Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Options
Pontiac Grand Prix - 2000-2005
This discussion has been closed.
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
Carfax has a clean title but says it was a rental before being sold to this dealer.
Two questions:
is this a good buy?
any known issues with the 2005 base model?
Thanks
MidNitePrix
www.lmperformance.com
check it out.... Good Luck!!
MidNite
Bought the car last Saturday with a $2K tradein for a driveout price of $12.5K
I LOVE this car! Zippy, clean lines.
Hope it lasts.
The sound is coming from the front end, my tires are new and balanced. The care doesn't shimmy or shake and engine response is normal. I do not detect any unusual odors either, such as exhaust or anything cause by friction. Also I see no visible problems upon inspection of the engine. Other than the noise my car runs and performs fine, but I am very concerned. Thanks
We are new to this forum and we love it and find it very informative! We have a chance to buy a 1 owner 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix very clean with 70K miles and new tires for $6500. But after reading all of these posts there seems to be a pattern with certian problems. My question is is this a good buy? Would you buy the Grand Prix if you had it to do over?
Also tried to get info about the car with the vin from CARFAX and the like and no info is availalbe, is that normal if the car is clean????
Thanks so much!!!
Any info will be greatly appreciated!!!
Greg and Donna
--Robert
I would take the VIN to any GM dealer's service department and nicely ask them if they'd run a GMVIS report on it. That will tell everything from the build information, delivering dealer, any warranty work/service that was done at GM dealerships.
My wife had an '01 GTP. Had it for 3 years, and, other than the cheapness of the interior materials, I had no complaints with the vehicle. It did have the blower motor resistor board issue (see my post above), and had a problem with the A/C cutting out. The A/C compressor clutch failed just out of warranty, literally the night we left the Pontiac dealership having purchased my GTO. Considering I had been complaining about the intermittent A/C for 2 years (documented), the car was just out of warranty, and I'd just purchased another Pontiac, the dealership gave me NO FLACK about goodwill-repairing the car.
I know folks with Grand Prix's with 145+k miles on them, with few issues. As long as you do regular maintenance when it's required (oil changes, plugs/wires, tire rotations, belts, fuel filters/PCV valve change, coolant flush, tranny service, brake pads and rotors, and the occasional battery/alternator/water pump), there's no reason these cars can't do 125-150k+ without significant problems.
--Robert
I am also going to try and find the computers and tighten them down. My ABS light comes on when I hit a large bump in the road.
The driver's side window motor went bad, the head gasket had to be replaced (defect with manufacture) and recently I just had the belts, spark plugs & transmission fluid changed and the radiator flushed at 127,000 miles. (This car had been driven 90 highway miles per day, 5 days a week on it due to my work) The car ran fine before the routine work was complete and I wanted the tuneup done to get the car ready for winter. Before taking the car to the dealership, the fan (inside) the car would not work at the number 1 position, but would work on 2,3,4,& 5 - it now works at 5 only.
They advised me that the car would need a battery and tires of which the tires have been replaced. The battery was going to be done tomorrow. The car has always gotten it's oil changed when needed and other routine maintenance.
My problem is that since this most recent work, the car doesn't want to start, it will make you think it has but then dies out (could be related to battery) but before the dealership looked at it - it would start fine. Then driving it home this evening it started to idle so hard it felt like the car wanted to surge forward, like strong surges. It smelled like something was was burning and when my husband shut it off we heard this clunking noise from the engine compartment. Does anyone know what is going on and if I should attempt to drive it to the dealership?
Has anyone ever had this happen before? It's very strange that these things weren't happening before.
Thanks for your feedback - I greatly appreciate it.
BTW your fan problem is common... a "resistor board" under the dash is the culprit, and I doubt the dealership did anything.
If it easily starts, I'd take it in, but if it is hard-starting or high-idling, I'd call them and make them come pick it up (presuming your problems started on the way home from the dealership). Is the Check Engine light on?
--Robert
The check engine light isn't on. I drove it to the dealership this morning (only a mile away) and dropped it off. They aren't in today - but they'll have it first thing tomorrow.
This morning the car started right up but as soon as I touched the brake to shift it to drive - it would stall. Started it in neutral, then shifted and drove off. When I would have to use the brake, the idle would start acting up and it was if the car was trying to jerk forward. Stop lights weren't a fun experience.
The dealership wouldn't have done anything intentional do you think? I've used them for years and and found them to be good to work with. But I did have another dealership change the oil in my old van (or say they did) and "forget" to change the oil filter. So I guess anything is possible.
Thanks again for your response. This will help me to resolve this with the dealership. Chele5
I don't know if it's just the blower motor that's dead, but maybe also the control board you spoke of. Any ideas? And how tough is it to get the dash apart to replace such a part.
Thanks in advance!
Since this board is the problem 90+% of the time the blower motor doesn't work on all speeds, but does on some, I'd suggest swapping it first, then troubleshooting further only if it does NOT fix the problem.
--Robert
Would that resistor board going bad cause that horrendous smell? I was able to switch the fan control to level 4 (5 is MAX) and it would squeal like crazy. I was only able to do that once or twice almost immediately after the 'smell'. Now, nothing.
Am I correct?
Thanks again for the help!
BigBlackPontiac29
https://www.mygmlink.com/main/US/en/gm/mygmlink
It smells like a combo of plastic/antifreeze/hair/and flesh burning. The first time I thought a cigarette had flown back in the window and was buring amongst the garbage on the floor. Its smells inside and outside equally. There is nothing in the oil, it looks clean. I do seem to be using antifreeze but no leak puddles under my car. No critter nests in the exhaust pipe or on the muffler. Nothing burning on the engine. Any ideas or tips to rule out problems? Thanks
John
pics
Thanks
Brett
This car has had more problems than any other vehicle I have owned (out of 8).
Last year the computer read that the EGR valve was having a problem. The check engine light was on, but no other symptoms appeared. I decided to wait to have it fixed and was told that it would eventually cause the engine to stall out. It NEVER did.
After unhooking the battery, the check engine light went out and never came back on. I still have not had problems with the car relating to the EGR valve.
However, the other problems have been numerous - from the window motor, fuel regulator, the leaking of anti-freeze in the engine, the list goes on and on. Now the transmission is acting up and they said it was a selinoid going bad and it would cost 4-500 to fix it. I called several transmission places and they all told me the same thing that the GM transmissions are junk. They said if this is what the dealership is telling you is wrong with the car and the dealership didn't "drop" the pan, they can pretty much guarantee me that the transmission will go bad within the year if it is not rebuilt. To have the selinoid and transmission fixed I have been quoted $1500 - 2000. They said it will cost me more to have the selinoid fixed now and then the transmission later. Has anyone encountered this? The car now has 130,000 miles on it and the transmission people told me I was "lucky" because most of the GM transmissions go bad at 70,000 miles.
Any suggestions?
No wonder GM is in trouble - I know people that will never buy an American car again because of how much trouble they have had with them. I'm beginning to see why.
2001 car, 130k miles. About 25-30k miles per year. If the car will run another year after $400-$500 fix, it will be 155-160k miles. It probably makes sense to go with the smaller fix. Who know what else will fail during the year? It is possible that you will prefer to replace the car instead of fixing it again. Even more that you are unhappy with the car.
After 100k car prices drops very fast. It looks like rebuilding transmission would cost about the same as your car costs now. The bigger repair would make sense only if you are already decided to use the car for many more years, no matter what.
All transmission shops want to rebuild, it is their business. Personally, I would not rebuild. A factory remanufactured transmission costs only a bit more than rebuilding, but swapping transmissions is faster, easier, and much more reliable. Dealers install transmissions remanufactured by GM, with good warranty.