Pontiac Grand Prix - 2000-2005

paulab3 · October 2005

A local (Atlanta) dealer has a used 2005 Grand Prix with 20,409 Miles listed for $14K

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

chief10 · October 2005

How do you disassemble and replace axles?

chief10 · October 2005

Adding to my question, make that a transaxle. This is for a 1999 Grand Prix sedan.

ssleight · October 2005

I have a 2000 grand prix gt is feels like it hesistates then slams into gear once it gets warm. I have changed the trani fluid and that didnt work. My mechanic has told me that similiar cases are coming thru on our cars that the cylinoids in the trani need to b replaced.

ronisgt · October 2005

I have had the exact same problem for the past year. I have had it at the dealer four different times. Of course when they have it the problem never happens. It's just something I am learning to live with. I wish i had an answer.

kobeross · October 2005

1999 Grand Prix GTP- power window went down but won't go up. Any have this problem or have any suggestions. Thanks in advance, L

grandprix · October 2005

I have a 2002 Grand Prix GT passenger side window motor went out. Had to replace it. Dealer cost $250.00 no labor just the part. Aftermarket part was 95.00 with shipping. Works great !

midniteprix05 · October 2005

Have no worries about the rental vehicle purchase. I am employed by Enterprise Rent-a-Car and i just bought an 05 grand prix base model and it is awesome. The cars (at least from Enterprise) are taken care of very well. Oil changes are on time, tires rotated, etc. I had leather, auto start, and a sunroof added to mine cause the base is kinda plain. The only thing i dont like about it is that it does not have ABS, the brakes feel strong, but they are kinda jerky. Other than that they are great.

midniteprix05 · October 2005

Does anyone know of any good sites for finding aftermarket goodies for an 05 grand prix. I am talking hoods, fenders, cheaper wheels, sounds, anything. I have searched the web and still can not find anything worth while to add to my car. If anyone knows any stores or sites. Let me know! thanks.

MidNitePrix

gmfan007 · October 2005

Here's a gadget .... how about signal mirrors for the GP? I've had them on my '98 for years. They work great and look like stock mirrors. Easy to install with clear instructions and pictures. Go to: www.kwmuth.com

midniteprix05 · October 2005

doing some more searching found a pretty good site for 04+ GPs. They have hoods and other accessories....kind of pricey but something to think about.

www.lmperformance.com

check it out.... Good Luck!!

MidNite

paulab3 · October 2005

Followup:

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.

hammen2 · October 2005

http://www.pfyc.com

thunder_320 · November 2005

I have a 2001 GT w/100,000 miles, when idling there is no noise, all is as it should be. Recently I've noticed a noise, similar to a low roar while driving. It remains constant and raises in pitch and level as I speed up and lowers when I slow down. It doesn't get high or shrill , but it is very noticable.

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

gdtaylor · November 2005

Almost 200000 miles... tachometer quits working, TCS light comes on and want go off, HUD display races up and down, Lighting on the Trip Computer/Driver Info display flashes off and on, ABS light comes on and off, Alternator surges higher voltage, Auto door locks latch/unlatch while turning steering wheel, PRND321 dash lights flicker off & on, Analog speedometer dances. However, there are no problem codes being logged by the ECM. Would appreciate all responses with suggestions for diagnostics!

bmwguy2 · November 2005

hi there ,i have a stock 2001 grandprix special edition coupe,i also work for a bmw dealer here in new jersey ,well to the point,it seems most likely its a wheel bearing noise,if possible when your driving ,on a safe road ,with no other cars ,shut the engine off and put into neutal,and see if you can isolate the noise ,if you slightly turn steering wheel to the left or right ,the noise may change if its from the front ,or you can have the vehicle liftef off all four tires and spin tires,listen for roughness when they are spinning,by hand usually a bad bearing will not be quiet ,due to the mileage its a good chance ,i know bmws but noises dont change from vehicle to vehicle,also check for ,after driving and braking if one brake caliper is hotter than another ,it could be hanging up alittle ,again would cause noise,but you might smell brakes getting hot on this one,please let me know ,also if you can get to a lift ,have someone get in car ,raise up and put vehicle in drive ,on lift and have some-one search for noise underneath car ,was car ever in a flood or in alot of water ,water may have gotten past the seal and damaged the wheel bearing ,if its a bearing ,hope this hepls ,michael

bmwguy2 · November 2005

hi there .it seems that the coolant level sensor is bad ,when coolant is cold,it contracts ,as it warms up,it expands ,it seems that the level sensor is bad ,if you have a gm extended warranty,this might be covered ,its on the right side of the engine looking front to rear,but you have to gain access from under car to remove hose and clamps from engine to replace,it does sit high in engine compartment,where you might be able to get access,but i doubt it,i have a 01 gtp special edition,michael

hayze · November 2005

I PURCHASED MY 95' GRAND PRIX GTP 3 YEARS AGO. A YEAR AFTER I BOUGHT IT THE TRANNY WENT OUT OTHERWISE IT'S RUN GREAT. I REALLY LOVE MY CAR. ABOUT A MONTH AGO IT STARTED TO IDLE ROUGH WHEN FIRST STARTED AND WOULD SOMETIMES SHUT OFF. IF I START DRIVING RIGHT AWAY AFTER A FEW BLOCKS IT'S FINE. BUT IF IT SITS FOR A FEW HOURS IT HAPPENS AGAIN. I'VE CHANGED THE FUEL FILTER AND THE SPARK PLUGS. I'VE PUT FUEL INJECTOR CLEANER IN IT AND NOTHING SEEMS TO BE WORKING. I HAD IT HOOKED UP TO A COMPUTER AT A LOCAL SHOP AND THEY SAID NOTHING SHOWED UP. WITH IT GETTING COLDER OUT THE PROBLEM SEEMS TO BE GETTING WORSE. ANY IDEAS WHAT COULD BE THE PROBLEM?

azadmin · November 2005

???

greganddonna · November 2005

Hi
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

akaram · November 2005

have a 1999 Grand Prix. The heater fan control works on the highest setting only. When I turn the control on, the fan squeals quite a bit with a high squealing sound. Any ideas?

hammen2 · November 2005

There is a "resistor board" which controls the fan speed on these models which goes bad. It's about a $20 part, and requires some minor dash disassembly. I'd see if I can find a non-GM mechanic to do the work - shouldn't cost you more than about $35 in labor, and this is a VERY common problem on the '97-'03 Grand Prix bodystyle. I haven't heard of the squeal - I'd do the obvious fix and see if that continues, troubleshooting it further only if it does.

--Robert

hammen2 · November 2005

The price sounds great, but hmmm... no information available from CarFax? Sounds weird.

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

300k_or_bust · November 2005

I am having the same problems. I think my alternator is going. The alternator is only giving 13.2V when running and it used to give @14.5 when I first bought it.

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.

hammen2 · November 2005

If your ABS light continues to activate on bumps after you change your alternator and/or battery, I'd suspect a wheel speed sensor - usually part of the hub assembly.

chele5 · November 2005

I bought my 2001 Grand Prix GT, V6 3.8L, new and all the work has been done by the dealership that I purchased it from.

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.

hammen2 · November 2005

Hmm... I would really suspect something the dealership did - improper gap on the spark plugs? Bad/incorrectly-installed wires? Clunking underhood, maybe a belt is improperly installed/is slipping?

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

chele5 · November 2005

Thanks for responding!
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

roberts7 · November 2005

Though the summer Potenza's on The Pontiac Gran Prix GXP are were allegedly formulated to handle snow I would like to change over to a dedicated winter tire. Can I get away with just replacing the front tires? Can I safely replace a 255/45-18 with a 235/45-18. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

princesscm99 · November 2005

After someone took a car, bike, or baseball bat to my passenger side-view mirror, I was lucky enough to find one on ebay for a quarter of the price it would cost me from the Pontiac dealer. However, the dealership won't provide the labor to put on a mirror that they didn't get from the factory. How hard would it be to install it myself? Does anyone know how to do this on a 2003 Grand Prix? I'm a grad student so I'm thrifty, but fairly capable and can follow directions. Help please!

entourage · December 2005

I have a 1998 with almost the same issue. About 3 weeks back, I had the heat control on mid-low setting and started the car. I started smelling a terrible burning/hot smell. I noticed I couldn't hear the fan spinning anymore. Previous to that, I'd heard the squeak/squeal' in the fan intermittently. Now I can only use the heater control on the max setting.

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!

hammen2 · December 2005

I don't have a Grand Prix anymore, but if I recall correctly the resistor board is a pretty easy swap - it's right under the glovebox, under the passenger-side dash. The part should between $18-$25. I would imagine any decent Pontiac parts department (not that many around - good luck) would have the part.

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

lovegto · December 2005

I had a similar problem on my 2000 cougar, my independent mechanic said the max blower operates on a differnet fuse from the lower level blowers therefore if the fuse breaks on the basic fan motor the max blower will continue to operate. I do not remember the cost of repair but I think it was only around $25. The mechanic guessed the problem as soon as I gave him the symptoms.

entourage · December 2005

Thanks for the reply. I will contact my Pontiac dealer about the part.
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.

entourage · December 2005

So it sounds like there are 2 blowers...a low level and a max.

Am I correct?

Thanks again for the help!

bbpontiac29 · December 2005

Hi, I just got a used 2000 grand prix, and the dealer did nto give me a manual for the car, When my cigg lighters went out I assumed fuse, after looking under the hood in the fusebox there are no indications for cigg lighter(s). The dealer is supposed to be mailing the manual out to me and I dont have the $$ to buy a new manual. Can anyone help with what fuse # it is for the lighter or is there another fuse box i am unaware of. Thanks in advance

BigBlackPontiac29

rayainsw · December 2005

Digital versions of GM manuals are available here:

https://www.mygmlink.com/main/US/en/gm/mygmlink

rerun · December 2005

I am having the same problem. It is hard to describe, but it is like you feel a thud when you turn the steering wheel.

rerun · December 2005

I am having the same problem. Was the dealer able to fix your problem?

kevinshorter · December 2005

I have a '94 pontiac Grand Prix. I had the power steering pump replaced 3 years ago. With in the last couple of month my car as drank power steering fluid. It's leaking all over the ground. It doesn't make any kind of powersteering noise but it's leaking all over... Does anyone have any ideas what it could be.

westbranchmama · December 2005

We have a 96 grand prix SE and are considering a new car. I have been reading all types of cars forums on here and so far the G P is standing up to the rest as the best of them! We have enjoyed ours very much with good gas milage for the size, indeed any size--except compact, relibiality and comfort. We have done nothing to it except tires , brakes and oil in 118,000 K miles. We were considering the Vibe, malibu maxx or Impala but think we are sticking with the G. P.!!! My only problem with this one is it's terrible in the winter the butt end wants to come around without any warning. Other people say theirs is good though----m husband says he thinks ours had been in a accident before we bought it and that has affected it. ( it was 2 years old when we got it) How has any of yours been on the slippery roads? Thanks-westbranhmama

kissbabe · December 2005

I have a 97 GP and had the exact same problem 2 winters ago. No one would believe me, they all said theirs went great in snow. I finally parked it because I was afraid I was going to kill myself. Im the spring I took it to the mechanic for another problem and he noticed the stabalizer bar was bent on the rear wheel. I told him about the rear end kicking out from under me on snow. He said that was my problem and he was right, that winter it handled great and still no problems. He said it looked like someone had tied a tow strap to the bar and bent it since there is really no place to put a strap. Have it checked, Im sure this is your problem.

kissbabe · December 2005

Just recently after driving about 5 miles my car starts to stink, its VERY strong. Been happening for 3 days now.
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

yurakm · December 2005

A leaking heater core?

johndringo · January 2006

My wife drives a 2002 Grand Prix and recently the cigarette lighter and auxillary power source quit working. I assume that it's probably just a blown fuse but don't know where the fuse is located and can't find it in the owner's manual. Any help? Thanks.

John

razr89 · January 2006

Please click the link below to view pictures of my car. Let me know which ones you like. Also, I bought the car used. I was wondering if the rims were part a factory package or maybe the previous owner or whatever. It has some gold colored trim as well.
pics

Thanks
Brett

gmfan007 · January 2006

Our '98 GT came with leather and driver's heated seat. No passenger heated seat was offered in '98. There is a single seat heat switch located on the center console and there appears to be room for a second (passenger) seat switch as well. Question: Was a passenger heated seat offered after '98? If so, I am wondering if a matching switch plate (for two switches) is available for the '98 console. Thanks for any help.

bobbee · January 2006

What actual mpg can be expected on a basic 2005 Grand Prix.

chele5 · February 2006

I bought a 2001 Grand Prix from the dealership new.
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.

yurakm · February 2006

Just the opposite, GM transmissions have very good reputation. Of course, even these transaxles need service about every 30k miles or so, 50k miles in ideal driving conditions. Either transmission fluid flush, or "drop the pan", or the both.

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.

Pontiac Grand Prix - 2000-2005

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