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Comments
The 97 Grand AM is a Sedan, and its an SE model. The KBB value is much less..
for a good car, its $ 5640, and for an excellent car, its $6145.
Thanks,
1) Window motor - both sides. I'm on my 3rd one in 4 years. Actually 4th if you count the one that Service installed last week that died after working once. Good thing it happened in the shop and not after I picked it up. Out of warranty, $400 parts and labor.
2) Ignition problem. Unless the temp is really hot, after parking the key will only turn halfway back; can't get it to turn completely to remove. I half to run hot air against the column for a few minutes before it'll turn all the way. Under warranty the 'fix' lasted until just after the warranty ran out (6 months, or just when the cold weather hit, so probably not fixed at all). My new Service place had the brilliant idea that it was needing a new ignition switch. $300 parts/labor, not fixed at all.
I've scanned the TCBs, didn't see much in the way of these problems. Any input? Any recourse?
Thanks
1) Window motor - both sides. I'm on my 3rd one in 4 years. Actually 4th if you count the one that Service installed last week that died after working once. Good thing it happened in the shop and not after I picked it up. Out of warranty, $400 parts and labor.
2) Ignition problem. Unless the temp is really hot, after parking the key will only turn halfway back; can't get it to turn completely to remove. I half to run hot air against the column for a few minutes before it'll turn all the way. Under warranty the 'fix' lasted until just after the warranty ran out (6 months, or just when the cold weather hit, so probably not fixed at all). My new Service place had the brilliant idea that it was needing a new ignition switch. $300 parts/labor, not fixed at all.
I've scanned the TCBs, didn't see much in the way of these problems. Any input? Any recourse?
Thanks
I am a new graduate and looking for a new car. I kinda like Grand AM and Alero, but do not know if they are good. I read many reviews and would definitely go to the 3.4L V6, but I do not know if there is any problem with this engine.
Since Olds will phase out pretty soon, it is offering some good deals, like $2000 rebate plus 60/60 warrenty, while Grand Am has only $1500 and 36/36. Do you think it is worthy to go for the Alero?
Thanks.
It is issued by the manufacturer to the dealers to alert them to conditions/procedures/problems with a particular model.
To find all the TSBs for your vehicle (but no detail) goto http://www.alldata.com/recalls/
Hope this helps,
TC
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/tsb/servicemmy1.cfm
Well, here we are in the summer of '01. 12 inches of rain in the Houston area. Water in the streets as high as the hood in some areas. HOURS upon hours of this...
And, not one single drop of water on my carpet. Had to drive for about 30 minutes in foot deep water and the car was outside over-night during the 12 inch rain.
No leaks. DRY as can be inside. 55,000 miles on it. Marvelous car. I love it.
My GA got swamped in the storm yesterday! I've had it towed to the dealer in Galveston. I have a horrible feeling its gonna be totalled. I drove the Crew Cab to work the day Allison hit and had left the GA out. We live right on Galveston Bay. Got home (it took me 5.5 hours!) and found the GA sitting in the driveway with water up to its door hinges! Very depressing. I had to park out on the Gulf Freeway and walk the rest of the way home...House sits up on stilts so its safe. Garage did flood, but we are use to that...this storm just caught us totally off guard...no chance to prepare @ all. As you know, South side got hit hard again today. No problems @ home though. Very depressed. Prelude okay...it was @ work too.
Saw on the local television a Dodge Viper that was probably totalled due to water nearly up to its dashboard. sigh.... our toys.
Am in Huntsville, TX, about 70 miles north of Houston and we have had about four inches of rain in the past three hours. Put that on top of the other ten inches or so in the past two days and it is a real mess.
I pulled the Grand Am out of the rain and buttoned it up snuggly in the garage. I think it has had enough of this. But, after several days of this mess, it is still dry on the inside. Even the trunk. Have been looking for leaks since we are talking about the floor pan being under the water line for a good part of the day.
Pulled parts of the carpet up and everything was dry. I hate the smell of wet car carpet, but so far so good, everything is dry.
So, my Grand Am is safe, buttoned up, and dry. Hope this storm leaves. Go away, Awful Allison!
Even though I am about to complain, I just want to say that this car has still been very reliable and fun to drive. Since this is the newest car I have ever owned, I get a little upset when things don't work the way they were intended. Newest issues now include: sometimes the power locks will only unlock the driver door. All the other door locks flick to the onlock position, but cannot be opened from the outside, inside only.
Second, a stange noise is now coming from the front right wheel well when traveling below 20 MPH. its a funny creaking noise. and in terms of wetness of the carpets, my situation fits somewhere in the middle between Jkidd2 and Lrymal.
On a positive note, last weekends driving adventures yielded an all time high 31 mpg in my V6.
I want to purchase a '99 or 00' GT or SE2 but people keep telling me that Grand AMs are famous for transmission problems. Is that true?
Assuming the problem is not a bushing somewhere, or a sway bar issue:
The alleged dealer said that my struts had so many miles on them, they needed replacement (45k or so). Said they could replace one for about $225.00 plus labor. Even recommended doing just one (I always thought this stuff was supposed to be done in pairs). Then ya got throw in the front end alignment, yadda yadda...
Not bad, eh? Except I found out that the problem was not a strut. It was a sleeve type collar hat at the top of the strut assembly, in the strut tower. It had large-particle dust/old dirt in it from our lovely East Texas roads.
I rejected the repair and decided to do some homework on the internet about the theory of strut suspensions and that kind of thing. Found the collar/sleeve at the top of the strut tower where the large nut and three smaller nuts are, under the hood.
They said that if a large amount of coarse dust gets caught in there, that the sleeve will become TEMPORARILY noisy, making a creaking noise (actual quote) "like a New York taxi-cab of the 1960s".
Solution from this one site was to loosen the three nuts and rap lightly the large nut in the middle with a hammer, to loosen any dust. One guy even said to take the car (a Honda Civic that was having this problem) to an air compressor and blow around the strut assembly head where the nuts are. There is a very large crack where blowing can be done.
Another guy said to take a high pressure wash and spray from underneathe through the assembly and to the top of the strut---anything to knock out any large-particle dust.
They then said that a day later (after everything dries), to get any type of a "squeak-no-more" lubricant and spray in the crack where the three nuts are. That would get the lubricant into the collar/sleeve.
Another guy said that patience was the key, that none of this stuff was necessary, that as the car travels, that the constant grinding of the large particle dust would cause it to work out and the squeaking/creaking would stop.
Well, anyway...., I loosened the nuts, did the hammer rapping, blew that area out with an air compressor, sprayed with a silicon based lube and the creaking/squeeking stopped.
And, no, my problem really wasn't a strut. Did that solution several thousand miles ago and the car at 55k or so is just as quiet as can be.
Roads here are crash-and-burn roads of Houston.
Salty air roads on Galveston...
And the East Texas red dust roads where I live.
Both the 3.4L V-6 and transmission for this chassis were previously used on other models and have a history of reliability.
Don't use reports of late 80s/early 90s mini-vans and so forth that used the 3.1 and 3.4 motors and automatics. Those did have problems and the units manufactured from 1998 and up were totally reworked.
As a side note, I had a '96 GrandAm with a 2.4 L four cylinder and manual transmission. Puts lot of miles on that little critter and it had few problems, and of those, none were related to the motor or transmission.
Chris
In my case for General Motors, '85 Olds Calais with the Quad 4 has 250,000, I think. Runs fine. Replaced all bushings, suspension rubbers, struts/shocks. Overhauled once at 150k. Replaced alternator and starter at 200k. Headliner replaced at 150k. Carpet replaced at 150k. A bit creaky.
'96 Pontiac Grand Am with over 200,000. Body got a bit creaky at 150k. Probably body gaskets and bushings. Replaced only the starter and other typical maintenance items, such as belts, hoses.
'99 Pontiac Grand Am with 55,000. Tight as if it were new. 3.4L V-6 Motor much quieter and with guts. Very TIGHT car. No rattles at all. Dash has no noise at all when going over bumps. Air conditioning is COLD, even in Texas 110 plus heat. Approaching age of serpentine belt and radiator hose replacements. Approaching age of POTENTIAL failure of starter, water pump, power steering pump, alternator. Not that it will happen, but these things SOMETIMES do go out at about this age onwards.
(I am VERY CONCERNED about all the danged sensors on the new cars today and longevity, but that is another topic...)
Going back in time....: '78 Honda Civic. A hoot to drive back then. At 40k, it turned old in a hurry. Body panels began rusting. 4 cylinder blew a head gasket twice. Body started rattling all over. At 150k, motor had been overhauled twice.
Back then, I swore that Japanese cars were throw-aways after 100k. Also, the Japanese motors were higher-reving and I speculated, back then, that the higher revs contributed to pre-mature aging of the engine.
Anyway, that is my observation. Take the Honda observation with a historical perspective. I'm sure the Japanese cars, including Mazda, have improved considerably and might be equal with the American cars on 200k + longevity. And, in the short-term, their quality is probably higher, but long-term MIGHT be another story...
Curious, I wanted to see where it was on my Grand Am, and sure enough, the tube snaked out and had its intake opening somewhere behind the headlight, but lower, I think.
Not advocating driving in such awful road conditions, but if you must, I would pull over, disconnect the intake tube from the air-box just to get the over-all intake HIGHER from the water.
Another area that the television station touched on was the location of the computer. It said that many car computers are located under the seat or in the kickpanel. These are very low locations and if water gets inside the car, then the computer could get wet.
Fortunately, for the 99 and upwards Grand Am, the computer is just immediately UNDER the glove box bottom.
Well, I have NO INTENTIONS of driving in anything like this, although I did have to drive in a foot of water for nearly thirty minutes and my floor pan was below the water level for a few minutes. I'm grateful that the computer was where it was, and am happy that the intake was apparently high enough to not take on water.
This is all opinionated, so be sure to investigate it on your own vehicle. I guess we are still in shock over the flooding here.
lrymal ~ Our fleet GA's occasionally seem to have the same problem regarding suspension noise. Our transport manager suspected it was a problem like that I will pass it on to him though he may already know. Its good info thank you.
I've taken a lot of heat on these boards when I've related the myriad of problems that my company had with their Accords and other Japanese cars. Our repair histories of the Accords we used reflect experiences indentical to your's with the Hondas. Our histories date from the mid 80's to about a year ago when we got rid of the last one. They do not hold up to anything over light duty. Our records show that up to 60K miles they are better then average mechanically, but the body and interior shows wear much sooner then that as you indicated. After 60K miles it was Katie bar the door and lockup the wallet because the problems piled up fast and were expensive to resolve. None ever got beyond 100K miles before it wasn't worth it to us to continue to fix them. Transmission, head gasket and premature transaxle wear were the 3 biggest problem areas. It got so bad we have a company policy against using any more Hondas to our fleet.
traceytracey ~ I if you stick to the 3.4L V6 engine option you will have a much better engine/transmission combination. Most of what is being said that is negative relates to the 4 cylinder drivetrain. You are considering a midsize car, the class by definition dictates your best drivetrain combination would be a 6 cylinder. Over the life of a car that is driven in a normal manner, the 6 cylinder drivetrain will be subjected to less stress to achieve normal performance levels. This means it will probably be more durable and reliable. Therefore if you are going to look for a used car, then I definitely would suggest you limit your choices to cars with the V6. As posted by others here, the V6 transmission is fairly durable. Certainly no worse then any other car and in my opinion better then many. If you have any reservations have a transmission shop you trust look at it. It may cost you $25-35 but it would be worth every penny.
As for problems, there is a lot of wind noise at highway speeds, Haven't had any break problems with mine. Most of the problems I have seen on this board are just annoying little inconveniences, nothing major.
The first thing I would do is ask the dealer for the name and phone number of the previous owner and ask them about the car and why they sold it with such low mileage.
Good luck and let us know how it goes.
JD
Also, how durable is this 2.4L twin cam?
I would try to get the price down to somewhere between $10-11,000. Yea that might seem low, but it is a 1999 and it is only the 2.4 4cyl. The v6 option alone is worth about $350, so I would at least subtract that from the $12,000 they are asking. What model exactly is it, is it an SE or SE1 and what other options does it have? Alloy wheels are worth about $150 and a spoiler is about $100.
Find out exactly what model it is and what options it has and then research the pricing, you should be able to get a lower price.
I would like to talk with an experienced GM techie who works on these motors for his/her words of wisdom.
The car felt and sounded rather solid and it handled very well (I am use to a Ford Ranger and a Mazda MPV, neither of which are nimble so perhaps any conventional car would be an improvement.)
There could be a couple of improvements; more head room (I am 6'5") and less road noise.
My Grand AM has 62000 miles on it now, and I want to do the 60000 mileage maintenance on it. I talked to atleast 5 dealers, and all of them told me different things. Some of them were as high as $750, and others were as low as $150. Also, the service offered was not consistent. I would like to know if someone had done such a maintenance, and what are all the things the maintenance should cover, and what would be the best price.
Thanks....
Only had 36k miles on it.
Not sure what I am gonna do, I have 2 other vehicles already and argued constantly with my spouse over which vehicles went into our 2 car garage and which stayed out. The Grand Am usually lost.
I've enjoyed sharing stories with you guys. If I decide to get another, I'll be sure to rejoin the discussions.
Best to all.
Hope everything else goes well. You might want to take look at a 2001 Alero since it's the same vehicle but with more agressive pricing/rebates/warranty extras.
My Insurance Company has been doing a great job...no hassles to date. The offered me $12k, which is over what KBB indicates its worth at RETAIL. Trade in value was something like $7500.
I like the Alero too, but still not sure what I want to do. I just bought our Crew Cab in April, but did not buy it with the intent of it being my daily driver. Gas mileage isn't so hot and I drive a long way to work and back. I do enjoy driving it though. As I said, my spouse and I argued over what cars were garaged. We only have a 2 car garage and I don't like leaving any of our cars outside, since we live right on the Gulf with its constant blanket of salty mist each night. I'm gonna have to think about this before I decide what if anything I end up choosing.
Thanks again.
I've driven a couple of rental Impala LS's and found them quite likeable.
I just CAN'T get past those tail lights.
I was wondering if anyone on here has had their windows tinted on their Grand Am... I've heard that some back windows will bubble up when the defrost is cut on is this true? I've seen some real poor tint jobs out there just wondering how some people on here have fared. I'm planning on getting mine done so any help would be appreciated...
I too have a 2000 Grand Am with my windows tinted. I had all four of them plus the rear window done at Ziebart. They do a really good job, use high quality tint with a lifetime gurantee against discoloration/fading/peeling/cracking/etc. A good quality tint will not fade to that purple color that you see a lot of cars with, it will remain grey/black. When you see the purple tint that means that they used poor quality tinting on the windows.
The only thing is that pesky rear window, the tint does not stick well to the matrix dots on the upper portion, but you kind of get used to it I guess.
I would think that the bars, along with the stronger rear sway bar would really compliment each other.
I would say get the bar with the idea of further upgrading the suspension. I have an '99 SE, and anything I install would make a difference.
A front strut tower brace is a bar that connects the two front strut towers under the hood. You can also add one to the rear strut towers in the trunk.
Stabilizer bars are bars that are part of the suspension, underneath, in the front and rear of the vehicle. The Grand Am already has front and rear stabilizer bars, although I think the rear is a hollow bar, not solid. If you purchase stabilizer bars all you are doing is upgrading the existing ones on the vehicle. Solid stabilizer bars are, of course, better than hollow ones.
I have added a front strut tower brace to my Grand Am SE '00 and immediately noticed a difference in the handling. The car is definitely tighter in turns and around corners. At $130, I think is is worth the money.
Hope this helps...happy driving!
anybody else have this that cares to comment? I'd like to have a few opinions to compare.
thanks
-JD
Another thing I have noticed (or it seems) is that my acceleration is really bad with ETS on, but when I turn it off, my acceleration improves quite a bit.
1. I was wondering if anyone else has experienced gas mileage or acceleration issues like this?
2. Is there a benefit in normal driving conditions (no rain or snow) to having ETS turned on?
3. And finally, is there a way to permanently turn ETS off? It's not a big deal to hit the button and turn it off when I get in, but it would be nice to have it off right when I get in.
Thanks for your help.
Eric H
I have a 2000 SE with the V6 and I consistently get above 25 mpg, at my last fill-up I got 28 mpg (and that was with the A/C on during the day!). I drive about 25 miles each way to work on a parkway, it's not a highway but it does have many stop lights. When I drive on out of town trips along the Interstate, I easily get 30+ mpg.
One thing I did do to improve my gas mileage was to change my spark plugs. About 4000 miles ago I removed the stock AC Delco plugs and replaced them with Bosch Platinum +4 plugs. Bosch has a satisfaction guarantee with them and they say that if you don't notice better mileage, smoother shifting and improved acceleration, you can return them to Bosch (with receipt of course) and they will refund your money. They are platinum, just like the AC Delco's, but they have 4 electrodes on the tip as compared to the standard 1 (hence the name Platinum +4).
I don't know about improved acceleration, but I did notice smoother shifts immediately and better gas mileage after the first fill-up. I would recommend these plugs to other Grand Am owners, they are great! They're not cheap, although they are less than the AC Delco plugs, I got them at my local Trak Auto and if I remember correctly they were around $5-6 per plug.
I have never heard of better mileage by turning off the ETS. I would think that by turning ETS off it would not help much since ETS activates only when it detects wheel slippage. I will try turning off ETS at my next fill-up and see what results I get.
I hope this helps.
A word of caution though: if you think that the steering is too precise or there is not enough play in the steering wheel on the stock car, then you will NOT like the feel with the STBs. The STB's will enhance the already tight feeling.
I want a GM car because of over $3000 GM card rebate.
I determined on A Pontiac; Olds is dieing, Buick makes me too old, and Chevy makes me too young. Cadillac never smiles to me, neither do I.
I chose a GA; it was reborn in 1999, young enough to have lots of wisdom, but not too young to---.
I picked up a NEW 01 GT1 without of testing drive it, the dealer had only two GT1 left, one with a 10" long scratch on its bumper; and traded in my darling Honda 93.
I drove this sexy baby home the first day; she was strong and smooth; even the stiff brake and loud wind noise didn't scare me. Got home, I touched every inch of metal with love. When I opened gas fill door, a nest of bee was behind it. What a fool, I forgot asking whether this car using honey or gas. I was too shy to call GM because I was certain that a sweat voice on the other side would ask me what kind of bees they were.
I drove this sexy baby to work the next day, still happy, then the SERVICE ENGINE SOON came on and stayed on, and then the TRAC OFF came on and stayed on. I was going to call GM roadside assistance (and I swear I will do next time), then I remembered the manual said if these warnings on, "there may be a problem", or there may not be a problem. Excellent manual. Then I recalled someone here said about the gas fill cap 3-click rule. Then I stopped car, turned off the engine, clicked the cap 3 times, started the engine, and the warnings were gone. Then I was not sure I should laugh or cry.
I drove this sexy baby to work today, the third day. Nothing wrong yet. But I already increased my insurance coverage, because I have too many things in my mind when I'm driving this baby.
It did go through a few minor warranty issues, but I'm picker than most folks on vehicles, and I HATE service departments.
This Grand Am is tight, doesn't rattle over East Texas roads. Interior has not deteriated at all, in spite of hot Texas suns scorching the plastics.
No failures.
Potential common problems to watch for as a result of years of messages on this list:
Warranty issues
* bubbling on door plastics near glass (mine)
* scratch on door glass
* scratch on back windshield
* vertical front seat back spring snapping,
causing small holes in back fabric.
* brake rotor warping (mine)
Puzzling potential issues
* water appearing under front seats
or back seat floor (mine)
* wind noise in back (not all cars)
* high-beam illumination is weak (mine)
* twitchy front-end, corrected by getting
rid of factory tires, replacing with
Michelins. (mine)
Could be that none of these issues occur on the post 1999 Grand Ams. But, this might give a heads up and don't acept an incompetent dealer's solutions to issues. This is a great car.
Not sure if you are after a soft or sporty ride. You might try checking out tirerack and do some homework there. They helped me make my selection of Michelins:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TRSelectAutoMakeAndYear.jsp