1996 Pontiac Grand AM problems
NHTSA has received 672 complaints about the 1996 Pontiac Grand AM, and 21% of them involve electrical system. After that come air bags (16%) and brakes (11%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 672 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 21% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 45 and 18
- Injuries and deaths
- 83 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 103,000 miles 104 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 13 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 5 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 1 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 13 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 11 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 16 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 16 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 10 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 11 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 7 |
| 200k+ miles | 1 |
What the data shows
Among the 104 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 103,000 miles. For electrical system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 106,000 miles (20 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 45 complaints mention a crash; 18 complaints mention a fire; 83 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1996 ranks 4th most-complained-about out of 16 model years of the Pontiac Grand AM with enough data (343 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 4 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Water getting into vehicle somewhere behind firewall. Started approximately 1yr. Ago. Caused all lights on dash to light up, now vehicle will not start, could not afford to have pontiac fix, although they did issue a warning regarding issue, but will not help with remedy.
My main problem is the steering column. When it is time to take the key out of the ignition it gets stucks. Your unable to take the key out until the car wants to let it go. Sometimes this ends up to be a 45 minute to an hour wait. The place I bought it from said they fixed it. Of course, aftr the warranty was up so wasn't the key once again getting stuck. Had the whole steering column replaced for about $500.00 no problems for about 2 months and now once again key is getting stuck.
The power windows failed intermittently. The window motor has been replaced twice but the problem resurfaces. *nlm