know too many people that keep cars 10 years anymore. If you look around on the highway, how many 1990 models do you see? Very few indeed. That's because everybody wants the newest SUV's, trucks and minivans. We'll see how long that lasts if the economy hits a downturn!
I just buy a GT1 three months ago, the manual say that I have to change the oil, when the change oil sensor turn on (5500miles), and I went to change the oil they told me that I have to change the oil at 3,000 miles or every 3 months. Who is right ?
Best regards