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:

• 

  Been nothing but a headache - 1999 Pontiac Sunfire
  By georgiamarie - September 7 - 12:40 am

  I love the exterior design. I have had a lot of complements. What a cute car it is. Nice looking car. I agree. I am not happy at all with the problems I have had. It started 9 months after I bought the car. The sun roof leaked. It had to be completely replaced. The battery post broke. The radio system has been replaced twice because it kept shorting out. The brakes were worn out long before they should have. At the same time the front struts had to be replaced. All of this happened within the first three years. The problems have just kept coming. I expect these things to happen as the car gets older not when the car is brand new! I think this car was made on a Monday or Friday!

• 

  edmunds doesnt do this car justice! - 2001 Pontiac Aztek
  By aztekfan - September 6 - 2:00 am

  I love this SRV. My teen daughters friends say its a "luxury vehicle". We sprung for all the amenities and it was worth it. I love the look on peoples faces when they see me driving it. It isnt ugly, just different! It also has saved me from many an accident due due the traction control. We have been everywhere with it, including the mountains in a snowstorm. We did have a problem with it (first year model!!) and it took forever to get the car back - I missed it so much! Were buying the 2004 next month!!!!!!!!!!!!

• 

  Blind as a bat!! - 2001 Pontiac Aztek
  By daicom - September 5 - 10:00 am

  Geesh!! whats up with the new azteks and their one color design? all of the 2002 have the same plasta clad as the 2001 models but poorly painted to mask the cladding, thats what happens when you paint over textured plastic, so to all of you 2002 owners, yes your pontiac aztek has plastic cladding under the less than desirable bumpy finish, oh minus a few lines, but its still there. No brain surgeon needed to figure that out.

• 

  1st month 3000 Kilometers - 2008 Pontiac Torrent
  By Rusty - September 3 - 10:06 am

  Happy with the purchase of my 2008 GXP over all. My wife tells me its good for grocery shopping. It’s comfortable to drive and has a good driving height for visibility. No problems driving in rain. Nice looking vehicle. Lots of room to carry all our stuff.

• 

  very nice car - 2008 Pontiac Grand Prix
  By ricktart - September 2 - 1:00 am

  This car is very nice the day after I bought the car I drove it from New Jersey to Florida and it drove great the whole way good power also not a whole lot but its got a lot of pep and will spin tires extremely easy had some problems with the molding under the windshield wipers but the dealer is taking care of that its got a semi sporty interior but a lot of plastic

• 

  1st Pontiac - 2008 Pontiac G8
  By gunter - September 1 - 8:30 am

  Traded an 04 Tahoe on the car and have been quite pleased to date. The v-6 has plenty of moxie with just the right amount of cool in the styling. The fuel mileage could be closer to 30+ I would think, being it has a 5 speed auto. The rest of the car is still so new to us that we are still figuring out items. At first blush the one thing that sticks out to me is the tilt wheel. Seems it could have been more akin the tilts in pick ups and suv type vehicle. Not much range of motion, especially when one is in egress mode. Getting in and out is a bit challenging. I was also a bit leery about buying a vehicle that had the (odd size) wheels. Heres hoping the tires wear well. Expensive.

• 

  Good but I had a BIG PROBLEM - 1997 Pontiac Bonneville
  By First bonne - August 30 - 10:00 am

  Great car! Rides/drives great. Good power & comfortable. At 75000 miles engine threw a rod. Replaced engine and still driving, had no choice since I just purchased it months ago. Still like the drive & ride. Engine developed antifreeze leak. Mechanic said he had seen more like this recently.

• 

  not so bad - 2003 Pontiac Vibe
  By Batman2327 - August 27 - 2:20 pm

  This car has been great so far. Bought it used and havent had any problems. Although the acceleration isnt great it does have a fairly consistent acceleration up to 100mph and what it lacks in acceleration it makes up for it with good handling, esecially for a tall vehicle. I can fit two booster seats and a car seat in the back with no problems.

• 

  GM came so close to getting this right - 2003 Pontiac Bonneville
  By SpiceUmUp - August 27 - 10:00 am

  The car is good-looking, very comfortable fro very long rides, has a large truck, gets good gas mileage, handles, and rides well. BUT: little parts break off, the latch on the trunk pass through broke the third time I used it, the paint on the radio buttons has worn off, the sun shade flops like a deflated balloon, the paint on the wheel covers is flaking, and the reception on the radio is AWFUL. How hard can it be to put a radio that can get decent AM reception in a car? My VW can get New York AM stations 45 miles from NYC that have long faded to static in the Pontiac. GM needs to start doing the little things well

• 

  1 year owned and traded in - 2006 Pontiac G6
  By joe4prez - August 26 - 5:03 pm

  We bought our 06 with 9000 miles on it last year. Over the past year of ownership, it has been in the shop 5 times: for several squeaks and rattles in the suspension (all struts and cv boots replaced); squeaky brakes; thudding in the steering; and what finally made us trade it in was the cv axle coming out of the transmission, which fortunately we were told didnt require rebuilding the transmission (this time...). Others we know have had Pontiac cars, and even the G6 without these problems. We were hoping to keep this car for at least 10 years, but with its shop record, we couldnt count on that. We went back to owning another Honda. I just think we got a Lemon.