car guys explain pontiacs please...

[monolayth]

I work at a place that does emergency roadside assisstance. I have noticed a trend.

Pontiacs will suddenly die while driving for no(seemingly) reason or warning.

90% of my calls are for pontiacs.

What gives?

[Amethyst Hunter]

No idea what the beef is there, but IMO most if not all Pontiacs are shit on wheels. I have trouble with mine on a semi-regular basis, and I seem to remember that my mom's old Pontiac would crap out on her at regular intervals too. Needless to say, if I ever get another car in my lifetime, it ain't gonna be a Pontiac.

[monolayth]

next week i am going to keep a tally to get statistics other than what it seems.

[Aramika]

Wait.... that hasn't happen to just me? I have a '93 Grand Prix and it's happened to me twice. Once I was pulling into a parking space and it cut off, but I was able to maneuver the car into the spot and use the emergency break in case it wasn't in park. Another time my car died on my in the middle of an intersection. That was bad. Fortunately the guy behind me offered to push my car into a parking lot. I thanked him and tried to give him some money but he declined saying that he was just doing his good deed for the day.

I really want to know why this happens though, in case it ever happens to me again. I've had the car for four years and it's only happened twice, so hopefully it won't happen again. And I don't think my Pontiac is a shit on wheels - it was very cheap and besides those two times it cut off, I haven't had any problems with it. Am I the only one who likes their Pontiac?

[draggar]

Poor
Old
Nut
Thinks
Its
A
Cadallac

?

I had a Grand Prix (boat) in high school and early college - it was old when I got it but was great cruising to and from college (about 3 hours away in the middle of Maine). Never died on me - sold it a few years loater for $800.

[Primer]

I used to wind up behind a Grand Am quite frequently on my way to work. The owner had taken the letters off and rearranged them to spell out "Damn Car." ok, so he had to break off part of the G to make it into a C. I still laughed!

[sexiphatchick]

I actually really like Pontiacs. I've had several and never had a problem....well, except for one. But that wasn't because it was a Pontiac, it was because the guy I bought it from didn't take care of it.


Although, all the Pontiacs that I've owned have been older ones (80s). Maybe the newer ones are a different story.

[lordlundar]

Pontiacs, like a lot of vehicles designed by the "Big 3" are made for one purpose, and it's rarely longevity. Corvettes for example are made for speed and as such have been compared to riding a luge on asphalt, only not as comfortable or controllable.

Even luxury cars made by them are not really designed to last long without insane maintenance regimes and not even then. There are a lot of reasons why, but it does boil down to money. Whether it's intentional to keep people buying or as a byproduct of lower development and construction costs, the result is the same. It's actually why the Japanese designed cars are usually higher rated and the big 3 can't even compete against the european market.

[blas]

I personally think Neons are worse, as they were not designed with safety or longtime use in mind.

[Jester]

I am not a huge fan of Pontiacs, but have no direct experience with them as an owner.

I DO know they can't possibly be as bad as Dodges, the car I hate more than any other. I've owned two Dodges. Both died horrible deaths. Both sucked great big donkey ass. I've owned two Chevys. Both have rocked.

As a matter of fact, when I was looking for my new (now current) vehicle, the thing I said to the dealers I talked to were, "no red vehicles, and no Dodges." Red was practical....cops notice them more. I like to stay under the radar. As for my other stipulation? I've been burned twice by Dodge. I will NOT be burned again.

[Bosch]

Every car has quirks, just have to find out what it is.

Pontiac I have no idea what is going on with them, need to be more specific, model, years of production usually will have a common factor of the breakdown.

And funny my chrysler product has run like a champ for 9 straight years only once needing to be brought home on a hook.. Just depends on what day of the week it was built, I guess its a Tuesday car. :)

[Spiffy McMoron]

Are you sure it's just Pontiacs? Or are you also counting other GM vehicles that are mechanically the same? Chev, Buick, Olds, etc.

[monolayth]

as i said next week i am going to keep track of year make and model of every call of stalled while driivng.

[digilight]

It could also be that there is a higher percentage of Pontiacs in your area than in other areas (we call this a spooky type thing).

Or it could be that they just suck ass!

[Mr Yuck]

Pontiacs, like a lot of vehicles designed by the "Big 3" are made for one purpose, and it's rarely longevity. Corvettes for example are made for speed and as such have been compared to riding a luge on asphalt, only not as comfortable or controllable.

Even luxury cars made by them are not really designed to last long without insane maintenance regimes and not even then. There are a lot of reasons why, but it does boil down to money. Whether it's intentional to keep people buying or as a byproduct of lower development and construction costs, the result is the same. It's actually why the Japanese designed cars are usually higher rated and the big 3 can't even compete against the european market.

This used to be true for the big 3. Ford has actually caught up to Toyota and Honda regarding reliability.

The Corvette is the only GM product I would own. If GM built all it's vehicles to the same quality standards that it built the Corvette and their Cadillacs they would not be on the verge of going under.
Forget Chrysler. You couldn't pay me enough to drive one of their vehicles.

For the record, our 3 daily drivers are an Acura a Subaru and a BMW.
My wife's work trucks are all Ford F-150's. We really haven't had problems with any of them.

[Becks]

I like to stay under the radar.

I can't say that I would ever connect you with that statement. :p

[monolayth]

It could also be that there is a higher percentage of Pontiacs in your area than in other areas (we call this a spooky type thing).


Actually I cover 8 states. Don't think that is likely.

[Jester]

I can't say that I would ever connect you with that statement. :p

I mean it only with regards to local constabularies.

[It shouldn't]

I have a 01 Neon with 140,000 miles and other than the regular sheduled maintenance (oil changes/tires/lightbulbs, etc.) the only unsheduled repair I had to do was a new electronic ignition module.

NOw on the other hand ....... the red 94 Cavalier I had before that would just stall out once a week for no reason.

[dispatch]

my 95 lumina was the worst bucket I've ever owned, and that's saying something! My curent 93 civic, despite one of the rear bumper mounts being rusted off, is my favorite car ever. the 2 civics I've owned have been awesome in the snow, great gas mileage, low-maintenece, and great for parallel parking!

I did have an 87 pontiac 6000 that was prone to stalling from overheating, I tried replacing the thermostat and that helped for awhile, she could just cut out and if I gave it a minute to cool off she'd start right up again, finally I got tired of it and sold her to the junkyard for $120

[Bandit]

Out of all the cars I have owned, I would have to say the GM W-Bodies (Lumina/Monte Carlo/Regal/Impala/Cutlass/Grand Prix) have been the most reliable.

200,000 km would be a low-mileage example of them - had plenty of power, great milage on the highway and comfortable for a tall guy like me. The Buicks (Canadian build) were amazing.

Had an Olds with well over 300,000 km on it before it's time was up. Worst repair I every had (2 Buicks, 1 Olds, 1 Chevy) was a ball joint.

That said - worst shitheap I ever had was a Pontiac Grand Am. Had to have the engine was replaced with 800 km on it as it shat a valve spring. Go figure.

B

[Caveat Emptor]

For me, it would be a Ford. Parents bought a Falcon before I was born in '72, and when they moved from NJ to NY that same year it developed a rust problem. They bought an '81 Fairmont stationwagon, and 4 years later it was stalling out. Never had that problem with any of the cars I drove, but within 18 mos. of buying a 2000 Neon the wipers started to activate by themselves intermittently. I brought it in to the dealer a few times and they couldn't find the problem, and the next time it happened I was going to seriously pursue lemon law litigation. It happened again, but it also coincided with my headlights staying a dull orange glow and they were finally able to trace it to a loose ground wire.

[Becks]

I mean it only with regards to local constabularies.

Duly noted. :D