Overview & Reviews

The Pontiac brand is part of the General Motors family, and is home to many of the automaker's more performance-oriented vehicles. Currently, the marque offers a broad range of sporty cars and SUVs. However, as part of GM's restructuring plan, the brand is slated to be discontinued by the end of the 2010 model year.

Pontiac originated as the Oakland Car Company of Pontiac, Michigan, in 1907; it was founded by Edward Murphy. Acquired by General Motors in 1909, Oakland introduced the first Pontiac vehicle in 1926. Dubbed the "Chief of the Sixes," the car was powered by a six-cylinder engine and made its debut at that year's New York auto show. It was so successful that the Oakland name was phased out in favor of Pontiac, the name of an 18th-century chief of the Ottawa Indians. Throughout the 1930s and '40s Pontiac made coupes, sedans and wagons in the low-to-mid price ranges. A unique styling cue of Pontiac cars from the mid-'30s to the mid-'50s was known as "Silver Streak," a set of art-deco-inspired chrome "speed lines" that ran up over the length of the hood to the base of the windshield.

The 1950s saw the introduction of the Pontiac Bonneville. The sprawling, stylish cruiser offered equal measures of performance and luxury, and was a breakout hit. But it wasn't until the 1960s that the Pontiac brand truly came into its own. American manufacturers had begun to offer downsized alternatives to the gigantic cruisers that had ruled the highways in previous decades. Pontiac came to market with the compact Tempest. In 1964, Pontiac made its biggest impact yet with the creation of the GTO option for the Tempest. By equipping the car with the powerful 389 cubic-inch V8 from the full-size car line, Pontiac created the first "muscle car." Phenomenally successful, the GTO helped define the burgeoning muscle car category. Pontiac also saw tremendous success during the latter part of this decade with its Firebird and Firebird Trans Am.

The oil crisis of the '70s made fuel efficiency a priority for many car buyers. Following the lead of its GM siblings, Pontiac made compact vehicles like the Ventura and Phoenix a major part of its lineup. The '80s saw the launch of the two-seat Pontiac Fiero. Despite its modest beginnings (it was initially marketed as a "commuter car"), the Fiero eventually blossomed into a credible sports car.

The '90s saw the launch of Pontiacs like the Sunfire and Montana minivan. Pontiac has slowly lost sales due to changing tastes and a lack of differentiation between its models and those of other GM divisions. In hopes of recapturing past glory, the division embarked on a plan to retire aged models and introduce all-new ones with distinctive styling and personality. For a while, the effort seemed to be bearing fruit. New models like the Vibe, Solstice and G8 made Pontiac a brand to consider in many segments. However, GM's financial troubles in 2008 and 2009 have resulted in the company's decision to phase out Pontiac as a brand. It's expected 2010 will be Pontiac's last year for new models.

User Reviews:

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  Less Than Happy - 2009 Pontiac Vibe
  By LESS THAN HAPPY - May 12 - 5:33 pm

  I find it difficult to give this car much of a rating. I take my dog with me most everywhere I go, so I decided on the Vibe based on its size and practicality. I am very disappointed. This is by far the noisiest vehicle I have every owned! I find myself checking the windows to see if I left one of them open. There seems to be no sound deadening insulation in this vehicle at all. This makes long trips very tedious - and also makes listening to music impossible. Also, the AWD model should be available with a manual transmission - the automatic doesnt allow you to coast freely - its always holding you back causing you to play with the accelerator to hold a constant speed.

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  troubles - 2005 Pontiac Bonneville
  By maurice - May 6 - 7:40 am

  1 day old, had to be towed, wires not connected battery dead. 7 days old tranmissions switch replaced. 3 wks old horn replaced. 4 months old comp replaced. 7 mos old rear shock replaced. still makes noises!

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  CRAP CAR - 1999 Pontiac Sunfire
  By MELINDA - May 3 - 10:00 am

  AT FIRST THE CAR WAS GREAT BUT ONCE I HIT THE FIRST YEAR MARK THINGS STARTED GOING WRONG AND FALLING APART. THE DASH WAS ORIGINALLY INSTALLED INCORRECT AND CANNOT BE FIXED, THE ROATERS ARE SHOT AND NEED REPLACED. NOW AT THREE YEARS I AM GETTING RID OF IT BECAUSE IT IS BURNING AND LEAKING EVERY FLUID UNDER THE HOOD. BECAUSE OF ALL THE PROBLEMS IT SUCKS GAS AND I AM SPENDING MORE ON GAS PER MONTH THAN MY CAR PAYMENT. ALL THE BURNING FLUIDS EMITS FUMES THAT ARE WORSE THAN DRIVING BEHIND A DESIL SEMITRUCK.. I WILL NEVER BUY PONTIAC AGAIN AND AM LOOKING TO SELL AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!!!

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  Pontiac Grand Am V6 - 2004 Pontiac Grand AM
  By Mat - April 26 - 7:49 am

  This was my first newish car, bought in 2005 with 8k miles and kept until 2016 at 175k miles. Had the lower intake manifold problem, fixed. Had the "tick-tick" turn signal problem on and off for years then fixed. Ran well, other than those issues (all regular maintenance done) for 10 years then... Had the radiator fill tank fail, led to overheat. Lasted another year, then blown head gasket--possibly related to that one overheat. Car was fun to drive and good commuter, but mediocre quality.

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  The Little Engine That Could - 2000 Pontiac Sunfire
  By Scoop444 - April 25 - 7:53 am

  Bought a red GT in 2004 with 60K Miles on it. Beautiful car, monsoon radio really pumped, I also added and amp with 3 10 speakers. I am in the army and my hometown is about 320 miles away, so I went home a lot. I used to fly up and down i-95. This car accelerates fast and handles exceptionally well. But after 4 months of use, the engine gave out on me. I replaced the engine and she never drove quite the same. The CD player stopped working after 7 months as well as the LCD display for the Monsoon audio system. You cannot replace the radio head unit because Monsoon wiring techniques. Door handle fell off and I had too super glue it back on. Its a tank tho.

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  nice van - poor quality - 1999 Pontiac Montana
  By Randy P - April 25 - 4:03 am

  I have owned the Montana for about 4 years. I purchased it used with 40K miles. I like the ride, the comfort and the features. I do not like the poor quality and the continual repairs. Engine gasket leak, fuel gauge went out requiring replacement of whole fuel system at hundreds of dollars. Even a simple brake job is expensive because the rotors have to be replaced the first time because they were built with no room to turn them even once. Electrical problems with water leakage into lights caused the whole system to act up costing hundreds to diagnose and fix.... etc etc etc.

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  Dont Buy a Grand Am - 2002 Pontiac Grand AM
  By Gary Harris - April 22 - 9:50 pm

  I bought a 2002 Grand Am GT a couple of months ago and the passlock system started acting up. I have read a lot about this subject on message boards so I took my radio out to look at the yellow wire. Someone had soldered it to the black wire. I disconnected it from the black wire but left the yellow wire cut. Now the car wont even turn over let alone start. I wish I had never bought this car.

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  Hate it - 2001 Pontiac Grand AM
  By Unhappy - April 15 - 2:53 pm

  I hate this car! Horrible gas mileage (19-20 in town and 24 at best highway), uncomfortable on any trip longer than 15 minutes, and poor turning radius. My full size pickup gets better gas mileage! The cup holders are annoyingly small- I cant even fit a small size drink because the lid hits the heater controls. There may be a leak in the duct work because my feet always freeze in the winter as not enough warm air is blown out. Rear defroster just quit working. It has a lot of road noise and the front drivers side window leaks air. Looks sporty and cool, (especially the GT edition), but looks arent enough! I will never buy a Pontiac again.

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  2000 SE1 Electrical Problems - 2000 Pontiac Grand AM
  By FED-UP - April 3 - 10:00 am

  Never again! Ive had this car in the shop 9 times in almost 3 years. Mostly electrical problems. Many times the dealerships were very difficult to work with and wouldnt fix it on the first try. When the car is running, it is a great vehicle. I drive easy highway miles and hope to get at least 150,000 miles out of this car, but Im not holding my breath. Be warned!

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  Its okay - 2003 Pontiac Grand AM
  By nene - March 31 - 5:53 pm

  I have had my G.A. for almost a year. Not too crazy about it. Every time a hit a bump or tracks, I think it is going to fall apart (rough ride). The seals around the windshield, and the back window are peeling off. I have had my radio replaced twice, for excessive skipping. It still skips. There is a leak somewhere on the driver side, so, I am forever thinking the door is not closed all of the way. The front seat is really cramped when theres a rear facing car seat behind it. I dont recommend the G.A. as a family car. I do, however, like all of the cup holders and the storage space. I was also looking into buying the Taurus. The Taurus was really generic, compared to the G.A.