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Pontiac G5 Coupe

58 messages,  Last post on Feb 14, 2013 at 4:15 AM

You are in the Pontiac G5 Coupe Forum.

What is this discussion about? Pontiac G5, Coupe, Convertible

Messages Page 5 of 6

#40 of 58 Pontiac G5 Issues by expwyman

Dec 28, 2009 (12:36 pm)

I just bought a used 2009 Pontiac G5 GT with just 10500 miles on it and I love it. Got it as a certified GM vehicle so I have a 48 month/48K bumper to bumper. Although this is a rebadge of a Cobalt, the styling is slightly different and it makes it looker nicer to me.
 
A few issues I had. I figured I'd post these to see if others have these before I go to the local dealer to get them resolved:
 
- When I park the car and leave, I hear a pinging under the car. Sounds like the exhaust system is cooling down and there is metal on metal, pinging as it cools down. The pinging slows down as the car cools down until it disappears. My old Cobalt did the same thing. Anyone else hear this? Is this just normal?
 
- My stereo has only 5 pages of presets instead of 6 for some reason. My old Cobalt and the Saturn Aura we own have 6 (same GM radio).
 
Good luck to those who own the G5! Nice car.

#41 of 58 Re: G5 power steering [2doorpost] by jpf

Jan 06, 2010 (10:58 am)

Replying to: 2doorpost (Oct 05, 2009 7:18 pm)
See attached link regarding lawsuit. GM is suing the supplier of its faulty electric steering system.
 
http://detnews.com/article/20091123/AUTO01/911230402/GM-sues-supplier-over-$30M-- spent-on-steering-repairs

#42 of 58 Bad car for short people under 5' 2" by leslie74

Feb 21, 2010 (11:48 pm)

I have heard a million people say that this is the same build and size as cavalier and cobalt. Everyone including dealer says it is barely bigger if at all. Why are so many people lying? I owned 2 door coupe cavaliers for 12 years and this 2008 G5 I just got is so much bigger in so many areas. It is no way the same size at least in regards to 3 or 4 key areas like driver side interior, doors, and trunk/rear area. I am super short and I hate this car. I was talked into buying it by my Dad because he was paying for half and I live in small town with only 1 major car dealership and they had no cavaliers or cobalts in price range. My 2000 cavalier had 105K miles and Dad said his help was now or never for newer car.
 
Where to start?
 
Doors: Are definitely several inches taller and longer than 2 door coupe cavaliers. If you're short, be prepared to have to struggle to reach window at any drive thru. Also, I have noticed when in parking garages, I am struggling more to avoid hitting other cars in those tight spaces. You need a lot of space to avoid banging other cars when opening doors. They open up really wide! This car is hard to get out of in my tiny 1 car town house garage. Was never an issue with my cavalier.
 
Storage: center cup holder from older cavaliers gone. Hear it is missing in newer cobalts too. Only storage in interior is a shallow, barely there center bin. More like a shallow tray with a lid. No center cup holders. Basically no storage in entire car interior. Parking brake is now in center & not to the side like old cavaliers so by making it be dead center, the crappy, barely there storage tray is not made very deep and is set way back nearly behind the front seats.
 
Seats: Are rock hard and flat, no contor and no give or cushion softness. They are rock hard and your back will hurt on road trips over an hour or two. They are also this light-ish gray. It feels like sitting on a metal or stone bench. My old cavalier was a dark super textured gray. They were also cushion-y with some give to them. It didn't show any dirt at all. But this car is light gray and has a smooth texture with a slight sheen. I have only driven it a few days and I can already see every spot. Bottom of seats are very tall and even lowering seat down nearly all the way only make my short legs bent and hard to reach pedals. Forget about any storage under seats.
 
Roof: Inside roof is a light, creamy type gray that shows stains easily and clearly was only designed to make inside look bigger. No thought given to how easily it shows stains.
 
Gear Shift: Short and designed like race car. If you have short arms, hard to reach down to easily reverse, park, etc.
 
Dash/Speedometer/Steering wheel: Has unneccessary high arch in dash above speedometer that hinders view for short people. Speedometer lights are weird red color. Wheel tilts up and to center level but not down.
 
Trunk/Rear Area: Back end is tall and sloped up higher than front end. View is also hindered by rear view area (between back seats and rear view window) that slopes upward. Also, tall spoiler makes it even harder to see.
 
I am 5 feet even and this is car from hell. It is so umcomfortable to drive and adjusting seats does not help because I need to lower seats to make legs comfortable but that hinders view over dash and side windows. Maybe if you're 5'4 or 5'5, it is the perfect fit but for the 5"2 to 4"11 crowd, do not get this car. I hate it so much and can't afford anything else.
 
Radio - Too complicated if you are not a big music person. Has 6 pre-sets that are always shown on screen. No way to clear out and make it look more streamlined or remove from screen except to turn off radio. Stereo has a million buttons and a barely there volume knob that's hard to grip and adjust while driving. Time clock is oddly located to far right side of stereo, far from driver side.
 
Don't believe the lies. This is NOT the same thing as a cobalt or cavalier. I have driven coupe cavaliers for 12 years. I can tell that too many areas are higher positioned.

#43 of 58 Re: Bad car for short people under 5' 2" [leslie74] by elias

Feb 22, 2010 (9:23 am)

Replying to: leslie74 (Feb 21, 2010 11:48 pm)
leslie64, for any small driver who sits very close to the steering wheel, the drivers airbag may be dangerous, no matter which recent car.
( you may want to consider applying to the federal government for permission to have a shop disable your drivers airbag? )

#44 of 58 Re: G5 power steering [jpf] by 2doorpost

Feb 23, 2010 (9:08 am)

Replying to: jpf (Jan 06, 2010 10:58 am)
I about died laughing when I found out the parent company of the manufacturer of those bad steering units.
 
Hope the accelerator and brakes in your car are GM parts.

#45 of 58 Re: Bad car for short people under 5' 2" [leslie74] by moparbad

Feb 28, 2010 (12:36 pm)

Replying to: leslie74 (Feb 21, 2010 11:48 pm)
Leslie, the Cobalt and G5 are identical in interior size.

#46 of 58 G5 Steering by moparbad

Mar 02, 2010 (10:41 am)

GM is recalling 1.3 million G5, Cobalt and Pursuit (name of Pontiac model sold in Canada) to replace power steering components. Remedy to be announced in the near future.

#47 of 58 Re: Pontiac G5 Issues [expwyman] by expwyman

Mar 02, 2010 (8:13 pm)

Replying to: expwyman (Dec 28, 2009 12:36 pm)
Update: The dealer says the pinging is normal. Seems it happens with Cobalts too. No big deal. The stereo has 6 pages of presets now. Seems there's a menu option to change that. (Duh!) They replaced my right steering wheel buttons which stuck. Also, a center cap fell off from one of my wheels. They replaced it under warrantee.
 
If GM (and their dealers) want us back down the road to buy a new car, they still have to treat Pontiac and Saturn owners well, and I got good treatment. I'm not worried about the new recall. When you're driving at higher speeds, losing power steering, if you lose it, is not a huge deal. You can still steer the car. It's when you're driving really slowly that power steering helps. If you're driving really slowly, I doubt you'll be in a catastrophic wreck. Unlike Toyotas that accelerate to 100 mph and don't respond to brakes. Now that is a big problem. Glad I got my GM.

#48 of 58 Re: Bad car for short people under 5' 2" [leslie74] by expwyman

Mar 02, 2010 (8:29 pm)

Replying to: leslie74 (Feb 21, 2010 11:48 pm)
A few comments...
 
"Roof: Inside roof is a light, creamy type gray that shows stains easily and clearly was only designed to make inside look bigger. No thought given to how easily it shows stains."
 
How does one get stains easily on your inside roof?
   
"Radio - Stereo has a million buttons and a barely there volume knob that's hard to grip and adjust while driving. Time clock is oddly located to far right side of stereo, far from driver side."
 
First of all, the volume knob is a huge knob in the middle of the radio. Plus, you're complaining about the clock display being oddly to the far right? This radio does not have a million buttons (Toyota's have a ton of buttons on their consoles, try one and you'll see, Pontiacs are really straightforward). In fact, this radio allows you to set your presets so you can mix AM, FM and XM and create banks of stations based on music, news, etc. It's easy to program (read the manual). In any case, the radio is a standard size (not built in like Hyundai, for example) so when you have some money saved, you can replace it with another radio you like.
 
"I am 5 feet even and this is car from hell. It is so umcomfortable to drive and adjusting seats does not help because I need to lower seats to make legs comfortable but that hinders view over dash and side windows. Maybe if you're 5'4 or 5'5, it is the perfect fit but for the 5"2 to 4"11 crowd, do not get this car. I hate it so much and can't afford anything else."
 
As for the seats, get cushioned seat covers at Walmart. That should make things feel better for you. Some places sell pedal extenders, so you can reach the pedals better without adjusting the seat so far down.
 
All in all, should have test drove it and said, "this isn't the car for me". If this was the only place in town to buy a car, ask Dad to take you to the next town.
 
Good luck with the G5 anyway. Hope you can make some adjustments and like the car a little more.

#49 of 58 Bike Carrier for G5? by expwyman

Sep 19, 2010 (4:18 pm)

Hi, can anyone recommend a good bike carrier/rack for the G5? I bought one recently that I had to return since the spoiler got in the way. The instruction manual inside said it fit Cobalt but not G5, so I'm guessing it's because of the spoiler which is standard on G5, optional on Cobalt. Thanks!

Messages Page 5 of 6

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