1999 PONTIAC GRAND AM Complaints

THERE ARE NO SPECIFIC EVENTS LEADING UP TO PROBLEM. THE PROBLEM IS A HESITATION WHEN EXCELERATING WHICH TRIGGERS THE ABS LIGHT TO COME ON. BROUGHT TO LOCAL SHOP AND PUT ON THE COMPUTER BUT NO CODES ARE DETECTED.*AK

RECALL REPAIR REFUND REQUEST. *MR THE ENGINE COOLANT LOW LIGHT HAD ILLUMINATED AND THE HEATER WAS NOT BLOWING HOT AIR. THE INTAKE MANIFOLD GASKET WAS MALFUNCTIONING AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE CONSUMER AND HER BABY SUFFERED ANTI-FREEZE POISONING. THE CONSUMER REQUESTED A FULL REFUND. *SC *JB

THE COIL SPRING ON THE LEFT SIDE BROKE WHILE WE WERE ON VACATION AND LEFT US STRANDED. LUCKILY IT DID NOT CAUSE AN ACCIDENT. PONTIAC REFUSES TO TAKE RESPONSOBILITY FOR THIS. I HAVE BEEN TOLD BY SEVERAL MCHANICS THAT THIS IS NOT COMMON AND SHOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED UNLESS THERE WAS A DEFECT.*AK

SIGNAL LIGHTS AND EMERGENCY FLASHERS WORK OCCASIONALLY... WHEN I BOUGHT THIS CAR IN 2003 IT ONLY HAD 10,000 MILES ON IT BUT WAS OUT OF WARRANTY BECAUSE OF BEING A 1999. I CONTACTED THE PONTIAC DEALER IN SHREVEPORT AND ALSO G.M. CORP. BOTH TOLD ME THEY WERE NOT AWARE OF ANY PROBLEMS WITH THIS. I HAVE ONLY SPOKEN TO 4 OTHER GRAND AM OWNERS... ALL HAD SAME PROBLEMS. IT IS NOT JUST MY CAR.

THE WINDOW REGULATORS HAVE HAD TO BE REPLACED IN THE DRIVER'S DOOR AND BOTH BACK DOORS. EACH OF THE WINDOWS FAILED TO CLOSE AFTER THEY WERE OPENED. THE FIRST ONE TO GO OUT WAS THE DRIVER'S WINDOW AND THE BACK TWO WINDOWS WERE WORKING OCCASIONALLY AT THAT TIME. THE MECHANIC TOLD ME THAT THEY WOULD PROBABLY NEED TO BE REPLACED SOON, BUT IF THEY STOP WORKING, I COULD JUST KNOCK ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE DOOR OR SLAM THE DOOR SHUT AND THEY WOULD WORK FOR A SHORT TIME AGAIN. THIS GOT ME THROUGH FOR ABOUT ANOTHER MONTH. ALL BROKE WITHIN THE PAST YEAR AND EACH ONE HAS HAD TO BE REPLACED. THE TOTAL COST TO FIX ALL THREE WINDOW REGULATORS WAS $1188.17. I CALLED GM TO FILE A COMPLAINT WITH THEM AND TO FIND OUT WHY THERE HASN'T BEEN A RECALL ON THE REGULATORS, (AS WELL AS THE SEAT BELTS, THE SIDE VIEW MIRRORS, THE BRAKES AND TO FIND OUT WHY I ALSO HAVE SCRATCHES ON MY WINDOWS). I TOLD THEM ABOUT THE MYCARSTATS.COM WEBSITE AND EXPLAINED THAT ALL OF MY COMPLAINTS ARE COMMON. I FINALLY RECEIVED A CALL BACK ABOUT A WEEK LATER AND WAS TOLD THAT I WOULD NOT BE REIMBURSED FOR ANY OF MY REPAIR COSTS WHICH CAME TO $2,974.58!! THIS TOTAL INCLUDES: BRAKES, CALIPERS AND ROTORS REPLACED TWICE FOR $834.08; SIDE VIEW MIRROR REPLACED AFTER FALLING OFF WHILE GOING THROUGH A CARWASH $167.86; SEAT BELTS REPLACED FOR DRIVER AND BOTH BACK PASSENGERS BECAUSE THE PLASTIC CLIPS BROKE FOR NO APPARENT REASON $784.47 AND OF COURSE THE WINDOW REGULATORS $1,188.17. INSTEAD, GM WAS OFFERING ME $1,000.00 TOWARDS THE PURCHASE OF ANOTHER GM VEHICLE!!! I ASKED WHY I WOULD WANT TO PURCHASE ANOTHER VEHICLE THAT THEY DON'T STAND BEHIND!?!? I TOLD THEM TO KEEP THE $1,000 AND EXPRESSED THAT I WOULD NEVER BUY ANOTHER GM PRODUCT AGAIN, SINCE THESE ARE SAFETY FEATURES THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN RECALLED YEARS AGO!! THIS PAST WEEK, I HAVE ALSO NOTICED THAT THE MOLDING AROUND THE WINDOW SHIELD IS COMING LOOSE ON THE PASSENGER SIDE, SO I USED SILICONE CAULKING TO HOLD IT IN PLACE.

WHILE DRIVING AT ANY SPEED CONSUMER HEARD A GRINDING SOUND COMING FROM THE LEFT FRONT WHEEL. A MECHANIC EXAMINED THE VEHICLE, AND DETERMINED THAT ROTORS NEEDED TO BE TURNED, AND THE PADS WERE WORN. CONSUMER HAD BRAKE WORK DONE 5 TIMES.*AK

MY 1999 GRAND AM DEVELOPED A "LOW COOLANT" PROBLEM. I HAD ADDED NEARLY A GALLON OF THE RECOMMENDED DEX-COOL IN A 50/50 MIX WITH WATER. ON MY WAY TO WORK ONE MORNING, THE OIL LIGHT CAME ON. AS I WAS ON A HIGHWAY, IT TOOK A MINUTE TO GET OFF THE ROAD. WHEN I DID, I FOUND THAT THERE WAS NO MEASURABLE OIL ON THE DIP-STICK. IN ADDITION, WHEN I REMOVED THE OIL CAP, I FOUND A THICK MILKY SUBSTANCE ON IT. I CALLED FOR A TOW TRUCK AND THE CAR WAS TOWED TO A DEALERSHIP. THE ENGINE WAS BLOWN AND THE TOTAL REPAIR BILL CAME TO NEARLY $5,000.00! I DID SOME RESEARCH AND FOUND THAT ALL OF THE SYMPTOMS I HAD WITH THE CAR PRIOR TO THAT DAY WERE COMMON WITH THE GM 3.4 ENGINE IN MY CAR AND THAT MANY OTHERS HAVE HAD THIS OCCUR. THE INTAKE MANIFOLD GASKET FAILS AND THE ANTIFREEZE GOES INTO THE ENGINE CAUSING FAILURE. I CALLED PONTIAC AND ASKED FOR ASSISTANCE WITH THE REPAIR BILL AS IT IS COMMON KNOWLEDGE THAT THIS IS AN ONGOING PROBLEM WITH SEVERAL GM ENGINES. THEY INVESTIGATED AND THE SERVICE MANAGER AT THE DEALERSHIP STATED THAT THE REASON FOR THE ENGINE FAILURE WAS THAT THE CAR WAS DRIVEN WITH NO OIL. I MAY BE WRONG HERE, BUT WHEN ANTIFREEZE MIXES WITH OIL THAT IS THE SAME AS HAVING NO OIL. I AM TOTALLY FRUSTRATED AND NOW HAVE NOT ONLY A CAR PAYMENT, BUT A LOAN PAYMENT FOR THE REPAIR BILL. I WOULD BURN THIS CAR IF I THOUGHT I COULD! *JB

VEHICLE WAS PARKED IN GARAGE, COIL SPRING ON RIGHT FRONT FRACTURED, REPLACED BOTH OF THE FRONT SPRINGS,STRUTS,TOP PLATES & DUST BOOTS. COST OF REPAIRS IN EXCESS OF $500. FRACTURED SPRING & NON FRACTURED SPRING ARE AVAILABLE. *JB

THE CONSUMER STATED THAT THEIR "HAZARD WARNING LIGHTS" WAS WORKING INTERMITTENTLY. THE DEALERSHIP WAS NOTIFIED, BUT DID NOT RESOLVE THE PROBLEM. *LA THE CONSUMER ALSO COMPLAINED THAT THE BLINKER DID NOT WORK. THE CONSUMER WAS UNAWARE THAT THE HAZARD LIGHTS AND THE BLINKERS WERE CONNECTED. *NM

RECALL REPAIR REFUND REQUEST. *MR THE ENGINE COOLANT LIGHT HAD COME ON ALONG WITH THE HEATER NOT BLOWING HOT AIR. THE CONSUMER HAD INITIALLY GONE TO MASTER LUBE WHO INFORMED THE CONSUMER THAT THE INTAKE MANIFOLD WAS MALFUNCTIONING AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE CONSUMER WAS ALSO INFORMED ABOUT A RECALL. THE CONSUMER WAS TOLD THAT THEY WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO PERFORM THE RECALL FOR FREE BECAUSE THE VEHICLE WAS PURCHASED USED. *SC *JB