How Reliable is the Pontiac Grand Am?

Front 3/4 view of a Pontiac Grand Am

Grand Am owners have made 1692 complaints over 16 model years. It ranks second to last in reliaibility out of 17 eligible Pontiac models.

Our reliability rank is based on our PainRank™ system. A higher number means you can expect more significant problems. The average Pontiac score is 11.72 while the Grand Am comes in at 21.89.

The 2 Most Common Grand Am Problems

We've pulled together a list of the problems Grand Am owners.

  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 Grand Am 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.

Worst Issues

What Breaks

Years to Avoid

Full Lists on CarComplaints.com

Grand Am Generations

The Grand Am has 3 generations, each with their own issues. Using the same PainRank™ system we've determined that you're better off avoiding the 5th generation (1999–2005).

  1. 5th Generation Grand Am

    Years
    1999–2005
    Reliability
    26th of 27
    PainRank™
    21.5
    Complaints
    1477
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  2. 4th Generation Grand Am

    Years
    1992–1998
    Reliability
    11th of 27
    PainRank™
    4.54
    Complaints
    203
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  3. 3rd Generation Grand Am

    Years
    1986–1991
    Reliability
    4th of 27
    PainRank™
    0.88
    Complaints
    18
    Continue

Grand Am Key Numbers

  1. 1,692 complaints

    Running tally of owner grievances filed to CarComplaints.com.

  2. 779 service bulletins

    Documenting the process of troubleshooting common problems.

  3. 34 recall campaigns

    Time-sensitive, free repairs for widespread safety problems.

Recent 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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