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Has anybody else noticed this on under their shifter? I can't figure out why I haven't noticed it until now. I wonder if it migrated from somewhere else. I was going to take the boot apart yesterday but I didn't have time.
http://www.grandamgt.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2319
I think you got a good price! As I said before, now is a really good time to buy. I paid a bit more six weeks ago, but paid cash. I also was surprised that the insurance was only $30 a year more than for my previous car. Just for comparison I asked my insurance guy how much it would be to insure a Civic or Corolla and they were about the same (I think one was actually a little higher).
There are lots of reasons why somebody wouldn't want to wash their car themselves. When I was young I took my used cars to a car wash but since leaving college and buying new cars I've always washed them myself. I'm 37 now and one reason is that this is pretty good exercise for me. Plus I don't want swirl marks or a bent antenna or the hasty drying job they do at a car wash.
I use Meguiar's Soft Wash Gel and then this absolutely fabulous thing called the Absorber to dry the car. I used to use a good-quality chamois but the Absorber is not only cheaper but works much better and is easier to work with.
This weekend it was overcast all day so after washing and drying I did a three-step (clean, polish, wax) procedure. I'm not that much of a car nut. I didn't mail-order Zaino stuff, but just used the Meguiar's stuff you can get at the local Pep Boys. I had a bad experience with wax before, but this stuff dried quickly and took only very light buffing to shine. This took another couple of hours but it was worth it. The car is really shiny now, neighbors were telling me how great the car looks, etc.
Regardless of how the car gets washed, I highly recommend the California Car Duster. It's like a broom of soft red yard and you lightly pass it over the paint and it picks up dust, pollen, bits of grass, etc. Do this every day and the car will look great much longer. There's also a California Mini (or Dash?) Duster that works great on the interior.
Anyway, not everybody wants to spend a couple of hours washing their car and getting all dirty, so if you'd rather take it to a car wash and be done with it in twenty minutes then you shouldn't feel like you're a bad new car owner.
When I got the new car I was very careful when entering and exiting driveways but one day it happenend: I heard scraping. It's happend a couple of more times since. This used to happen all the time with my previous car. It happens a lot less with the Grand Am.
I usually wax about every 2-3 months at the most. The bottle suggests that you "reapply in 30 days for maximum protection." I just waxed it last week and then a few days ago I found some bird droppings on the hood. It had sat out under the sun all day at work, but that evening, with a few drops of water it came off easily.
I think it's about $6 or $7 per bottle and should last a long time, it's in an orange bottle so it's pretty easy to spot at the store.
It's great stuff, I highly recommend using Nu Finish.
On my car I leave the Headlights on "auto" control and fog light switch always on. Has worked flawlessly for the past 2 1/2 years. I never have to remember when to turn my headlights on or off
The fog lights will only come on when the night lamps are activated.
Along with using a California duster, as has been suggested, to get the dust off from everyday use, the GT is looking very cool.
Just a closing comment.... It was a very eerie sight this past Tuesday to see, from my office window, the smoke rising from the Trade Tower in lower Manhattan. Even though I'm approx 35 miles away as the crow flies in NJ, I still could see the large plume of gray smoke billowing over the horizon. It was quite a shock to go from seeing the images on TV of the fire to seeing the smoke from my office window. What an unbelieveable week.
I have been treating the leather consistently over the past 2+ years, but still have noticed that the material on the gear shifter has become very worn and rough to the touch.
One problem is that I find myself constantly gripping the shifter like a stick shift, even though it is an automatic transmission. It's just a habit from my days of driving manual transmissions.
We opted to have it repaired, even though it was expensive. Labor @ $60hr for 4 hours plus $55 standard labor charge for evac & refill plus parts (compressor, pressure hose, rcvr/dryer and misc, all AC Delco) came to a total of $1,114.
If the car wasn't in such good condition with low miles (65,500) I may not have repaired it, since it is pushing 7 years old. It will be nice if we get 2-3 more years use out of it.
Other repairs to date:
Fuel pump at about 55,000 miles
Combination switch at about 60,000 miles.
I dread having to make major repairs to my Grand Am, especially starting next month when it is out of warranty. I've heard tranny jobs can cost $3K-$4K. I just hope I pay off the vehicle before it starts to wear out parts. I would assume if your car is 7 years old, that it is paid off. That makes a big difference. Making both payments and repair bills is tough for the pocketbook to swallow. Sometimes it makes sense to put the money into car repairs, sometimes you just bag it and get a new car. It can be a tough decision which way to go.
Luckily, the slick salesperson taked me into it back in '99, what the heck, the GM bucks I had paid for it. Had the power door actuator on one door repaired in warranty today. My GA is approaching 36k miles fast (I do 144 miles every round-trip into the office).
Now I just got to find that damn paperwork and hope the warranty company is still in business...
I talked to my credit union and they are selling one (100K miles/5 years) for around $650. It has a $50 deductible.
The credit union said the cost for the warranty would go up a little after I hit 10K miles and it would keep going up as I got more and more miles.
I'm going back and forth between getting it now and waiting a little bit because I don't want to shell out the cash for it right now. The credit union said they would add it onto the car loan but then I'm paying interest on it and I don't want to do that either!
It would help to hear at what point some of you purchased it...Thanks!
A) Peace of mind: some folks like knowing that if anything goes wrong beyond the standard warranty period that they are covered financially. It's just like homeowners or car insurance-- you really don't want to have to use it, but it's nice knowing it's there in case you need it. Also, cars with only 3/36k warranties leave a lot to be desired (hello GM?). If GM is confident enough to offer 5/50k on Olds, then why can't they do it across the line? The cars haven't changed mechanically, just the fact they are killing one of their best divisions (in terms of design/styling)
GM vehicles are hit-and-miss in terms of reliabilty and nagging repairs. If you plan on holding onto the car for longer than 4 years, then I'd recommend an ext warranty.
Try to get a GM Major Guard ext warranty, they are available as long as your car isn't beyond the standard warranty. And remember, the price is negotiable with your dealer, don't accept the first offer.
My car has under 1K miles on it so I'm trying to drive it gently. I did, however, jump on it a little today (just HAD to pass a somewhat comatose driver) and I heard this wonderful sound! What IS that? It sounded like something opened up it's mouth and just GROWLED. Very cool...
Almost sounds like a small-block V-8 of the 60s. I have no idea what it sounds like far away from the car, but inside, it is sweet. Wait until you discover the location of the acceleration "sweet spots" when you need to "point and shoot".
My GrandAm is knocking on 60,000 miles and I still love the sound.
Now I wonder what it sounds like outside the car. Gotta get somebody to drive my car down the street so I can hear it for myself.
In reality, this is just a dinky push-rod V-6, and as such, is going to sound like a V-6. grinnnn Let us know if it REALLY does sound outside like it does inside. Unless you have heard the sweet music of a late 60s muscle car, you'll never the magic of that note.
The kid who still lives inside of me wants it to sound like a bad squalling 384 Mopar Chrysler V-8 of 1969. grinnnnnnnnn
I like when I'm cruising my local neighborhood streets in my GT at 25 mph and just punch the gas pedal down real quick. The neck-snapping reaction is so much fun!
A Borla is on order, toys from PartsForYourCar are on order, including better brakes...
Replacing the SE struts with GT struts...
Removed the side ribbing for a smoother look, ala Olds Alero. Recall several months ago how WHACO on this board scolded SEers for their side ribbing. My only concern is ding protection, so have got to find a solution for that. If I had a GT, I wouldn't remove the ribbing. But, the car does look better in my eyes.
Next week, Old Red won't know what hit her. Should be an interesting ride.
Old archive Hot Rod magazines of that era would refer to quarter mile times of STOCK factory V-8s running about 15.5. The 3.4 comes very close to that. The 16s are probably more like it, but some of the guys elsewhere on the net are reporting 15s. That ain't bad for no modification and these engines are not meant to be power boxes, but, heh, they could be. grinnnnn
Now, where is that 5-speed box from Honda that should be able to drop in place of the automatic? That is the only thing I miss, a mean 5 speed for the 3.4.
Definitely not normal. No sense in speculating what caused this, but assuming this is a late model Grand Am, the bumper covering caps on both front and back should retain a smooth shiny appearance waaay past the life of the car.
Uh, speculation...: I think both the front and back had small "touch-up" scratches and an unknowing paint shop used standard metal type auto paint to fix it. This paint is not flexible enough for the bumper material and does not adhere well to plastics/vinyl. Maybe this is causing the cracking.
I had a rental car for the four days it was in the shop, it was a Suzuki Grand Vitara V6. I have to say that I enjoyed the height of the mini-SUV but the V6 was a joke compared to the V6 in my Grand Am. For a V6, the Suzuki had no passing power and not very much torque either. Needless to say, I was so happy to get my Grand Am back (with it's shiny new bumper) and great V6 engine!
I'd also be curious to hear why the 6 cyl is so much better than the 4. I really don't care how the engine sounds... I just want a good ride, good MPG and good acceleration. Can I get all that with the 4 cyl.?
Also, since my car is only a few hundred miles before it is out of warranty, the service manager asked me if I wanted to get the warranty extended with the GM Major Guard program. There was no salesman around to quote me a price, but I got the brochure. I have about 2 weeks to decide. Anybody else get this extended warranty on their vehicle and how has it worked out?
I used the brush that they have there and I was wondering if anyone has had an problems with these scratching the clear coat on the car. It's a soft bristled brush so I don't think that it will do any major damage.
As I might start washing my car again this way during the cold months, what are your opinions on this?
And just as an update, my 2000 Grand Am has almost 43,000 miles on it and I haven't had one problem since the warranty ran out...I love my car!
Thanks and happy driving
When I go to the self-serve car wash place, I first fill up a bucket at home with car wash soap and hot water and bring it with me. I also bring my wash glove (made of some very soft non-scratch material) to wash the car and then rinse. This way I save time (and quarters) by using their machine less, and I don't have to worry about scratching anything. Hope this helps!
If your into fine paint maintenance like me, check out Griotsgarage.com.
Blower motor resistor board.
Just put fourth set of pads on the front, aftermarket Raybestos rotors fine. Rear brakes still very good.
I'll need to replace serpentine belt soon, showing signs of wear.
Replaced the serpentine myself, and this weekend, got rid of the GM rotors and replaced them with PowerSlots and Performance Friction Pads.
Also, I replaced the fuel filter with a Deutsch FF508 filter.
Decided to start quietening the interior a bit using B-Quiet sound matting. So, have pulled the carpet and installed the B-Quiet. and reinstalled the carpet. Made quite a difference with road noise.
I removed the ugly side cladding and badges, and replaced the cladding with Grand Prix door ding guards. Has a nice smooth look now.
And finally, a couple of years back, I had my mirrors painted to match the car color.
Haven't had a real failure, such as the resistor board for the fan.
Can anyone recommend a product that I can use to treat the rubber surfaces that would eliminate the friction squeaking?
However, he may think that your GA have a 4-cylinder engine. I believe, there are many of them on the roads, probably more than with V-6.