• The site migration is complete! Hopefully everything transferred properly from the multiple decades old software we were using before. If you notice any issues please let me know, thanks! Also, I'm still working on things like chatbox, etc so hopefully those will be working in the next week or two.

Common Problems?

D

deadmittens

New member
To start off, I drive a 2000 Grand Prix SE 3100.
Yeah, yeah. Its "slow" compared to the rest of you. Whatever.
Its just my daily driver.

I was just wondering if anyone could tell me common problems with these pontiacs. Its got 142k (low compared to most near me!). I used to drive a 95 Ford Mustang GT with a 5.0. Now THAT was power.

Anyways. I lost my mustang this spring due to a drunk driver, and switched to a pontiac. It ran great for 10k miles (all put on within 3 months, so I'm VERY pleased that it ran withoutproblems. Loved the mustang, but sports cars are flakes). Now its starting to act up. It runs fantastic still, but I've noticed a noise coming from a belt and a mechanic told me its something to do with keeping the engine cool/a belt is starting to rub & metal is rubbing metal? I don't know. I wasn't really listening.

The point of all this is that its starting to have little problems here and there, and I've heard that once Grand Prixs get one problem they go downhill fast. Is this true? What are common problems for this age/mileage/engine type? Should I just sell it off before it goes bad, or is it worth fixing?


Thanks for any answers!
 


hmm any problem left alone too long can lead to further damage. from my years of driving gp's i find that if you fix one problem as soon as you recognize it you'll be fine... my daily driver doesnt give me any headache at all, and ive had it 35k now. i JUST did spark plugs and wires on it the other day and i just keep up on checking the fluids. The cars can be tanks if maintained properly
 
LIM gaskets, MAF sensors, Crank Sensor, coolant elbows....but this doesnt mean it will be on your car. It all depends on how well it was taken care of before you bought it. Many of these go to 200k or more, but some have problems at 50k. It depends on maintenance, driving style, and many more details. I think almost any car that is 10 yrs old with over 100k could possibly have several issues go within a short period of time, then again it could go 200k with no issues. you can never pinpoint a specific age or mileage on any vehicle.
 
The 3100 is known for head gasket issues...I'd say if you are ever seeing a small increase in engine temps and low coolant...I'd get them changed
 


i bought my 01 GT in november of 08. i havent even been paying on it for a year, and heres a list of things ive had to replace on it

ABS wiring harness
Upper Intake plenum
rear main seal plate gasket
both CV shafts
both front bearings
new shocks/struts ALL the way around
new brakes all the way around
belt tensioner
power window motor/regulator
control arm bushing

and right now its making a sound that i think is a bad ball joint

those are just some of things that i can think of off the top of my head right now. also, none of those were repalced cuz i "wanted" it done, everyone of those repairs needed to be done. ive put more money worth of repairs in this car then what the car loan is for, and im not even 25% into the loan. personally, ill never be buying one of these piles again

edit: i wanted to add, just to let everyone know, dont buy a car based on a CARFAX report or anything like that. my car has a 100% perfect CARFAX history report. needless to say, it was nowhere near perfect
 
Last edited:
Jakegday said:
i bought my 01 GT in november of 08. i havent even been paying on it for a year, and heres a list of things ive had to replace on it

ABS wiring harness
Upper Intake plenum
rear main seal plate gasket
both CV shafts
both front bearings
new shocks/struts ALL the way around
new brakes all the way around
belt tensioner
power window motor/regulator
control arm bushing

and right now its making a sound that i think is a bad ball joint

those are just some of things that i can think of off the top of my head right now. also, none of those were repalced cuz i "wanted" it done, everyone of those repairs needed to be done. ive put more money worth of repairs in this car then what the car loan is for, and im not even 25% into the loan. personally, ill never be buying one of these piles again

edit: i wanted to add, just to let everyone know, dont buy a car based on a CARFAX report or anything like that. my car has a 100% pe
Click to expand...
 
I dont know what happened there. It did not look like that when I posted it....WTF?
I was saying how you should have looked your car over better before you bought it as I find it hard to believe all of that stuff failed after you bought it. If you didnt know what to look for you should have taken it to someone to look it over with you before you bought it. The guy who owned it before you obviously did not take care of it at all or perform any maintenance on it. I understand a couple of things you could have overlooked but all of that? Plus carfax is onely useful for when people get in reported accidents or have a change in the status of their title from original form. Kind of like dealerships too.....they can only see the info of work done from other GM dealerships. Unless someone takes the car to GM to have the work and maintenance done on it for everything big or small, you will never know the true history of a vehicle.
 
Liquifire said:
I was saying how you should have looked your car over better before you bought it as I find it hard to believe all of that stuff failed after you bought it. If you didnt know what to look for you should have taken it to someone to look it over with you before you bought it.
Click to expand...

lol, now what would make you think that? i bought it from a used car lot that i bought my last car from. my last car was pretty much problem free the 4 years i owned it, and ive also heard good things about the place throughout the years. But yes, as you said, i will NEVER buy a used car again without having my shop look at it. not after this
 


it sucks because they are not going to tell you if there are things wrong most of the time, and they arent going to just replace a bunch of stuff even if they do find it because there goes their profit. Unfortunately they probably didnt look it over that closely either. It is too bad, you can only trust yourself or an independant if you want it done thoroughly or correctly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top