The contact owns a 2004 Pontiac Grand Am. While driving 55 mph, the vehicle began to accelerate on its own. The contact exited the interstate and attempted to brake as the transmission made an abnormally loud sound. The contact pulled into a fuel station, raised the hood, and observed smoke coming from the engine. The vehicle was unable to be driven. The contact waited a while and then drove home with the brake pedal down to the floorboard. The contact's husband was a mechanic and diagnosed the vehicle, but no failure code was found. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 120,000.

- Shapeppton, PA, USA

While driving down the interstate, after a hard rain, I came over a hill and noticed that traffic had stopped due to an accident ahead. I hit the brakes and noticed that my speed was not impeding as normal.I didn't want to collide with the vehicle ahead of me in my lane which was completely stopped about 40 yards ahead, so, I tried to go to the left. I figured that if I didn't stop in that distance I 'd stop in 5 or 10 more feet without colliding with the vehicle ahead. The inside shoulder was not wide enough to safely harbor both front wheels of my car and my left front wheel skidded off the shoulder causing the entire rear end to skid off the interstate while the front axle remained on the shoulder. Luckily the ravine was shallow and I was able to get the entire car off the shoulder into the ravine and was able to drive to the other side of the ravine, which had no incline and get back on the road albeit in the opposite direction. I thought I needed brakes so I had them checked out.I was told that the brakes were in good shape. The rear were nearly brand new and the front had quite a bit of wear. I found out later that the rear brakes were not self adjusting. The emergency brake had to be deployed to adjust the rear pads. This is clearly a defect in engineering design or construction. This is my fourth car and I've never had to use the emergency brakes on either vehicle unless I parked on an incline. Since then I noticed the front of the car around the windshield seems to have been repaired because part of the trim was left off. I bought this car from enterprise rentals and should have been told if it had extensive or any body work.

- Memphis, TN, USA

Problem: The steel brakes line going to the front and back ruptured at the same time during what was to be an emergency stop. They were on top of the ABS module and were heavily rusted. Hence, there was no braking except by pulling the emergency brake when I was cutoff by another car and had to jump the curb to avoid a collusion. Luckily no damage to me or the car, except two ruptured brake lines. I was in Chicago on city streets in the diversey sheridan road area. I had the damaged area replaced and traded in the car....unsafe. These lines should have been coated with some type of rust preventative compound.

- Chicago, IL, USA

Driving my 2004 Pontiac Grand Am home form grocery shopping and tried to get into left hand turn only lane, but car wouldn`T slow down and I didn`T want to rear end the person ahead as there was a lot of traffic that day so I veered to the right to get into a parking lot to pull my emergency brakes, but was broad sided. I have over $2,300 worth of damage to my car and my mechanic said it is the ignition switch on the 2004 Pontiac Grand Am, and there should have been a full replacement of that when the recall was done regarding the ignition. All that was done for me was a plastic insert was adhered to my ignition key. GM needs to recall these cars and replace the ignition switches. They also owe me a lot in repairs done to my car.

- Fulton, NY, USA

Ignition key caused engine to turn off while car was in motion. Power steering and power brakes were disabled. I still own the vehicle and this has been ongoing ever since I purchased the car. No crash has ever occured because there is still some minimal functionality to the brakes and steering when the key shuts off. However, my wife has driven my car and luckily hasn't had this experience. I'm afraid that she would lack the body strength necessary to handle the steering and brakes. At times, I have been able to shift the transmission into neutral and restart with the car still in motion, but it was very difficult to maneuver and come to a stop while trying to restart at the same time. Please advise.

- Richmond, RI, USA

The contact owns a 2004 Pontiac Grand Am. The contact stated that while he inspected the vehicle, he found that the steel brake lines were corroded and the vehicle emitted a loud noise from the engine floorboard area. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The VIN was not available. The failure and current mileage was 119,000.

- Levittown , NY, USA

While driving in city traffic, I depressed the clutch to change gears and the clutch was soft and would not engage. Upon inspecting the engine, there was no fluid in the reservoir for the clutch. I added fluid, but it ran right out. After taking it to a repair shop, I was informed that the master cylinder where the company that manufactured it had stamped their imprint had cracked causing the failure. The master and slave cylinder were replaced costing $$$$.

- Maurice, LA, USA