1997 Pontiac Montana problems
The 1997 Pontiac Montana has 25 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (24%) concerns engine. Next are lighting (12%) and cooling system (8%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 25 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 24% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 2 and 1
- Injuries and deaths
- 4 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 80,000 miles 18 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 | 2 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 0 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 4 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 0 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 6 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 4 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 2 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 18 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 80,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 2 complaints mention a crash; 1 complaint mentions a fire; 4 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1997 ranks 10th most-complained-about out of 10 model years of the Pontiac Montana with enough data (5 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 1 safety recall campaign.
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.
Driving down a two lane freeway, vearing to the right and I rearended a car. The seatbelts did not lock and the airbags did not work..the vehicle was inspected and everything was said to be working fine..the van is fully loaded and all the elctronics are working perfectly, as far as I knew.
Pontiac transport montana was parked in a parking lot for 1/2 hour or so and became ingulfed in flames. Fire marshall thinks it was from battery/ electric. Destroyed our car and 5 others. No humans hurt...thank god it was parked and my son was not driving it.
Lens cover over the headlights fell out of both headlights on seperate occcasions. I had to buy the whole headlight assembly. I was driving down the road and they just fell out and broke on the road. We currently have a problem with it overheating have replace thermostat and water pump still having same problem. Not fixed yet. The power sliding door alarms that it is open for no apparent reason. The door has not opened and closed by the power for several months. It has to be mannaully opened.
Antifreeze leak; lead to replacement of lower intake manifold gasket (very costly) about 4 years ago. Needs replacing again. Dealership warns of excessive engine damage due to antifreeze in the motor oil.