The Worst 1999-2005 Grand Am Problems

  1. Power Windows Fall Into Door

    Most Pontiac cars have a defect where the power window mechanism breaks because it's made of cheap plastic parts which break in the power window pulley assembly. GM dealers will only replace the entire assembly, to the tune of $450 per wind…

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  2. Cracked Intake Manifold

    A cracked intake manifold gasket is allowing coolant to leak in many Pontiac engines. But is DexCool to blame?…

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What Owners Complain About

Sometimes it helps just to tally up the complaints and see where the biggest stacks are. Use this information to learn about troublespots or to run for the hills.

5th Generation Grand Am Key Numbers

  1. 7 model years

    Grouping all models by their year can reveal some baddies.

  2. 1,477 complaints

    Running tally of owner grievances filed to CarComplaints.com.

  3. 26th in reliability

    Overall reliability rank out of 27 eligible generations.

Recent 5th Generation Grand Am News

There's a lot of news out there, but not all of it matters. We try to boil down it to the most important bits about things that actually help you with your car problem. Interested in getting these stories in an email? Signup for free email alerts over at CarComplaints.com.

  1. combined

    population of New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Montana, Delaware, South Dakota, Alaska, North Dakota, Vermont (Yes, there are people -- not just cows -- in VT) and Wyoming.

  2. The number of calories my Uncle Hank ate over the holiday weekend. Seriously, he's a bottomless pit.
  3. According to GM, this latest round of problems involves mostly ignition switch related issues that are responsible for at least 7 crashes, 8 injuries and 3 deaths. The full list and details can be found here.

    Unintended Key Rotation

    The largest part of the recall involves 7.6 million vehicles that suffer from, what GM is calling, "unintended ignition key rotation." Of course, there's another name for that too -- "unintended holy %$#! my car just shut itself off on the highway." This is dangerous and affects a wide range of cars:

    • 1997-2005 Chevrolet Malibu
    • 1998-2002 Oldsmobile Intrigue
    • 1999-2004 Oldsmobile Alero
    • 1999-2005 Pontiac Grand Am
    • 2000-2005 Chevrolet Impala
    • 2000-2005 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
    • 2004-2008 Pontiac Grand Prix

    What To Do Next

    1. GM has not announced when the recall will begin
      It should be in the next couple months but it's probably hard to gauge when you have 29 million vehicles in your repair queue.
    2. Keep an eye on your mailbox for an official recall notice with more details
      Not literally, though. Putting your eye on the mailbox sounds painful and will probably worry the neighbors.
    3. GM is stressing the importance of removing all items from your key ring, leaving only the vehicle key
      At least until your ignition is fixed. Sorry bowling league keychain -- you have to go.
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