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Sedans Pontiac Grand Am Pontiac Grand Am
2575 messages, Last post on Sep 12, 2009 at 10:42 PM
You are in the Pontiac Grand Am Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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| Hey, Grand Am owners--I have a question for you. How old are you guys? The reason I ask is that we are looking for a new car. With 3 kids--but we have a mini van for family hauling, so this car will almost never have to haul them all around--we need to look at mid size sedans. Decent Accords and Camrys are a little more than what we want to pay--plus a little boring to look at. We want to max out in the 16's if possible. For that kind of money, we could get a pretty basic Galant, 626, Sonata, or a base, base Accord. None of those cars exactly scream "Excitement!" I noticed my local Pontiac dealer advertising Grand Ams at $3202 below MSRP. A Grand Am SE1 has everything we need--power windows/locks/mirrors, keyless, cruise, CD, air, etc.--you now what it has. At about $20,000 MSRP, they will sell for about $16,800, or in the ball park. My question is, my wife and I are 30 and 32. I am afraid we would look out of place in the car--with it's cladding and spoilers and all. Is it made for younger people? Also, how have yours held up? We want this car to last a while, and of course, many people buy into the "American car is junk" theory--what's the reality? My mother in law has a 1998 Regal that is lucky to get its oil changed, much less anything else and it cranks right up every time, so GM must not be all bad. Sorry for the long post--look forward to your comments! | |
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Hey Claywaterfill, I am 34 and just bought an Alero. My best friend has an Alero, and another good friend has a grand am SE...we're all 34. Since you have 3 kids, might I make a suggestion? I too have a minivan for most hauling, although I only have one kid (another in the oven) If I were in your position, I'd go for the Saturn L100, since it has a back seat large enough for 3 kids. I saw one this week...had a spoiler, aluminum wheels, CD, power windows, sticker price of 17,400. THat's a nice package and price, and it isn't as sedate looking as a Malibu. I picked the Alero over the grand am due to style and the enhanced warranty, but everybody has different tastes there. You are not too old for the Grand Am! |
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I have just developed the exact problem now at 38k miles. I was hoping this car would be different, but it's turning into a typical GM experience. Basically, little annoying things start to go wrong after the 36k warranty runs out. Hopefully, the extended warranty will cover it. If I find a fix I'll let everyone know. |
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| Thanks! I like the Alero a lot and my wife does, too. I am just afraid of what it might be worth in a few years after Olds shuts the doors. I do like its longer warranty, though. I'm not too crazy about the L100. We had a SL2 a few years ago, and it was fine. I even like the current S-Series--but, for some reason the L-Series just doesn't "hit my hot button." Thanks again. | |
| I know what you mean about resale of the Alero. I too was uneasy, but the car was such a value, plus I really wanted a sport sedan with a stick (really wanted one with a 6 cyl and stick, but not this time). I assume you wanted an automatic. | |
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A friend of mine has a '99 Grand Am four-door, currently with 60K miles. He bought it with 20K miles. He keeps the car in very good condition. Here's the problem: The vinyl is coming loose from the door panels. On both back doors, the vinyl is coming loose at the top of the panel where it meets the glass. On the front doors, there are bubbles under the vinyl where it is coming loose from the panel. I live in South Texas, and know that the hot sun is making this worse, but I've nevere seen a car this new with this problem. Since the door panels all have this problem, it seems like it is a design defect, or a defect in manufacturing the panels. Does anyone know how to get GM to fix this? They have refused to do anything so far. Does anyone know of a TSB (technical service bulletin) or some sort of GM authorization to replace these panels? Has anyone else had this problem? Any help would be appreciated... Joe |
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Let's face it, the Alero and the Grand Am (and most GM cars) have depreciation akin to a rock being thrown off a cliff. I bought my 99 GA GT less than 2.5 years ago for MSRP $21,700 and I paid a little under $20K for it. Now it is worth $10K as a trade in with only 40K miles on it. So after 30 months it is worth only half of its original value. Not the best of investments, even worse than the recent stock market! As far as driving a Grand Am at an "older" age, I turned 40 this year (on 9/11 nonetheless), and I love driving my bright red GT around and getting looks and comments. Maybe I'm a kid at heart, but I just can't see driving a sedate looking car! |
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I had all of my door panel fabric replaced because they were pulling away from the door near the window. It is a very common problem with GA's. I remember when I went to look at GA's on dealer lots I saw one with this problem and I left the dealer thinking I would never buy a car with that kind of problem before it was even sold. But my car developed the same problem at around 15K miles so I had them replaced under warranty. I don't know if there is actually a TSB on this problem, or if you're out of luck once warranty runs out. I'll see if I can find out any more info. |
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| Buy the car you want and never mind what people that you don't know and will never meet, think! | |
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| In today's society, that is hard to do. I agree with you, though--don't get me wrong. If we could do that, then people would buy Kias. But, since we are afraid of what the neighbors will think, most folks don't. | |
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