Overview & Reviews

Very minimal changes this year as Pontiac concentrates on Grand Prix and Trans Sport launches. Air conditioning is now standard. Also, three new colors are added.

• Cheap thrills, sporty image, fun Twin Cam engine

• Aging platform, poor handling, uncomfortable seats

User Reviews:

Showing 31 through 40 of 75.00

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  Fun Alternative to Foreign Models - 1997 Pontiac Grand AM
  By paddymac - January 12 - 10:00 am

  Great little Ride. My first choice was a Honda or Toyota, but opted for an American model becuase of the price options. Besides the fuel economy I love this car!

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  Never will buy again! - 1997 Pontiac Grand AM
  By cheerjill23 - December 5 - 6:50 am

  I got this car as a gift and have had nothing but problems with it. Replaced brakes too many to count, alternator 2X, front shakes all the time, coolant constantly low and over heats. Never sure if I would make it to where I needed to go. Didnt even make it to 115,000 miles. Coolant would leak and have to refill every 7- 10 days.

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  Less than I hoped for - 1997 Pontiac Grand AM
  By Tim - September 22 - 3:36 am

  I bought a used 97 SE with V6 and low miles (only 44K). Maybe I picked a lemon, but I ended up disappointed. There were a series of expensive failures - power window rollers, starter, alternator. The shocks had too little travel, and bumps were bone-jarring. Then engine ran frighteningly hot in summer, and no cause was ever found. Gas mileage was so-so (24 city, 26 hwy). In fairness, there were some good things. The V6 engine is very smooth, if a bit underpowered for its size. And the car had surprisingly excellent handling on icky, icy Dallas freeways in February. Ultimately, lack of reliability became too much of a factor, so 2 years and 40K miles later, I went back to my old brand.

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  Love my Pontaic - 1997 Pontiac Grand AM
  By A. Iati - July 20 - 10:00 am

  I bought this car 5 years ago and have had nothing major go wrong with it at all. Its quick, super grippy to the curves and sharp. Its been very good to me and as long as you take care of anything that you own, it should give back in return. The car has years of life left on it...

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  Grand Am - 1997 Pontiac Grand AM
  By dtott - June 8 - 10:40 am

  Bought this car for our daughter. Dont make the same mistake. Replaced water pump 4 times ($400+ each), alternator ($200), power steering pump (150), and engine ($1300). We kept thinking that would be the end, it never is. Panels inside falling apart. passenger window quit working ($350) (shop told us the arms inside are too weak and bend), moon roof quit working ($??? not fixing any more!).We will never buy a Grand am again, as we have heard from others about their repairs. Too bad it was after we bought the car that we heard all of this. This car was built for the mechanics to stay busy.

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  Love my RED ROCKET! - 1997 Pontiac Grand AM
  By emeraldz536 - May 9 - 10:00 am

  I am very happy with my 97 Grand Am SE :-) It goes from New York to Ohio on a regular basis and runs absolutely great... Does great in all the snow we have in Northern NY too!!! Only major problem was the alternator at about 70,000 miles & the water pump leaked and had that replaced... Other than that it has been fantastic and I plan to run the wheels off it until it wont go no more... :-)

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  pontiac is poor quality - 1997 Pontiac Grand AM
  By Steve Be - April 26 - 2:00 am

  My 97 grand am as cost me over 3000 dollars in repairs alone. If you are a smart buyer you should stay away from the quad four engien. I would like to say also, that in my experience pontiacs are more trouble than they are worth. I have had three of them and every one self destructs undernieth me. Little things that cost you $100 and big things that cost you $500. In my opinion a smarter buyer will go over seas or to ford for a quality car.

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  1997 Pontiac GA GT Coupe 5-speed - 1997 Pontiac Grand AM
  By mazurjb - April 14 - 10:00 am

  Overall, a good car. This car is VERY reliable and surprisingly peppy for its size with an I-4 motor. The only repairs I had to have done in five years were an oxygen sensor and a compressor for the cars A/C. Despite having a very good experience with my car, I would not recommend the new model of the GA. In addition to that, the new model does not come with a manual transmission... speaking of which, my 97 has a very exact manual tranny. The only drawback of the manual transmission is the long throws. The only drawback of the car is the unavilibility of aftermarket custom parts for the car.

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  Good Car - 1997 Pontiac Grand AM
  By Rume75 - March 21 - 10:00 am

  i just bought my car a couple of days ago so i only have a few coplaimants or wishes, I think they should have given the seats more cushion, i wish my car had cruise control

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  good car - 1997 Pontiac Grand AM
  By grandamgt62 - February 25 - 3:06 am

  I have had mine for 2 years with no problems. Very reliable and fun to drive