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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  Repairs - 1997 Pontiac Bonneville
  By BDBrown - May 15 - 2:00 am

  Like the vechicle. bought used with relatively low miles. At this time 67000. Recent repairs, however, have included water pump, brakes, and oil pan leak. Troublesome brake problem is re-occuring and apparently difficult for mechanics to solve.... front brakes grab at slow speed... not always, but wish we could get is solved. Overall we like the car and performance.

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  Try It - 2003 Pontiac Aztek
  By Mjh - May 15 - 2:00 am

  If you want a cookie cutter run of the mill SUV buy a Ford, Chevy, Mazda, Honda, etc,etc. If you want something different, that does everything well, then buy an Aztek. Weve had ours about 3 weeks and are completely satisfied with it. The more we drive it the more we like. For the price, features, and all around vehicle satifaction, give the Aztek a try.

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  Unhappy at this point - 2002 Pontiac Bonneville
  By spytfyre13 - May 14 - 10:06 pm

  My father bought this car and unfortunately he died 5 months after. I put car on the road 5 months later at 18,000 some miles in mar 05. Couple months later inside dome lights stopped working and battery died. Took it to dealer told them I thought there were electrical problems they said it was just a fuse, replaced battery. 3 months later inside dome lights quit working again. Awhile after that, driver side rear window just fell down one day. Passenger side front and rear power switches stopped working, heated seats stopped working and keyless entry alarm. Now at 69,946 miles car has bad vibration in front end and gas pedal at high speeds usually 55 mph and up. Just replaced wheel bearing and helped

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  Love it , but needs better fuel economy - 2005 Pontiac GTO
  By Big Red - May 14 - 6:46 am

  The GTO has more power than Ill ever need, and with a partial sports appearence package this one beautiful auto. Im 99% in love with the GTO with the 1% being poor gas mileage. The EPA rates it at 17 city and 25 highway, but Ive been averaging 11 all-around. I have a 6 speed and have driving very moderately as I am still breaking the engine.

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  Liking Montana - 2004 Pontiac Montana
  By clarkb - May 13 - 4:10 am

  I am pretty happy with this van. The DVD package is great. It drives reasonably well. It has good low-end torque, and moves away well from a stop light. It could use more passing power. Fuel Economy is a bit poor, but few minivans are much better. The SV6 has addressed much of this. After driving several vans, incl. the Odessy, Sienna, Freestar, and Town and Country, it is more responsive and refined than the other American entries. Unfortunately, it is worlds behind the Sienna and Odessy. With rebates, it was also $10K less, which more than compensates.

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  I got good value for my $$ - 1999 Pontiac Sunfire
  By AZ - May 12 - 9:36 am

  I got my 99 red Sunfire 2 door 2.2 auto for $11000 in 2001. I LOVED my little red coupe. It has really served me well. Ive had almost no mechanical problems for the first 4 years I owned it. I just did regular maintenance and oil changes, brakes replaced at about 70,000 km, etc.. My only major problems with it have been in the past year. I blew out my head gasket at 100,000 km. Paid nearly $1000 to get a new head gasket & water pump. Ive been told by many mechanics that the Sunfires are notorious for head gasket problems! So watch your anti freeze levels and dont let it over heat as that gasket has very low tolerance. I also got the wiring recall work done at a GM dealership for free

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  Very Good SUV - 2006 Pontiac Torrent
  By JJSE - May 11 - 4:10 pm

  Have had the car for 3+ years. No reliability issues. Still driving on the original tires, brakes and wheel bearings. Just drove from Denver to St Louis with ave mileage of 24-25 mpg. Very good in snow. Peppy around town but not as much fun to drive as my Honda Accord. Love the interior room and cargo capacity. Can haul more than a Jeep Commander.

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  Trans Am - 2002 Pontiac Firebird
  By Geo1 - May 10 - 2:00 am

  This is one of the best cars Ive driven for the money. Love to drive it!

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  Wouldnt Buy Another One - 1999 Pontiac Grand AM
  By cgaspard100 - May 10 - 2:00 am

  I bought my 1999 Grand Am GT Sedan brand-new from the dealer and had nothing but trouble from the start. First the entire break system went out, not once but multiple times within the first year. In the second year, the head gasket had to be replaced (and yes, I mainted my car religiously). The radiator had problems for the first couple of years and had to be replaced. The Alternator went out 4 times in year 3 of ownership. The wind noise in this vehicle is TERRIBLE. This car performs very poorly on wet roads. This is a beautiful car; I love its style and look. Its fun to drive. But if youre looking for dependability, look elsewhere.

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  grand prix very nice - 2000 Pontiac Grand Prix
  By tygable - May 9 - 5:00 pm

  bought car used in march 2005 privately for a very good price. nice all around car very comfortable and beautiful styling car has 79,000 miles with 3.1 v6 runs great and starts all the time. looking forward to many years of service. Kudos Pontiac.