The Pontiac Grand Am

Two years ago, I was looking to purchase a car. I have bad credit, but thought I would try anyway. I got a car, but had to pay a very high interest rate. The car I bought, a 2002 Pontiac Grand Am. This car ended up costing me $10,000 with all the interest tacked on. I have a five year loan, and since I paid so much for the car, I am stuck with it.

I say 'stuck with it' because 6 months after getting this vehicle, I started having problem after problem with it. This car would not start half the time. It would leave me stranded everywhere, and then I would have it towed to a shop, and it would start right up. No one could figure out what was wrong with it because it was working just fine when I took it to a shop. So, I decided to go online and research this, see if anyone else was having the same problem. I found a bunch of websites with people complaining about the same problems. I actually found out what was wrong with my Grand Am on a website, Edmonds.com. On that site were hundreds of grand am owners' with the same problem.

The problem? A faulty pass-lock system. I decided to take my car to the Pontiac Dealership, and they knew exactly what was wrong with it. $800.00 to fix it. Now, this is a faulty peice of equipment the Pontiac knows is faulty, and they won't pay for it, nor will they recall it. Pontiac says it is not a safety issue, and therefore is the owner's problem. So, I pay the $800.00 to get it fixed, because I can't get rid of the car, and I need a car. This seems to work, no problems with it starting anymore.

Two months after getting that fixed, the car starts overheating terribly. I take it and get the radiator flushed and filled. That doesn't work. Then they tried the thermostat. That doesn't work. I had to go back online and see if anybody was having that problem with their grand am. I found several people that did, and it was a huge problem that was making the car overheat, The intake manifolds on these cars crack all the time! I could hardly believe it. This was another $900.00 for me to get fixed. I couldn't understand how a four year old car with 25,000 miles on it has all these big problems. Wjhen I researches online it seemed to be Pontiac Grand Am's between the year 1997 and 2003 with all the problems. All with low miles as well.

Just when I thought the car problems were done, I go out to go to work one morning, and the car won't start again. It's been almost a year since that problem was fixed. I call a cab. At least this time it's in my driveway. Well, I decided maybe I need a new battery, because when we jumped it, it actually did a little something, so I put the battery in, starts right up. Great, that was an easy fix. The car ran great for about a month, then once again, it won't start. Here we are, a year later, having the same problem that I paid $800.00 to fix. I was livid! l go up to the dealership, and that's when they tell me that with the pass-lock system, there is NO GOOD PART! It's a faulty part, you may have to replace every year!

I decided to call Pontiac. They gave me the runaround, and confirmed that they were not going to help me because it is not a safety issue! I just can't believe they can do this to there customers. I have three more years to pay on this car. Three more years of being stranded and having problems with a faulty pass-lock system. Not to mention all the little things that are wrong with it. The power windows work when the feel like it as well. I couldn't get my passenger window down, for a good month, tried it every time I got in the car. I went and bought a new motor for the window. Unbelievably, the window starts working again! So now I have a motor for a window that is working just fine now!

My final thought....do not waste your time or your money on buying one of these vehicles. In fact, Pontiac's customer service is horrible, and I would not recommend buying any type of Pontiac car. They obviously do not care about there customer's, because there are a lot of us having the same problem with this vehicle!