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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  1998 Pontiac Trans Sport - 1998 Pontiac Trans Sport
  By Tiny_Bambi - December 11 - 7:23 am

  Major repairs, at 37,590 ml replaced alternator and battery. At 65,494 ml replaced defective water pump. At 73,066 ml replaced upper and lower manifold gasket along with thermostat due to damage created from dexicool that I no longer use. This vehicle will not accommodate a wheelchair lift to assist with transporting my son due to the slider doors on this year being too narrow. Was originally told when buying it that it would accommodate the lift system. (not!) my power windows do not work, running lights burn out and sockets are like crumbling, interior lights dysfunctional, dont even use auto slider door, half the time it does not work, allot of rattling from headlamps and running lights.

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  The Worst Car Ever! - 1998 Pontiac Grand AM
  By GrandAmSux! - November 16 - 10:00 am

  I have nothing but problems since I have owned this car. Nothing too major but some quality issues. Drivers windows will roll down but not up, sunroof motor went bad, the brakes on this car are terrible! I will be driving down the road and it will just quit, like it is out of gas. Cannot find the problem. This will be the last domestic manufactured car I will buy. Also own a 97 Honda CRV and at 75,000 miles it drives and runs like a new car. The pontiac was worn out before 50,000!!

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  Looks dont count - 2001 Pontiac Grand AM
  By shannon - November 11 - 5:46 am

  I bought this car without doing a lot of research first, mistake ! I wanted it because of the sporty look. It has been one headache after another.I have had to replace the water pump, the brakes multiple times, the traction system is junk. Little things like heater knobs have broken off, heat only works on high, both rearview mirrors have broken off for no reason and the turn signal switch went bad. My moms full size truck gets better gas mileage! I am doing a lot of research for my next car!

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  No wonder Pontiac is struggling - 2000 Pontiac Grand AM
  By kannuc - November 4 - 2:00 am

  In the last year weve had 3 brake failures, plus many other mechanical problems

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  Stuff that shouldnt break does - 2003 Pontiac Sunfire
  By D Hyde - October 26 - 4:10 pm

  This car is poorly built. The drivetrain so far (50K miles) is fine, but just about everything else has been a disaster. After just a year, both power window motors broke, which cost >$800 to fix. The original brake shoes wore out after only 10K miles, yet the 2nd pair is still fine after 40K. On the roof the clear coat is bubbling and peeling, which started when the car was only 4 years old. The radio sometimes does not turn on when the car does. The whole body is tweaked, so sometimes the doors wont close. Several wheels and the back axle are bent. The suspension is way too soft so the weight distribution is impossible to manage, causing poor handling. Mine doesnt have anti-lock brakes..

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  Gasket Problems - 2002 Pontiac Montana
  By Bourgo - October 18 - 2:00 am

  Have had many troubles with this vehicle. It only has 41k and we have replaced intake gasket and now the head gasket needs replacing at $822 plus $48 for the diagnostic. The inside is very noise and lots of interior plastic cracking nosies. The headlight range is very poor and the exterior plastic for two-tone effect is coming apart. However, this is a good highway vehicle for long trips, but engine problems at 41k is rather upsetting.

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  Car - 2004 Pontiac Sunfire
  By Heather - October 7 - 2:20 am

  I bought this car new and have already had problems with the engine. They had to replace the engine at 10,000, a factory defect. I have not been happy with this vehicle from the start and wanted to return it, but they would not. Once a lemon always a lemon, now I have 54,000 km on it and one of the bearing is totally disintegrated. Now Gm is wondering why, purpose because it was a lemon from the beginning. I am not carless, they do not give courtesy cars to powertrain warranty customers and they seem to be taking there sweet time. I put in several complaints about this car in the past and got no where. Im sure they just thought I was a complainer. HATE this car,never will buy again

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  If you have one of these, sell it! - 2004 Pontiac Sunfire
  By ahnalia - August 26 - 12:36 pm

  First the ICP had to be replaced, then the transmission started acting up, then the key wouldnt come out of the ignition, but the final straw is the fact at a mere 25 mile per hour front end collsion, the car I hit was fine with very little damage.. my sunfire on the otherhand, was completely and utterly destroyed. The airbags did deploy, and no one was seriously hurt, but the car itself, I am beyond words of how utterly destroyed the car is. Total loss, engine is nearly inside the dashboard, window shattered, hood is almost up to the windshield. Flimsy design and completely unsafe IMO. If you own one of these, sell it NOW! You may be saving a life! I will NEVER buy another GM car-ever!

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  RIPPED OFF!!!! - 1998 Pontiac Grand AM
  By raecheal - August 25 - 10:00 am

  I love the body style of the car well pretty much everything about the car would have been great but unfourtantly I am a female and they figured that they could pretty much scew me over. But I have also learned that Pontiac vehicles not just Grand Am vechicles are notorious for engine problems if they are the 3400 series engines so my suggestion would be not to by a car with a 3400 series engine make sure you have a 3800. They are nice cars but you just have to get a good one I guess. Or maybe the manufactures just make them look nice. But that is my opinion.

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  Dont even think about getting one! - 2005 Pontiac Vibe
  By JAKE - August 5 - 12:16 pm

  The car is just plain poorly made. Great at the dealership and first 1,000 miles. After that, its all a sad story. The car changed and the interior started to fall apart. There is a leak that wont go away and the seat now feels like a bag of potatos! I am VERY disappointed in this GM offering and now see why the car was so cheap. Any manufacturer that offers "employee pricing" is in deep trouble. I dislike this car so much, I took it back and paid a small fortune to get out of it and into another car. Do yourself a favor, dont even bother with this vehicle.