2002 Pontiac Grand Prix problems
NHTSA has received 410 complaints about the 2002 Pontiac Grand Prix, and 35% of them involve engine. Next are electrical system (14%) and lighting (9%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 410 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 35% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 28 and 109
- Injuries and deaths
- 31 and 1
- Typical mileage
- 91,000 miles 306 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 | 21 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 31 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 59 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 49 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 37 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 27 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 24 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 22 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 14 |
| 200k+ miles | 9 |
What the data shows
Of the 306 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 91,000 miles. For engine specifically, the median reported mileage is about 122,000 miles (104 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 28 complaints mention a crash; 109 complaints mention a fire; 31 injuries reported; 1 death reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 96% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2002 ranks 8th most-complained-about out of 19 model years of the Pontiac Grand Prix with enough data (156 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 3 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.
While driving the vehicle, the onstar communications system activated 4 times on it's own before consumer noticed that the vehicle was on fire. The onstar communications box is located in the left, rear corner of the vehicles trunk. Vehicle was towed and has been inspected, however vehicle has not been repaired. Consumer has repeatedly contacted manufacturer and service manager as to when the repairs would commence, but consumer has yet to receive a satisfactory response.
This car has died several times, and when it does, all of the power equipment fails, and I can't turn the wheel or stop the vehicle very quickly, and I recently had a seriuos accident due to this factor.
While driving 30 MPH and attempting to avoid an accident, the driver slammed on the brakes. The brakes failed and a result the vehicle dipped down in the from and crash under a trucks rear crash bar. On impact the driver hit his chest on the steering wheel. The seat belt did not restrain him properly nor did either of the frontal air bags deploy. The passenger's seat belt didn't lock until it had already come out about 1 1/2 feet. The driver sustained a fractured sternum and chest trauma.
We were on our way to my father in law's funeral and the brakes went out. Then the accelerator stuck. I turned off the ignition and we rolled to a stop, then there was a fire under the hood.
My 2002 pontiac grand prix with a 3.8 liter engine caught fire while I was out of state in detroit doing training for work. I parked at the hotel I was staying at after a short trip to dinner and back I park my car and 15 min. Later I heard two load pops (noise was front tires blew out because the fire got to hot) and looked outside my hotel room and my car was on fire and a co-workers car parked next to my car caught on fire there was hotel damage. Plus two cars totaled and no way home. It sucks!