I am a disabled mother with 4 children and not much of an income(fighting to get social security). I had a small settlement and needed a new car. I came across this nice 2004 Pontiac Grand AM. The guy said he had rebuilt everything on this motor from the bottom up because it had overheated. The engine was spotless and he had all the receipts. I paid $4,200.00 plus another $300.something for registration on this PIECE OF SH*T!!!!!!!! I paid $242.00 for a scan tool just in case.It has shown a misfire on #6 constantly. I have had problems with the system security relay sensor not allowing my car to start, I have to get out and start the car with a screw driver almost every time I shut the car off.The starter now needs to be replaced. I have replaced the thermostat 3 times now. Costing me antifreeze each time. Now the PIECE OF SH*T keeps leaking coolant and the leak is nowhere to be found, not a drop ANYWHERE it is just gone. I kept replacing the DEX COOL until now when the car instantly overheats when I just start it. Turning the heater on does not help at all. I just paid about $100.00 for the UPPER AND LOWER MANIFOLD GASKET SET bought new oil and oil filter. Well, unfortunately that DID NOT fix the overheating problem. There is still moisture in the head and it is still going hot and cold on both the temperature gauge and heater. Now I am told there must be a CRACKED HEAD OR 2!!!!!! This will not be a cheap fix. Just like everyone else here I have a LEMON for a car and it is parked here and I CAN NOT DRIVE IT!!!!! I do not have the money to fix it so it will sit. I think there should be a CLASS ACTION LAW SUIT OR GM SHOULD BE LIABLE FOR THE DEFECTIVE MOTOR IN THESE CARS!!!!!! Please contact me if anyone knows of a CLASS ACTION SUIT OR ANY OTHER ACTION I CAN JOIN AGAINST GM. Good luck with your P.O.S. If your reading these you have a manifold gasket that needs to be replace and more than likely a head or both to replace. :'(

Update from Jan 26, 2014: THERE IS OR WAS A CLASS ACTION REGARDING THIS PROBLEM HERE IS A LINK I FOUND :http://www.topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/lawsuit-news/1105-gm-to-finish-paying-dex-cool-class-action-settlements/

The Pontiac Grand Am could be summed up as a rolling turd, the car's a piece of s**t. While I am understanding that this car does have a decent amount of millage on it, I also know that friends of mine who drive non-GM cars don't run into as many problems with their high millage cars. Nonetheless, here is what I have been experiencing since two summers ago. It was nearing the end of the summer of 2011 when Michigan days began to get colder in the mornings, so I would find myself turning on the heat for morning commutes to school. I thought I was going crazy when I noticed that the engine one morning was fully warmed, and I wasn't getting any heat. This problem came and went for a while, until there was no heat all of the time. Since the car was still my mother's, I never cared since I didn't have to deal with it all of the time. Not until I headed off for college in Ohio and she got a new car and handed the heatless Grand Am down to me. While she dealt with no heat, I couldn't. Its hard to drive around a full car when your windows fog up in the middle of an Ohio winter, and theres no heat to de-fog them. This past December, I took the car to a local Vavoline (in Michigan) for a coolant flush (thinking this would be the solution). When they flushed my coolant it was a struggle and a process since the technician said my Dexcool (GM's coolant brand) coolant had turned to jelly. Within an hour of re-flushing over and over, my cars cooling system was cleaned and filled with fresh coolant. My heat worked and everything was good. Haha, but like any problem with the Grand Am, the solution is like covering a leaky pipe with duct tape, eventually it will leak again, and be even worse. As of a couple days ago, I went to use my heat again and noticed it was not hot until the engine was at full operating temperature and when the car had been driven for more than 20 minutes. The coolant reservoir is empty by the way. So here we go again, time to get another flush and refill....The problem is that the 3.1 and 3.4 liter (my car has the 3.4L) V6's produced by our good friend GM have this little (major) problem with the gasket seal on the intake manifold. So now after blowing $600 on a new fuel pump less than a month ago, I must replace this small, flimsy, rubber, hard to access, expensive to replace gasket. Thanks GM, because when I buy my next car, it will surly not be one from any of your brands.

Car ran fine except on cold mornings (would experience high rpm start ups, shaking, jerking that I attributed to not letting the car warm up enough. Ran fine once it was heated), took it in for an oil change and was told that coolant was mixing with my oil. Got the car diagnosed, and was told it my manifold intake gaskets were bad. Fixed them. Then, not even a month later (after still having the same symptoms, but now more frequently) took it back in, and they told me that one of my engine coils went out so my car wasn't burning of excess gas. Replaces the coil for $132. Left the car in overnight so they could do cold start up diagnostics after experiencing the same issues on start up immediately after replacing the coil. Got a message the next day saying it was a blown head gasket and would cost around 1700 to replace.

ok what hell!!! Im so angry! ok heres my gm story! I got a 2000 chevy mailbu and it ran ok for a while. I wasn't to upset because I got it used and it had a lot of miles on it. On my way home form work with my kids in the car it over heated :( so I took it in and I was told it's a intake manifold gasket leak and its very common in these types of motors. So i fixed it and later decided to get rid of my problem and get a new car. Currently im a single mom and a student who works full time so a new car to me would still be a pre owned. I found a pontiac grand am. It drove great and was a good car just up until recently. Wow deja vu! the same exact situation happened again with me and my kids! Guess what the problem is? any one? any one? drum role please!!! Yup a intake manifold gasket! :( I can understand this car being a little older but the same exact probelm twice?? sounds fishy to me! Im going to trade my car in soon and I WILL NEVER BUY A GM AGAIN!!