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Sedans Pontiac Grand Am Pontiac Grand Am: Meet the Owners
13 messages, Last post on Feb 19, 2008 at 10:32 AM
You are in the Pontiac Grand Am Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
| Introduce yourself and tell us about your Grand Am here. Talk and share your driving experiences with other owners. | |
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Purchased a 2000 Grand Am SE and it came with only one ignition key.. How can I determine if the car has keyless/remote door locks??
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Replying to: KarenS (Oct 19, 2006 5:08 am) First with the good.  I am a non smoker and a major clean freak so at 4 years old she looks like it just rolled off the assembly line. To put it more bluntly I am a freak when it comes to maintaining my cars and this being my First Brand New Car with only 4 miles on her was no exception in fact I became worse, let me give you an example. Wash by hand only, using specialty products by Meguire (not dish soap) then dress all rubber, vacuume, shampoo carpet and seats, clean engine compartment, buff/wax paint and wheels  . For maintenance I also go above and beyond the normal. Starting at 4 miles old I had all fluids drained and replaced with synthetic. The only oil I use is Mobile 1 Synthetic with a Synthetic Mobile 1 filter. I spend all the extra money for the Top Shelf replacement items. At every 15,000 miles I put fuel cleaner, motor flush, air filter and a PCV valve in. I also keep my tires new (currently has 75% tread left)and rigorously follow the schedule of rotate and balance at every 5,000 miles. At 85,000 I replaced all 4 rotors and brake pads. Now the bad.  I had a major issue this past November, it started to bog (hesitate) I had to replace the Catylitic and 02 sensors. Then after that I noticed that my Low Coolant Light came on and things went downhill real fast from there. I looked at my oil and saw antifreeze froth on the bottom of the cap so I took it to a automotive repair facility (Goodyear/Gemini Auto service) and they said that I need to replace the Intake Manifold Gasket. This I did immediately and they charged me 600.00. Then less than a week later the engine started (barely)  then it smoked like crazy. So I took it back to the repair place and they said, well it appears that I blew the head gasket so I had to tow it some place else because they don't work on major items. That place charged me 70.00 to tell me the same thing and also to inform that replacing the gasket would cost around 1300.00 but my engine could blow due to all the antifreeze that went into my engine. Perplexed, I asked what would replacing the engine cost and he said 3300 with a 12mo/12,000 warranty. So I took it home and thought about what to do, all that quality maintenance and I got shafted by GM's bad engineering. I decided to get it replaced but I went to Michigan Motor Exchange and for 3000,00 they gave a 24mo/50,000 mile warranty for a remanufactured engine that they build themselves with quality products and quality gaskets then spec it out correctly which gives the engine a zero mile begining. This price included taxes, all fluids a new water pump, temp sensing unit and a PCV valve. Long story short I have a new car again but what a hassle for a car that is only 4 years old that was maintained so meticulously and you wonder why the foreign cars have an edge. Like I said I might have known this was coming if I knew about this post earlier. Oh well it is good to be here now for the future.
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Replying to: yankee_tom (Nov 14, 2006 1:53 pm)
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I have a silver grand am 1999... my wife bought it for me as an "A-B" car but now I really like the car and want to do more to it. It's REAL basic (roll up windows and everything) I've started by putting in a new radio now I'm trying to get better head lamps,tint, and seats. Do any one have any suggestions? |
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Replying to: KarenS (Oct 19, 2006 5:08 am)  the altinater and new serpentine belt. Started hearing a "whirring" sound when accelerating, took it in and it is being replaced at this very moment. When the time comes for a new car, I will probably stick with Grand Am
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Replying to: roxp55 (May 21, 2007 10:49 am)
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Replying to: yankee_tom (Nov 14, 2006 1:53 pm) |
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Hello, I'm an owner of a 1987/88 Pontiac Grand Am. This car was Bought in 1990 and has been in the same family since then. I am now the car's daily driver. This car has the heavy but very reliable 2.5L 4cyl and the THM 125 3 speed transmission. I can Honestly say the life of this car is about up and this year grand AM is not desirable. The engine and Transmission are original. And the red burgundy paint is slowly but surly fading away. In saying all of this that car is really not worth anything to no one but Me. My question is should I even try to fix her up? I was thinking of a 3.0L V6 swap new paint and redoing the interior. This car is the last of My childhood family car and would like to keep it!. Any comments or reply are welcomed. Thanks James
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| my story is a lil different then every one elses. i didnt buy a newer grand am. infact i didnt buy one at all. im newly 18 (so im still a youngin) but wen i turned 16 my dzia dzia (polish for grandpa if any one was confused?) gave me his 1989 grand am. it was the best car cuz its older then i am but hey it was free. but recently after that he passed away. and now not to long ago the car broke down. now i was very close to my dzia dzia and that is the last thing i have left of him so i would like to keep it and fix it up and make it look and run like new again. im looking to put a brand new "bigger" engine in it but im not exactly how big i can go so if any one knows that or knows a site that i can find that please let me know asap. i dont want to have to get rid of this car. and time is runing out fast. but on the same note as every one else. i had some minor problems with the car, the dash got really shaky and there was alot of rust. but bein how old it was it was a good ride and pretty good on gas too. | |
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