2001 PONTIAC GRAND PRIX Complaints

REPLACEMENT OF IGNITION SWITCH ON 2001 GRAND PRIX. *MR THE FAULTY IGNITION SWITCH CAUSED PERIODIC FAILURE OF THE A/C, DRIVER INFORMATION CENTER, DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS, AND THE HEADLIGHT SYSTEM. THE CONSUMER REQUESTED REIMBURSEMENT. *SC *JB

TOOK IN 2001 PONTIAC GRAND PRIX FOR ROUTINE OIL CHANGE. TECHNICIAN DISCOVERED SLUDGE IN RADIATOR AND COOLANT RESERVOIR TANK. INDICATED THE PROBLEM WAS A LEAKING INTAKE GASKET. REPAIR COSTS $700-800. *NM

I DRIVE A 2001 PONTIAC GRAND PRIX & IN AUGUST OF 2003, MY "SERVICE ENGINE SOON" LIGHT CAME ON..I TOOK IT TO A DEALER, FAULKNER PONTIAC, IN TREVOSE, PA WHO STATED THERE WERE "NO LEAKS FOUND & REPROGRAMMED PCM WITH UPDATED CALIBRATION." THEN IN MID FEBRUARY 2004, MY "SERVICE ENGINE SOON" LIGHT CAME ON AGAIN. MY MECHANIC SAID IT MAY BE AN EMISSIONS RELATED PROBLEM & TO TAKE IT TO MY DEALER, IN CASE IT WILL BE COVERED UNDER THE EMISSIONS WARRANTY. (80,000 MILES) I AM PRESENTLY AT 44,000 MILES. THE LIGHT WAS COMING OFF & ON AND ON WED. MARCH 17, 2004, I TOOK MY CAR TO FAIRWAY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, JENKINTOWN, PA. THEY SAID AFTER RUNNING A DIAGNOSTIC, FOUND: "DIAG SCAN FOUND PO440 PERFORMED SMOKE OUT TEST FOUND FUEL TANK LEAK! THEY SAID MY CAR COULD HAVE EXPLODED OR CAUGHT ON FIRE! AND THIS IS NOT A RECALL? I CONTACTED GM MONDAY MARCH 22, 2004 TO NO AVAIL, TO MY SATISFACTION. I FEEL I COULD HAVE BEEN DRIVING A DANGEROUS VEHICLE FOR THE LAST FEW MONTHS, OR EVEN SINCE FEBRUARY & I'M VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THIS FUEL TANK LEAK. OF COURSE I HAD IT FIXED BY FAIRWAY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP, ABOUT $370.00 LATER & FEEL THIS SHOULD BE A RECALL BY GM. YOUR HELP IS APRECIATED. THANK YOU DONA. *AK

COOLING SYSTEM * TOOK CAR IN BECAUSE OF CHECK ENGINE LIGHT VEHICLE RUNNING ROUGH. DIAGNOSTICS INDICATED FUEL INJECTOR PROBLEM. FURTHER DIAGNOSIS INDICATED THAT THE LOWER INTAKE LEAKING / LOWER INTAKE GASKET LEAKING. THE SERVICE WRITER RECOMMENDED REPLACEMENT. I DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO GET SECOND OPINION OR DO MORE RESEARCH. JUST DISCOVERED THAT THIS WAS IN A BULLETIN IN JULY, 2003. I AM JUST OUT OF WARRANTY WITH LESS THAN 30,000 MILES ON VEHICLE (2001 PONTIAC GRAND PRIX, PURCHASED NEW IN JANUARY 2001) . *AK

THIS APPEARS TO BE A COMMON PROBLEM. I FOUND MANY PEOPLE WITH THE SAME PROBLEM I HAVE AND WE ARE SCREAMING FOR A RECALL. THE IGNITION SWITCH WILL GO FROM THE "ON" POSITION TO "OFF", BUT WILL NOT ANY FURTHER. THEREFORE, I CANNOT REMOVE THE KEY FROM THE SWITCH. IT DOES NOT ALWAYS DO THIS, BUT IT IS BECOMING MORE FREQUENT. I CAN USUALLY LEAVE THE KEY IN FOR A WHILE AND WHEN I RETURN, THE SWITCH WILL ROTATE AND THE KEY WILL COME OUT. THIS IS VERY FRUSTRATING. ANY HELP IS APPRECIATED! ONE PERSON SAYS: I'M HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM WITH MINE. IS YOUR PROBLEM INTERMITTENT? MINE IS, STARTED ONE DAY AND WORKS OFF AND ON, WHENEVER IT FEELS LIKE IT REALLY, WORKS MORE IN WARM WEATHER THAN COLD WEATHER. IT'S WEIRD. MY TWO THOUGHTS ARE EITHER A LOOSE CONNECTION (GROUND OR OTHERWISE) OR MAYBE THE BTSI SOLENOID AT THE SHIFTER BASE. AND THE ONLY RECALL THAT IS CURRENT IS ONE FOR THE ENVOY, TRAILBLAZERS WHERE YOU DISABLE THE SHIFTER AND COLUMN OVER RIDE FEATURE. PLEASE HELP US - THIS IS VERY UPSETTING AND I AM TIRED OF WONDERING IF DAY TO DAY THE KEY WILL COME OUT OF THE IGNITION. *JB

WHILE DRIVING VEHICLE, REACHED HIGH TEMPERATURES DUE TO INTAKE MANIFOLD FAILURE. DEALER REPLACED THE INTAKE MANIFOLD AND EGR VALVE. ALSO CATALYTIC CONVERTER WAS DEFECTIVE. *AK

PONTIAC 2001 GRAND PRIX HAS 49,000 MILES AND RADIATOR IS FILLED WITH SLUDGE AND LOSING COOLANT. DEALER EXAMINATION REVEALS BAD MANIFOLD INTAKE VALVE WITH COOLANT AND OIL MIXING IN RESERVOIR AND ENGINE COMPARTMENT. RESEARCHED ON INTERNET AND FOUND HUNDREDS OF SIMILAR COMPLAINTS FOR VARIOUS GM MAKES OVER LAST SEVERAL YEARS. SOME INCIDENTS REPORTED MANIFOLD INTAKE EXPLODED AND RESULTED IN FIRE. THIS NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED BY GM. ESTIMATED COST OF REPAIRS $700 -$1,000. DEALERS ARE AWARE OF PROBLEM AND TRY TO HIDE THAT FACT, BASIC CONSUMER FRAUD,

MILEAGE/DATE COMPLAINT RESOLUTION 24736-10/29/01 RT FT POWER WINDOW REPLACED MOTOR REGULATOR 59454-12/5/02 ERROR CODE 20 ON CD REPLACED CD PLAYER ($537.59) 62469-1/30/03 RT RR POWER WINDOW REGULATOR CABLES WORN GEARS STRIPPED 62469 TACH INTERMITTENT REPLACE CRANKSHAFT SENSOR 62469 TRANS SLIPPING COMPUTER SAID NO PROBLEM ($1,050) 64406-2/25/03 WON'T GO INTO REVERSE REPLACED TRANSMISSION 70758-5/23/03 KEY WON'T COME OUT REPLACE SHIFTER ASSY ($510) 70758 RT RR POWER WINDOW INTERMITTENT - COULD FIND NO PROBLEM 83769-10/24/03 ENGINE COOLANT RECALL PERFORM RECALL 83769 RT RR POWER WINDOW REPLACES CABLES WORN GEARS 83769 ENGINE OIL LEAK REPLACE UPPER INTAKE MANIFOLD GASKET 83769 LOSS OF POWER REPLACE CATALYTIC CONVERTER

I WAS SMELLING GAS FUMES AND TOOK THE CAR TO A LOCAL REPAIR SHOP AND WAS TOLD I NEEDED TO FIX IT IMMEDIATELY AND WAS ADVISED NOT TO DRIVE IT ALL. THE FUEL PRESSURE REGULATOR HAD TO BE REPLACED AT THE COST OF $200. I WAS TOLD THAT THEY CHECKED THE INTAKE MANIFOLD AND IT WAS LEAKING COOLANT AND NEEDED TO BE REPAIRED SOON AS WELL. I CONTACTED PONTIAC AND FILED A CLAIM FOR SOME ASSISTANCE SINCE I WAS TOLD THIS WOULD COST APPROXIMATELY $700. THE MECHANIC TOLD ME THAT THIS WAS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THESE CARS BUT USUALLY HE DID NOT SEE THIS PROBLEM AT SUCH AN EARLY MILEAGE. HE TOLD ME IT HAPPENED MORE WHEN THESE VEHICLES HAD ABOUT 60000 TO 80000 MILES. I BOUGHT THE CAR AS A CERTIFIED VEHICLE WITH A WARRANTY TO 39000 MILES. SINCE I BARELY HAD PASSED THE WARRANT MILES I CALLED THE DEALERSHIP I PURCHASED THE CAR FROM. I WAS TOLD THAT THEY COULD NOT DO THE WARRANTY WORK FOR ME SINCE THEY WERE A CHEVROLET DEALERSHIP AND FOR ME TO CONTACT PONTIAC. I CALLED AND ASKED FOR ASSISTANCE ON A GOODWILL WARRANTY OR SECRET WARRANTY. THEY TOLD ME TO TAKE IT TO A PONTIAC DEALERSHIP AND GET IT CHECKED. I DID AT THE COST OF $37.00 AND CALLED THEM BACK TO CONFIRM WHAT THE FIRST MECHANIC DIAGNOSED. THE SERVICE MANAGER QUOTED ME UP TO $900. I ASKED IF THEY COULD HELP ME WITH ANY ASSISTANCE. I CALLED SEVERAL TIMES TO PONTIAC AND WAS TOLD I NEEDED TO TALK TO THE CUSTOMER SERVICE ADVISOR I HAD FILED THE COMPLAINT WITH. I WAS UNABLE TO TALK TO HER DIRECTLY AND LEFT A VOICE MAIL AND WAS TOLD SHE WOULD GET BACK WITH ME WITHIN 24 HOURS. I HAVE STAYED HOME ALL DAY FOR 2 DAYS WAITING AND STILL HAVE NOT HEARD FROM HER. I TALKED TO THE SERVICE MANAGER AT BUZ POST IN ARLINGTON TX AND HE SAID HE COULD GIVE ME A 10% DISCOUNT ON THE PARTS AND WOULD DISCOUNT IT TO $600. THE ADDITIONAL COST OF THE $900 WAS OTHER MAINTENANCE ITEMS. THIS IS STILL A HEAVY BURDEN FOR ME TO HAVE TO PAY. THE SERVICE MANAGER TOLD ME THAT THIS WAS NOT UNCOMMON TO HAPPEN AT THIS AMOUNT OF MILES.

I'M NOT SURE ON ALL DATES OF CAR PROBLEM'S. CARFAX HAS ALL THAT INFORMATION. IT'S BEEN IN THE SHOP 6 TIMES,NOW MY SERVICE ENGINE LIGHT HAS COME ON AGAIN. THIS WILL BE THE 7TH TIME WITHIN 1 YEAR. ONE THING WAS FIXED 3 TIME'S IN SAME MONTH,I BELEAVE.THE DEALER SHIP IN TX, SAID THE DEALER SHIP IN IL NEVER FIXED IT THE FIRST 2 TIMES.