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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  Problems...problems...problems - 1998 Pontiac Trans Sport
  By Bbechtel - March 20 - 2:00 am

  Want a "nickel and dime you to death" vehicle? Buy one of these. Both headlight covers have fallen off, $180 per light, intake manifold gasket blown after 32,000 miles (part was on national backorder for months), $800.00 to fix. Driver side window disfunctional. Clock light in radio not working, had to replace entire radio, $350.00 to fix. No satisfaction from GM, should be a recall on the headlight covers, everone is having problems with them. Should be a recall on the intake gasket, none as of yet. Id never buy another one of these.

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  nice car - 1999 Pontiac Grand AM
  By pettkej - March 20 - 2:00 am

  My car has ran like a champ. I havent had any problems and looks sporty and decked out for shows... great car

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  It just wont die - 2002 Pontiac Montana
  By L Kampf - March 18 - 7:46 pm

  My Montana has 430000 K on it and and its still driving with out any problems, and its not like we took very good care of it. The mechanic bet us that if we dident take it for an oil change every 10000k it would die before 100000k, suffice to say he owes use 4 dinners now. All the interior instrumints are broken/ falling appart. The screne for the radio/ clock wont work. knobs on the rear fan speed fell off at 120000k but in the end people who buy vans really are not looking for anything that can get them and their cargo/ passengers from point A to point B, and this van is fantastic on it.

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  Brakes and Rotors - 2003 Pontiac Grand AM
  By Ben - March 17 - 2:00 am

  The quality of this car is highly unacceptable to me. Within the first 44,000 miles, this car has gone through 3 sets of rotors and three sets of brakes. GM considers rotors a "wear item." If you have not replaced your front rotors and your mileage is above 20,000 miles, prepare to replace them soon. This car performs great, is comfortable, and is very fun to drive. If GM could produce quality rotors, this would be the perfect car.

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  WS6 Ram Air - 2000 Pontiac Firebird
  By Ryan - March 15 - 7:23 pm

  This was the best Trans Am built to date. Too bad it only lasted two more years. It rides great fro a sports car, is comfortable on long trips, and performs close to the level of the more expensive Corvettes of the time. I bought this car used and the only repair I had to do was replacing a headlight motor. Amazing cars!

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  2001 Pontiac Grand AM SE1 - 2001 Pontiac Grand AM
  By pab - March 14 - 2:23 am

  Major repair history: *New front brake pads & new BF Goodrich Touring T/A tires @ 58,728 mi. *New fuel filter, belt, & PCV valve @ 77,070 *Replace hazard warning switch (GM Bulletin #03043) @ 86,276 *New front brake pads and rotors & new lower intake gasket set @ 91,659 *6-cyl tune-up, new Platinum Plugs, & new ignition wires @ 91,890 *Install new Interstate battery @ 94,257 *Remove and replace passenger-side mirror @ 96,354 *Ignition diagnosis, fuel system service, & replace blower resistor motor @ 104,686 *Replace fuel pressure regulator & fuel filer @ 109,308 *Replace electric window motor @ 114,177 *Replace multi-function switch @ 114,213 *Flush engine coolant @ 116,069 mi.

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  Nice Car - 2009 Pontiac Vibe
  By Brotzy - March 12 - 3:23 am

  Have had for 3 months. Has been good car except for two(2) tires they had to replace. Would not balance. Also has problem with speedometer. Speedometer on GT is 7% off because of the tires. There is not fix at this time and they say that it is within acceptable variance.

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  new 06 - 2006 Pontiac G6
  By Theresa - March 10 - 6:53 am

  I have only had my 2006 pontiac G6 for a month so still working out some things but its very comfortable and fun to drive rides well have not taken a trip yet. but around here getting 25.6 miles to gal which is nice. there are blind spots but really like back windows that go all the way down.

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  Love the car - 2000 Pontiac Grand Prix
  By tina - March 8 - 10:16 am

  Have had a lot of problems with expensive items. Thank goodness for extended warranty GMPP. Paid for it all. 3 climate control systems, 2 radio/cd players, 2 power window motors, an engine coolant seal leak, 1 heads up display, and another $1500 repair for some kind of sensor that kept shutting the engine down when it warmed up and we stopped. I love the car even with all of the repairs because like I said I didnt pay for them GMPP did. :) I think all of the repairs have totaled about $6000

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  Will be missed - 2005 Pontiac Aztek
  By ducttapeeng - March 7 - 8:00 pm

  Our Aztec died in a crash recently and it will be missed. The minivan based design allowed it to be a great snow ski hauler since skis fit under the seat. Although the spoiler did restrict rear vision - it also appeared to always block the headlights of the car behind us when they were tailgating. It got us everywhere we needed to go. The front seats of all cars are comfortable but the often forgotten rear seat [I guess most parents think it is the kids problem not theirs] was very comfortable for the Aztec. If the look can be ignored, the function is great. Note: some Aztecs inherited all the problems. Find a good one and keep it for life.