Pontiac Grand Am

midlifecrisis · February 2001

Do you know when I appreciate my Grand Am GT the most? Right after I drive a different vehicle, like my wife's van or a company car. Then I get in my GT and I realize what I had missed.

When we go on vacation, I always take our van to fit the family and to tow the camper. Every time we get home from a trip, I have to jump into the GT and take it for a spin. I miss it so when I go away.

And every time I see another vehicle on the road that I might want to buy in the future, I get in my GT and drive, completely forgetting about the other cars. My Grand Am is like a therapy session every time I get in it. Who needs a shrink when you have 175 HP and all the gadgets you want?

pwilliamk · February 2001

I bought my GA exactly one year ago and I must say that I do enjoy the car a lot.

I have had several problems however. I only have 19000km or 11500miles on my car and I have replaced the rotors and pads twice. I know have that vague braking feel that some have mentioned. I really have to stomp on the brakes to get the car to stop. I have replaced the stereo due to faulty volume controls.

I have a wet carpet on both passenger and drivers side floors. I also currently have a noise coming from the front end that kind of sounds like the noise struts make when they start to deteriorate. The latter two I still want to get checked out when I get my oil changed again.

I read of the NHSTA site that some GA's with 16" touring tires may have been equipped with the shocks or something like that. I also saw something mentioned about the wet floors. Has anyone had the latter two problems? If so have you taken it in to the dealer and what did they say?

One other point was mentioned by someone with the 4cyl. engine. I only get about 20.5mpg(8.75km/l). I also bought the 4cyl. to save. I wish now that I would have gotten the 6.

Other than these complaints I must say that I am still pretty happy with the car. It looks good and also handles rather well.

tonychrys · February 2001

Well, my wife just got back from the dealer for the 15k mile service (18k miles on the car). All I wanted was the oil changed and the tires rotated (as per the owners manual). They screwed her and gave her the whole nine yards, chassis lube, filters, etc. Instead of being out about $60, I'm now out $230. Boy did we have an argument on the phone.

The service guy looks at the brakes and says they will have to be replaced in about another 2k miles, at my cost. Brakes wearing out at less than 20K miles?! Sheesh, I've never had a car where this happened. I know I'm rough on the car, but heck, you'd think they have better brakes on this thing.

Oh well.

vocus · February 2001

My brakes on my 1999 Protege wore out at 26K and I was a bit pissed that I had to pay to have them replaced too. The mechanic said because I was hard on the brakes and it made them wear quicker.

kcs1999 · February 2001

I find it interesting that all the people servicing their brakes are having to pay for them. I went back to the dealer twice with a complaint of hard vibration when braking. The first visit, they turned the rotors which fixed the problem for 1500 miles or so. The second trip however, they called to say that they were replacing the rotors and pads under a bulletin from M. Since the replacement rotors I've had no problems with breaking. I think they also changed the pads as well. This is my second Grand Am and as far as I can tell they are only getting better. The engine is top notch, and you couldn't ask for a better cranny in this price range. I would be interested to know if anyone else has had their brakes done under war. . I know that I work with a pretty good dealer. A little higher priced but worth the honesty in the long run. Post any reply.

tonychrys · February 2001

Yes, I too would like to know if anyone got their brakes replaced under warranty for 99 GA. Right now, I can't find any TSBs to use as ammunition against the dealer.

Any info appreciated.

heng · February 2001

There were a lot of Aleros that got the rotors and pads replaced under a TSB (mine included).

djdj · February 2001

I've got a '94 GA GT 4dr 6cyl with 41K miles. My main objection to the car is the ride; you feel any little imperfection in the road.

Its the tradeoff for the handling. I loved the car in NJ which had lots of winding roads the car just ate up (took me 3 weeks to get a ticket in it), but I moved to Ohio where everything is straight and flat. I need new tires and wonder if anyone has switched brands to a tire that rides better.

Mine has been relatively troublefree: front brakes changed twice; new driver window motor (FYI, a Delco replacement motor wouldn't work, my mechanic tried two of them and then had to get an actual GM part). The dashboard has one or two spots that rattle, and the rear seat does when someone sits behind the driver. The paint still shines likes it new, and I have never waxed it. Its been through 2 front tires, but those were changed for deep cuts.

In NJ I drove 2.5 miles per day and got 20 mpg. In Ohio I drive about 45 miles/day, mostly highway, average about 27 mpg and have actually gotten 30 mpg when I kept the speed under 60 for a week. That experiment lasted one tankful because the acceleration is the attraction of the car.

I find my seats supportive. I just test drove a new Avalon and had to stop after 2 miles because my back hurt so bad. I also test drove the 300M and didn't find the ride much better. The 300M even seemed like it more wind noise than the GA.

After 7 years I am bored with it but have a hard time trading it in with only 41k miles and I get sticker shock with everything else out there. I am hoping new tires and a CD player will make it new enough. I hate the new over-plasticized GA so that isn't an option.

nerss · February 2001

My fincee's brakes were replaced rotors and all and it only cost us 100 bucks for the pads. The garage labor and rotors were free and we have put 15,000 miles on since with no brake problems. I have seen a TSB for wet floors. (under www.alldata.com) Hope this helps.

melvinj2 · February 2001

A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO MY MOTHER GAVE ME HER 1988 GRAND AM LE WITH THE 2.5L ENGINE. THE CAR SUDDENLY LOST POWER WHILE SHE WAS DRIVING. SHE TOOK IT TO THE SHOP AND THE MECHANIC SAID THAT IT COULD BE THE TIMING CHAIN, I'M NO MECHANIC BUT WITH A CAR THAT ONLY HAS 81,000 MILES ON IT AND IT HAS BEEN ONLY DRIVEN TO WORK AND BACK IN THE PAST 13 YEARS I WOULDN'T THINK SO. HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF ANYONE HAVING PROBLEM WITH IGNITION MODULES ON THESE CARS FOR THIS YEAR. I FIGURE THIS WOULD BE A GOOD INVESTMENT KNOWING THAT THIS CAR WAS SERVICED ON A REGULAR BASIS. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT IT. I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE SOME RESPONSES.

tonychrys · February 2001

This model year has numerous technical service bulletins on it, including ignition control module.

See for yourself at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/tsb/

Just follow the directions and select the year, make, and model from the pull down lists.

Good luck.

tonychrys · February 2001

This discussion forum has fallen so far down the page it's scary. Time to post and get it back top!

Any advice for confronting the dealer about warranty brake replacement? My '99 GA now has 18k miles on it. Should I just mention the TSB and hope he cooperates?

jdexter23 · February 2001

Is everyone on vacation, cause this board is dead!
I think everyone ran out of things to write about without becoming redundant. Is this the end of the Grand Am page.....

gpintado · February 2001

I just test drove the 2001 GT. I thought the complaints about the brakes were exaggerations, but indeed the Grand Am GT has problems with it's brakes. I told the sales guy that my 99 Corolla brakes better than this and it has 30,000 miles on it. I did find the GT powerful but the brakes just sucked. I hope they fix this problem for the 2002 GT's, which is when my lease is over and I can finally get rid of the Corolla. No offense to the Corolla; which is very reliable but just to boring to drive.

yurakm · February 2001

I have a Chevy Malibu. It shares platform with GA / Alero and have the same brakes.

The brakes grip somewhat weak when new, and after replacing the pads. According to GM this is for the first 1000 miles; in my experience for 200 miles at most, more like 100 miles. I live in hilly New England, and drive mostly in suburbs / city. Probably, in 100 miles use the brakes more than in 1000 miles of flat highway :-).

So, this is not a problem. There was other, real problems with these brakes: a lot of warped rotors at 20k miles, 15k miles, even 7-8,000 miles. At first, GM did not recognize the problem, later started replacing the rotors under warranty, and currently they switched to different rotors, with few problems.

The rotor thing was not a safety problem. With warped rotors brakes work even better, only eat pads very fast. But it was a nuisance, and expensive nuisance, if you pay for replacement yourself.

luvhatemygt1 · February 2001

Well, lets just say I have had all and any problems you can have with a GA. The breaks, radio, water leaking, door panel bubbling, dash replaced, trunk liner replaced, molding, mirror oxing, ETC ETC, it has 36000 miles on it and it has been in the shop over 30 times!But on the up side It is DAM* sweet to look at and drive! I love it! I hate the dealership shop! We have had a mysterious oil leak, and well Geezz Alot of problem, Pontiac and General Motors have tried to make it right though! Thank God! The bought a *top of the line* Extended warranty and have bent over backwards to help us! I guess they really are good at service. I really love my car, but I am sick of it too..... Hope all are well in Pontiac Land!

rolloman · March 2001

First time on this board. Does any one have any word on what the new 2002 G.A. will look like? Upgrades under hood and interior styles/features.

Sure appreciate any feedback.

jkidd2 · March 2001

Hi Everyone....yesterday on my way home from work I hit a rather large pothole. When I got home, I checked my front left tire and discovered that the wheelcover had actually cracked in half! I have complained in past postings about these plastic covers. They are very noisy and apparently rather fragile too.

midlifecrisis · March 2001

This is a free country and anyone can post what they wish. But I would like to get back to posts that are informative for those of us who own Grand Ams.

I have not heard of any major changes planned to the 2002 GA. Someone said that they were going to have a major overhaul in 2003, which is only a year and a half away.

I just hit the 25,000 mile mark on my 1999 GA GT. I haven't had any problems for quite some time and the car is running and handling as good as new. I can't wait for some warmer weather so I can use the sunroof again. It's also been difficult to wash my car because we seem to have snow storms every week up here in NJ this winter. And the bright red paint on my car begs to be sparkly clean.

I don't look forward to replacing the GT tires. They cost almost $200 a piece. Has anyone out there replaced their GT tires yet or have significant mileage on the originals? How many miles can you expect out of these tires?

tonychrys · March 2001

You don't happen to drive the GSP, do you? If so, about what time of day and what exits.

rolloman · March 2001

Let me try this again.

Does anyone have any info/pix of the newly restyled 2002 Grand Am? Need to know whether to wait for 02 model to buy.

Thanks very much.

tonychrys · March 2001

Just to stop your whining, from the Motortrend website "2004 Pontiac Grand Am: Redesign based on the Epsilon platform, expected to grow slightly in size. "
The GA was just redesigned in '99. It ain't time yet.

Ok, I take it back, the GA will get some slight exterior changes in 2002. Here's some info:
http://popularmechanics.com/perl/spy_fetch.pl?cat=det

doowopper · March 2001

doowopper · March 2001

I purchased a 2001 Pontiac SE1 in December of last year, and a week later, I had to take the car to be serviced because of grinding brakes. Needless to say, it was a piece of cake. There wasn't a bit of hassle, and the rotors were replaced, free of charge. Since then, I haven't had a lick of trouble with this car.
I'll just say that this vehicle is a whole lot more fun to drive and look at than a number of others in its class. It's a lot more comfortable than previous Grand Ams. To each his own, but I like the ribbed styling and the "Batmobile" styled interior. It's light years beyond those Grand Ams with that infamous "Quad 4" (one of which I owned, unfortunately, before the head gasket blew). Although the one I have now has is a 4 cylinder, it's a whole lot peppier and smoother. It may not be super quiet, but it's quieter than the Quad 4, believe me, and certainly does a better job.
So far, here's a very satisfied '01 Grand Am owner!

jdexter23 · March 2001

ok, one of my biggest pet peevs is rattles in a car. My problem with my 2000 grand am is that the keyless entry clicker on my keychain constantly swings back and forth and smacks into the dash. Any ingenious people out there found a clever way to prevent this? Also, does anyone else have problems with the seat covers coming loose in the front (about where the lever is to move the seat fwd/back)?

thanks
JD

jdexter23 · March 2001

PS I am not complaining about my car, I love driving it and i too like the "batmobile" interior. It makes my daily commute more fun. all i need now is some warm weather and salt free roads:)

vocus · March 2001

Why don't you take the clicker off the keychain and hold it in your pocket while driving? It's a pain in the butt, but if the rattle is bothering you that much it will fix it. You might also try wrapping something around the transmitter. But keep in mind you will have to unwrap it when the batteries go dead.

tonychrys · March 2001

jdexter23 Mar 2, 2001 12:36pm

Hehe, this is so funny because I get the same thing! But the reason my keys swing into the dash is because I'm going at terminal velocity with my V6 into a curve or over a bump.

Just a side effect of "the need for speed". Enjoy!

jdexter23 · March 2001

Even without the clicker, the keys still hit. I have considered wrapping an elastic around the hanging keys and the clicker, but that would be a pain in the butt whenever i need other keys.
JD

tonychrys · March 2001

Seriously, if this really bothers you I have a solution.

Find the smallest pair of baby cotton socks with an elastic anklet that you can. If you ever had kids you'll know what I'm talking about. This sock will effectively server the same purpose as the "socks" on golf clubs when you carry them around in the bag: it keeps them from clanging together.

Keep this key sock in you car. When you get in, simply hold up your key chain by the ignition key and simply slip the sock over everything else that is dangling down. Insert key in ignition and you are good to go. Slips of easily when you are done.

Hope this helps.

tonychrys · March 2001

Just an FYI to anyone who is interested.

After about 18k miles, the 1999 GA V6 has broken in nicely. I do about 700 miles a week (that's right, in a week) with about 80% highway at 50 - 73 mph and 20% city at 20 - 50 mph. Gas milage is calculating out to about 27.1 mpg. Take this and multiply by the 15 gallon tank and I can get 380 miles out of a tank with a gallon to spare for errors. Not bad for V6 performance.

The more I drive this car, the more it impresses me how well it is a solid piece of transportation. Definitely a good value.

whacko · March 2001

I took a real close look at a new Grand Am the other day. It's really too bad they designed it with all that ribbing. If Pontiac would've kept the ribbing off, the Grand Am would possibly be one of the best designed vehicles in the market. It's ashamed that they had to take a wonderful piece of art and turn it into a shameful design. The ribbing makes the car look like an insecure piece of machinery that's wanting way too much attention, not realizing what kind of a fool it's making of itself. Oh well, maybe the next generation GA will get it right.

tonychrys · March 2001

Such insightful comments from someone who drives a Ford Festiva. What was I thinking when I bought the GA?

lrymal · March 2001

Whacko raises a valid point but he ignores all replies or comments directed to him, including one I did regarding the cladding a few weeks back. Basically, he exists here to just yank some comments.

But, the fact that reviewers also faulted the GrandAm's styling because of the cladding a few years ago makes me want to respond, or maybe repeat my reply to him and the reviewers.

Yes, the cladding is ugly. I think it is. And the style boys would love a car with smooth rounded sides, such as the upcoming Buick Bengali. No interruptions in the style at all.

They would love to have no door handles with access only by way of the electronic unlocking of the doors.

Gorgeous design. Smooth. Sorta like the 1950 Ford Mercury that has been chopped and lowered. Those are wonderful to look at.

Ok, let's go to reality.

Wal-Mart parking lot door dings.

'nuff said. Bring back the cladding, or should I say armor?

Until somebody invents a force-field...

Respond, Whacko. You raise this issue repeatedly about the cladding. So, what do you do about the body manglers at Wal-Mart?

beedublu · March 2001

There's a poster here named "midlifecrisis", which makes me laugh because that's exactly what I'm going through. I've got the hots for a new GA GT to replace a '95 T-Bird...but after 5 miserable years of struggling to get moving in upstate New York snow, I'm wondering how much better the GT will be.

Some of the things I've read imply that the Eagle RS tires don't have that much grip; others say that the front air dam has too little ground clearance and gets hung up easily in unplowed snow.

So, how about it, GT owners: Will I regret choosing this car? Will I have to (ugh) buy snow tires for it? (The brochure has the usual warnings about not using chains).

Thanks for sharing you winter (and other) experiences.

tonychrys · March 2001

I didn't buy the GA because I thought the cladding was cool, I bought it because I thought the car was a good value.

I was just thinking about the cladding the other day while looking at my car. Then I noticed someting: Not a single noticeable door ding! But yet you can see (under up close inspection) where somebody dinged the cladding. But because it has some "give", the paint didn't crack.

Could I do without the cladding? Sure, but it does have its advantages.

lrymal · March 2001

At least Wacko has me thinking on some more issues. grinnn

1) Rubbed my finger on againt the cladding
and felt all the chips and dings. Those
would have been on the door metal.

2) The cladding CAN be removed. Yup. Look at the
design. The nose cap and tail cap designs for
SE fade to smooth.

Except for a couple of filler pieces, the
cladding is attached only by 3M adhesive.
Hot lamps applied to the cladding can aid
in their removal.

All that would remain would for polishing
and buffing of the clear coat underneath.

3) Obviously, I would go to a body shop to
confirm these observations and techniques.

So, if anyone is really offended by the body cladded armor that the Grand Am has on it that is protecting it from the Wal-Mart door crunchers, then there is a way for you to smooth out the side body pieces. Just remove the cladding...

nbr1stunna77 · March 2001

I shopped all around to find the perfect sports sedan. I looked at Dodge, Acura, VW, and every other car priced under 25,000. I came to find the 2000 Grand Am GT to stand out infront of all the others. I purchased the new GT1 in July 2000, and since I have had nothing but problems with the car. The rotor's warped at 11,000 and have been replaced, the mech's have attempted twice to try to fix my a/c that shut's off after running it for more than a halfhour. The passenger doors leaked until mechanics got it fixed the second time around. Also the trunk makes a howling sound when at highway speeds, that has yet to be fixed. All of these problems I found to be common with the Grand Am's because they have bulletin's out on all. Has anyone else had any of these problems? And if so what did the dealership do to fix them. I know it sounds like I am bad mouthing the GA, but I am not I love my car. The handleing is great, accleration, cornering, it's just a great performing car. I don't know if I will ever buy another GA though or any Pontiac for that matter. Just my 2cents.

Oh one other Question- Does anyone have a lifter noise or tapping noise during starts and if so is it normal with the 3.4 Liter?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

lrymal · March 2001

I had water on the carpet also, but honestly, at least in my case, the problem was from impatient rear passengers not raising the glass high enough. I mean, the class was in the top channel, but not against it. I have a rear-seat passenger who loves the glass down when the weather is nice, but raises the glass while opening the door. I solved THAT problem by MY doing the glass raising. After checking for that, my water problems "evaporated". No more wet carpets.

Airconditioner problems on your end sound like a thermal sensor or thermostat. Easy fix. Your dealer should fix that. At the worst, it could be a thermal shutdown issue in the compressor itself. Again, your dealer should spot that easily. I mean, this isn't rocket science. These are "old technology" problems with autos in generals. I'm referring to problems on any make vehicle all the way back to the late 60s. This is just a standard air conditioning issue. Even a home central air conditioning unit can experience these problems.

If your dealer cannot isolate this, then shame on that dealer. I would go somewhere else.

Rotors warping is a well-known problem. Your dealer should have offered to REPLACE those rotors with GM's heftier rotors. This list has several times listed the TB on that. SHAME ON YOUR DEALER...

Not sure what the howling sound is. Haven't seen any postings on that in this list. Might be a tire problem. A thrown weight, tire imbalance might cause slight cupping on the tread making the tire noisy.

The tapping noise of the engine is normal. The 3.4 liter motor is a hefty workhouse and is known for grunt work and high mileage. It is not an overhead cam motor. It uses hydraulic lifters and as such, it takes a few seconds for oil pressure to get oil to the lifters adequately. Hence, the tappet noise. This is normal and you'll hear this for another 200 thousand miles.

Example: Very old cars from the 60s that have hydraulic lifters usually are racketty sounding things at startup, especially if the oil was never changed well and sludge is in the crankcase.

At any rate, it is normal with the 3.4L. Just keep the oil clean.

midlifecrisis · March 2001

Tonychrys - I don't drive the GSP regularly, but every once in a while on business and pleasure. I've had it down in the Cape May area and from exit 130 north to exit 159 a few times.

Beedublu - I got to challenge the GT in a major snowstorm last week. I had to drive about 10 miles to a business function in a snowstorm in which there was 2-4" of unplowed and/or packed snow on top of icy roads. The car performed admirably, similar to how other front-wheel drive compacts have done for me before.

The ABS brakes in conjuntion with the traction control handled all but one situation perfectly. I did slide somewhat down a steep grade towards an intersection. I regained control after about 15 seconds. The low clearance did not seem to cause any problems, but I did notice that both the front and rear wheel wells trapped a tremendous amount of snow coming off the tires. The next day it took me a half hour to extract the frozen compacted snow from under the fenders.

midlifecrisis · March 2001

I also have the key problem. I was driving with a coworker just last week and she asked me why I was always grabbing my keys. I told her that I grab them going around turns because they clank against the dashboard and it is VERY annoying. She laughed at me. I really like having the ignition on the dashboard for ease of key insertion, but man it makes too much annoying noise! I was thinking of wrapping a rubber band around the keys, but that probably wouldn't work. Last week I removed 3 or 4 keys from my key chain, but it still makes noise. Maybe the sock isn't a bad idea. The keys will still sway back and forth, but maybe you can limit the noise it makes when hitting the dash.

sonic222 · March 2001

This is the first time I have worked on a quad four engine. After complaints from its owner {mother-in-law} about sluggish performance, I drove the car for look see. she was not kidding . It felt like it was running on two cylinders. I removed the coil tower cover and found telltale signs of carbon tracks from arching between the plug boots. replaced the coil tower,plug boots and plugs. I fired it back up and it ran like new. Now it seems to have an annoying slight but very noticeable miss when idling. The owner informs me that it was not there before I worked on it. I was hoping someone might have a suggestion as to what I might look at next. Thank you

canada7 · March 2001

I just bought a used 2000 Grand Am V6 last week with 23000 km (about 14k miles) on it, and when I brake the front discs grind. Apparently a 150 pt. inspection was done without it being noticed, and I even brought the car in to the dealership and was told they couldn't hear anything. The fan has to be on low to hear it, but it's definitely evident to us. Has anybody else experienced this, or know what it is?

Besides that the car is awesome though!

vocus · March 2001

The front brake rotors are bad, and this is a Technical Service Bulletin on Grand Ams. Check this chat thread for alot more information on it. Talk to your dealer about having the new, stronger brake rotors put on your car, but do it quickly. Usually, brakes are only covered for 12K. Since this is a widespread problem, you should have no difficulty getting them replaced.

jkidd2 · March 2001

I've posted on the body cladding before. I didn't buy mine because it had it...but, as everyone else has noted....I have no door dings @ all...the only car of 3 we have in our family that doesn't have them.

Side body cladding is a Pontiac tradition...someone else mentioned that there are a lot of cars/trucks/suv's out there now days besides the GA with cladding....nobody seems to say much about them...Pontiac is an easy target...different strokes for different folks. If you don't like it...don't buy it.

I've read a lot of postings here @ Edmunds and on other message boards of people complaining about water leaks in their GA's....have had no problem like that in mine. Wonder if there is a service advisory out there?

chaylan · March 2001

Working at a Pontiac dealership, I get to see what problems tend to recur in the different models/years of the Pontiacs brought in for service. A few people were commenting about water leaks in their 2000 GAs and there was a problem with this last year. If you just have a few water spots here and there, this probably doesn't apply to you. However, we had people coming in after hard summer rains (in FL where it rains every day in the summer) with a trunk full of water. This was apparently due to improper sealing of the rear window, causing water to leak in and down into the trunk and backseat. If you're experiencing a lot of water in the backseat/trunk area, I'd have that window looked at.

A very minor problem I found with my 2001 GT is this bizarre noise that occurred this weekend while driving on the interstate. Occasionally I would hear a noise that sounded like a very distant air horn. It wasn't particularly loud (I had passengers so the radio was off, may not have even heard it with the radio on), but a little worrisome since this is a brand-new car. It seemed to be coming from the rear of the car, and my backseat passenger said she felt the rear window vibrating when the noise occurred (differently from normal driving with no noise, so it wasn't due to normal road vibration). It was an extremely windy day, about 20-30mph winds with gusts of about 40mph. Anyone else experienced this problem? We figured it was probably the wind, maybe gusting under the spoiler or something, and making a really weird sound. I didn't experience the noise on the trip back home; the wind had died down and it was pouring rain. So it seemed to support my wind theory...

Otherwise, no other problems with my GT! I love my car.

rpm9 · March 2001

Well, I had to do it. I just recently voluntarily repossessed my 00 GA/SE-1/V6 coupe because I no longer could handle the payments. There goes my credit, but oh well. Anyway, I have to admit that I don't really miss it at all because overall, I didn't like the light steering, the so-so handling, and the ribbing started really getting on my nerves. Due to my financial situation, I went and bought a 94 Mazda 626/V6 for $6K and I have to admit that even though this car has 99K miles and that it's seven years old, that it rides and handles much better than the GA. I'm very happy to be back driving a Japanese car again. They truly are better cars than the ones made by American manufacturers.

midlifecrisis · March 2001

RPM9 - Are you sure you're not just angry because you had to forfeit the car? A Mazda 626 with 99K rides and handles much better? Come on, get real.

yurakm · March 2001

Handling does not depend so much on mileage, as on basic design.

I have a 88 Ford Taurus L Wagon, with 129k miles. Old car, 14 years: build in summer 1987. Never know what will break the next time. Though, the handling is great - as on rails. I believe, this is due to rigid suspension. Probably, wagon have more stiff springs, than sedan.

Also, the seating position is very comfortable for me - better than in other cars I have / drove. The last thing is very personal, of course. Depends on body proportions: torso length, hand and leg length, etc.

tonychrys · March 2001

I have to agree with midlife, sounds like somebody got in over their head and is a little bitter. Hey, it happens.

But yes, handling and ride can be subjective. The only objective measurement would be a timed slamon and skid-pad test.

Pontiac Grand Am

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