How are the Pontiac Grand Ams????

['96explorereddiebauer]

Guys...I need your help. My girlfriend is thinking of getting a '99 Grand Am GT with 68k miles at $6500. Do you guys think it's a good deal?? Also, how is their reliability stack up with Dodge Neons and such??

 

[Alec]

I've ridden in a few that were rentals, as have my friends. They have decent power but otherwise aren't that great. The moniker "plastic fantastic" comes to mind.

BTW, moving this.

 

[bikerboy4lif]

there alot better than a neon

 

[aldive]

Originally posted by bikerboy4lif
there alot better than a neon

or a vw....

 

[X~FACTOR]

Grand Am has way too much body cladding! If your girlfriend really want it, I'm sure you could bring that price down to around $5000 - $5500 easily. Personally, I would just get a late model Mustang.

 

[Redrig]

i had a 99 se when we had kids. personally it was ok but i think it wasnt built with quality. i think there nicer than a neon though.

 

[udmsvt]

nice car, good price...but try and get a warranty. i hear the 3.4 is a PITA to work on.

in jan, we bought a 2000 cavalier LS sedan for 8k w/27 on the odo....good buy. GMs usually are when it comes to cars. the grand am GT is lighter, more nimble, and is smilar in pickup with better mpg when compared to a v-6 stang.....dont even get me started on the 3.8 stangs...lets just say, i hate them.

anyways, back to the topic...thats a good price on a nice ride.

 

['96explorereddiebauer]

Whoops...I got the car wrong. It's a Grand Am SE with the 3.4 V6, power windows and locks, keyless entry, cassette system. What my girlfriend is basically looking for is a car that's fairly new and it costs less than $7500. What kind of cars do you guys thing she can get other than the Grand Am and the '02 Neon she was looking??

 

[udmsvt]

se...gt...same thing, just less zest.

we love the cavalier we got. its a 2000 ls sedan pl/pl/cd/keyless/auto/27k, we got a gm 4 yr 100k bumper to bumper, tax, title, and plates for under 10k.....youcould probably find a 99ish for similar...come to think of it, i saw a 99 coupe with like 33k for 5900 the other day.

i cant say enough aout the cavalier, but get the 2.2 engine. saturns are good too, my uncle has a 97 satrun with amost 200k and it still runs like a top.

 

[Fusion213]

My friend has a 98 Grand Am. It's okay, a lot of plastic inside. The fan vents are... weird. One of his spin around. A few electrical problems. His engine is acting weird. His is a hassle, but he probably just wasn't lucky.
I personally wouldn't buy a pontiac, from what i've been in, they have a pretty big share of problems.

 

[X~FACTOR]

Originally posted by '96explorereddiebauer
What kind of cars do you guys thing she can get other than the Grand Am and the '02 Neon she was looking??

How about a Focus. A co-worker just bought a 2000 2dr for $6,500. Nice little car with lots of zest to it. The aftermarket support for that car is not bad either.

 

[88vert]

My brother has a 98 grand am gt and he bought it new,the only thing that has gone wrong is the struts and lower control arm bushings and they are very pricey.If you want a great car and still have trade in value go with toyota or nissan.Grand Am's and Saturn's and cavaliers have sucky value,and the dealerships are loaded with them

 

[gumarcel]

The Pontiac is fugly. I would look at getting a VW or something similar to that. Or hey just look at getting a Honda or Toyota. They are very good vehicles that are pretty cheap.

 

['96explorereddiebauer]

I think Pontiacs are ugly too, but it's gonna be her car and she thinks it's "cute" so it's up to her. VW is totally out of the question because of insurance and maintenance issue. Toyotas and Hondas are great! I told her to get those but in her price range, you can only get a pretty crappy car.

 

[lonestar]

What about a Tbird, similar to Grand Am, but RWD and available in V8. I think 97 is the last year before they made it a 2 seater.

Grand Am's are OK, but I think they do look kind of cheap on the inside and are uncomfortable. I would even look at a older Focus.

A few imports are nice, but like yousay, insurance and maintenance are $$$.

 

[sunbum]

I had a 91, 94 and 96 grand AM... other than some wearing through brakes fast (and Im not one to brake much), I liked them. After moving to PA and making too many trips to Maine and getting a good paying job, I bought my Explorer in 98 and sneer at snow now. heh
I had a lot of blast in snow with the G-AM, but faced some serious storms and felt better in the 4x4.
They are getting a lil too flashy with all the lines, etc. I can't go back to a car now anyhow... my next will be a 4x4 too, no doubt a '04 NBX.

 

['96explorereddiebauer]

Yeah, no kidding. I've been an SUV driver since I got my license ('98 Grand Cherokee 5.9Limited and '00 GC Limited) so there's aboslutely no way that I'll be driving a car. It's just very uncomfortable compared the big stuff. I actually tried to talk Abby into getting an Explorer Eddie Bauer with leather seats so I can get her seats and she can get my cloth seats. Since she doesn't want to pay for gas every few days so that's why she decided to get a car.

 

[machman706]

My fiance has a 96 GT and its had nothing but problems. The 2.3 4 Cyl. is crap. Its had 2 new heads on it and multiple timing chains. All installed by GM. She would get rid of the car but we are getting married on the 13th of Sept and moving to Michigan so we need the extra cash for rent. The only good thing about the car is it gets really good gas mileage compared to an Explorer. Probably just her luck with GM though as she has had to have heads replaced on all 3 of her GMs. When we can afford it, we will be getting a new Taurus.

 

[Stephen]

The Focus is a nice little car, stay away from the 00 models though because they're wrought with problems.

The Grand Am is an okay little car for what it is, has a tried and true powertrain, not a lot to break on it...

 

[anothergoatherd]

The Kelly Blue Book value for a Private Party sale of that car is $6,055

The Trade In value (how much a car dealer would pay for that car) is $4,355

The Retail value is $8,475

You can usually buy a car from a dealer for some where between the retail and the trade in value. So if you are buying the Grand Am from a dealer thats a pretty good deal.