NHTSA Complaint #10199610 — 2000 PONTIAC GRAND AM

I PURCHASED THIS CAR NEW (MY FIRST NEW CAR) IN AUGUST 2000. AFTER THE FIRST 15,000 MILES AND THE NEXT 15.000 MILES THE BRAKES WERE REPLACED UNDER WARRANTY. AFTER EACH ADDITIONAL 15,000 +/- MILES I PAID FOR THIS SERVICE OUT OF POCKET. IN ADDITION, I STARTED PAYING FOR WHEEL BEARINGS AND REPLACED THEM TOO MANY TIMES TO COUNT. NEXT THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM WITH THE FAN ONLY WORKING ON SPEED 1 AND 5. MANY DEALER TRIPS TO HAVE ATTEMPTS TO BE FIXED. PROBLEMS GREW TO ADD ISSUES WITH FUEL PUMP. NEW FUEL PUMP ADDED AFTER BEING STRANDED FOR A FEW HOURS ON A BUSY HIGHWAY. NEWEST PROBLEM WHICH WE BECAME AWARE OF REAL EARLY ON WAS LOW COOLANT OR A SYSTEM WHICH CAN NOT KEEP COOLANT IN THE CAR. THE PROBLEM REVISITED US ON XMAS DAY AS WE WERE TRAVELING TO RELATIVES AND WERE STRANDED IN UPSTATE NY IN TYPICAL CLIMATIC TEMPERATURES OF LESS THAN 30 DEGREES F. HAVE TAKEN THE CAR MANY TIMES TO DEALERS AND LOCAL MECHANICS. PROBLEMS ARE STILL ADDING UP. INCLUDED EXHAUST ISSUES. CARBON MONOXIDE. WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT FOR A FIRST TIME CAR OWNER. BUT I HAVE LEARNED ONE LESSON...WILL NEVER BUY GM AGAIN. NEVER SATISFIED WITH DEALER COSTS AND FIXES. AFTER LEARNING ABOUT ALL THE OTHER PROBLEMS ON THIS SITE THAT OTHERS HAVE HAD VERY SIMILAR. I AM GLAD THAT MY NEWEST CAR A HONDA SITS NEXT TO THE GRAND AM. I SEE THAT GM IS HURTING FINANCIALLY AND I THINK THIS SPEAKS LOUDLY FOR WHAT CONSUMERS ARE FEELING. I HAVE TAKEN CARE OF MY CAR AND SELECTED GM FOR MY FIRST CAR PURCHASE, UNFORTUNATELY GM HAS NOT TAKEN CARE OF ME. I HOPE GM SEES RESPONSES LIKE THIS TO HELP THE AMERICAN CAR COMPANIES UNDERSTAND THAT AMERICANS ARE NOT GOING TO PUT UP WITH THE IDEA THAT CHEAP CARS ARE MADE AND SOLD TO AMERICANS SO THAT THE COMPANY CAN SELL CARS CHEAPLY AND THAT THE CAR'S LIFE WILL END THE DAY AFTER THE LAST CAR PAYMENT THUS LEADING THE BUYER TO A NEW LOAN FOR A NEW CAR. THIS IS A WASTE! *JB