1996 Pontiac Grand Am Consumer Reviews Page 3

The Things We Would Do Differently

Written by: KDidles on 09/27/2004

Vehicle

1996 Pontiac Grand Am 4 Dr SE Sedan

Review

I've owned this car since January of 1997. The car has had chronic electrical problems for the past eight years. The power windows stopped working in March of 1998 and rather than fixing the problem, the dealership let the problem remain until after the car was out of warranty then stated "oh, your windows don't work." We have gone through 4 factory radios all of which were replaced for free because they were defective. The car has also had chronic water pump problems. What would I have done differently? Never bought this car. This vehicle invokes a love/hate relationship but it seems as if the hate part is a lot stronger

Favorite Features

I love the cruise control on its car, its acceleration and its bucket seats. The fog lights have come in handy many, many times. The traction system is a godsend and the daytime running lamps that turn on the headlights at night are heavenly.

Suggested Improvements

If the car had been built with components of higher quality, there would not have been as many problems with this vehicle.

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It's a sweet car!

Written by: Marie w on 09/13/2004

Vehicle

1996 Pontiac Grand Am 4 Dr SE Sedan

Review

I got my car 8 months ago, it's been a pretty awesome car. It's got great pick up, and is pretty solid. I've had to put a new condenser cord in. but that's with any older car.

Favorite Features

The pick up.

Suggested Improvements

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This car SUCKS!!!

Written by: jgonzfe on 07/15/2004

Vehicle

1996 Pontiac Grand Am 4 Dr SE Sedan

Review

Terrible car. I have never seen so many problems in other cars. Buyers beware!!!

Favorite Features

accelaration but then everything else seems like is falling off

Suggested Improvements

Copy Quality Assurance from Honda, Toyota

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Never again!!

Written by: tallwen on 07/12/2004

Vehicle

1996 Pontiac Grand Am 4 Dr SE Sedan

Review

I started to have problems with this car from the very begining. We have replaced the altranator 3 times, water pump twice, had a new head gasket put in, and several other small items. Every year it is something else. They look great but they have many problems. (like coolant mysterously leaking) I will never buy a pontiac again.

Favorite Features

I think my most favorite thing about the car is it's performance. It looks great and performs well!

Suggested Improvements

They need to spend just as much time putting in quality mechanical parts as they did on the looks of the vehicle.

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My 1996 Grand AM GT

Written by: BLHall on 07/06/2004

Vehicle

1996 Pontiac Grand Am 4 Dr GT Sedan

Review

No major problems. Great Car!

Favorite Features

Suggested Improvements

None

0 out 1 people found this review helpful

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Love My Grand Am

Written by: Benzcrazy1 on 06/01/2004

Vehicle

1996 Pontiac Grand Am 4 Dr SE Sedan

Review

I bought my Grand Am in January of '04 (My First Car) with 63,900 miles and now has 66,920 and hasn't given me one single problem. I have had to change the Serpentine Belt (I didn't like the squeaking noise). I had the transmission serviced, oil changed, and new fuel filter at 66,033 miles. Hope to get have a long life with this car!

Favorite Features

I love everything about it. It is so sporty!

Suggested Improvements

Move the ETS button somewhere else, I hit it all the time...

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180,000 miles on my GT

Written by: mike6t8 on 05/20/2004

Vehicle

1996 Pontiac Grand Am 4 Dr GT Sedan

Review

We bought our black 4-door GT in October of 1996 and put 180k on it! Yes, we've had a few problems but I think every car in this price range will have problems after a while. I think the car has been great to us and I may put another 20k on it before I get something else. We've had the typical problems that other Grand Am owners claim plus the trans went out at 150k. It was costly to replace, but overall I feel we got our money's worth on the car in the last 8 years. It DOESN'T smoke or use any oil like most other cars driven this much.

Favorite Features

Great looking car and 180k miles speaks for itself (who says American cars are no good?). I think these models are much better looking than the newer Grand Ams.

Suggested Improvements

The radio crapped out at 50k: the intake manifold gaskets at 70k; the shocks and struts at 100k; the alt at 120k; the trans at 150k; and now the AC slowly leaks freon. But it's still going strong.

1 out 1 people found this review helpful

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Fun to drive for price

Written by: ragu on 03/22/2004

Vehicle

1996 Pontiac Grand Am 2 Dr SE Coupe

Review

1st new vehicle I purchased and overall was a great car for me. Will be selling with 116K miles driven, sorry to see go. First weekend I had the trunk seal failed and rain water filled the trunk (defective seal). Also had problem with driver side mirror adjuster breaking (twice) early on. Lastly, transmission had a pinhole in it, luckily under warranty and was replaced for free. Great value for the price. Even though I had those problems, I was happy with the car.

Favorite Features

V6 power and handling of car. Electronic Traction Control system works well in slippery conditions. Stereo system sound is very good.

Suggested Improvements

Improve quality of driver side mirror manual adjuster(broke twice within 1.5 of each other). Put button for ETC system on dash, not on auto shifter (too easy to accidentally turn on). Improve lumbar support(broke on driver side after warranty) and too pricey to fix.

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used to love this car!

Written by: disppointed on 03/10/2004

Vehicle

1996 Pontiac Grand Am 2 Dr SE Coupe

Review

This was a great car until it turned over 75,000 miles. Have had some very expensive repairs in the past few months (EGR, fuel injection system) and at 80,000 miles it just doesn't drive so well anymore. I am going to sell it ASAP before it costs me anymore money!

Favorite Features

Love the look of this car! the 2 door model is very sleek.

Suggested Improvements

1 out 1 people found this review helpful

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After 8 years of ownership...

Written by: Dyzzispell on 03/02/2004

Vehicle

1996 Pontiac Grand Am 4 Dr SE Sedan

Review

The way I rated the car was based on where it stands now after 8 years. It was very reliable for me overall, but now the mechanical problems showing up are hard to diagnose and treat. Also, dash lights began burning out after about 5 years.

Favorite Features

The CD player never gave me trouble. I loved the graphic equalizer feature.

Suggested Improvements

No suggestions really, it's an 8-year old car and many changes have already been made.

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