60,000 miles on a 2002 Grand Am-Is this a good car?

Question

I am thinking about buying a 2002 Pontiac Grand Am with 60,000 miles for $7000. Is this a good idea? Are they good cars? I have a family (husband and 2 kids) so I want something reliable. Thanks a bunch!

Answer 1

Yes, for daily driving a Grand AM is great. Just with any other used car run your own inspection/basic tune-up. Make sure the engine is in good working condition. Might want to consider switching to synthetic engine oil. (Mobile1 Synthetic Extended Performance - Works great!). If you're into doing service on the transmission as well. You can do a transmission filter change (do not flush), however when you replace the fluid in the transmission, you can replace that as well with synthetic. (Royal Purple MAX ATF) I use this on my grand am, the automatic shifts are smooth and with it being synthetic, there is less to worry about wear and tear on the transmission.

With a grand am you just have to take care of it with frequent or rather normal tune-ups/oil changes and check ups and it'll be an enjoyable car

As goes for the interior, because it is mainly plastic... sun damage could be a factor. Look for pieces cracked or warped.

Automatic windows might be the biggest downfall for interior, Like most these days they are built with plastic clips that hold inside, any hard resistance on a window going up may break the plastic inside as well a door being slammed to hard (my own experience)

As others have said, have a Carfax report done or any other available history looked upon.

Price for $7000 seems a little high, lowest personally I would try to get it would be $5500-$6000. Find repairable flaws haha!

Any other questions, you can refer to automotiveforums.com - pontiac grand am section. Everyone there is more than happy to answer any questions that you might have.

Answer 2

Grand Am,s are excellent family cars and I wouldn't be to concerned about the mileage it sounds right for the age of the car. The average number of miles a car recieves a year according to the local dealerships is about 15,000 a year so being a four year old car 60,000 is right on the money. As far as the price I agree with the others, offer between 5500 and 6000 and see what you can do. Good luck and I hope this helped.

Answer 3

It depends, what those 60,000 miles were. Stop light to stop light drag racing? Highway miles with the pedal to the floor? Or an old lady futzing around in town doing her grocery shopping?

The price sounds high... each of those scenarios has things to look for... ie: the old lady futzing around may not have ever really opened the car up, and leads to carbon build-up, sticky O2 sensors, etc... though the car may look immaculate... The stop light to stop light would be really hard on the transmission, look for slipping when it changes gears, or racing RPMS... Highway miles provided it had the required maintenance done to it for oil changes is oddly your best bet...

Look for signs of rust on the under belly, have a look at oil levels, fluid levels etc, to make sure they were topped up, this shows someone who was attempting to maintain the vehicle... Play in the steering column, check the breaks, etc...

Alright, a bit of googling and going through a bunch of reviews the common complaints...

The power windows tend to fail, where the window falls of the track, or the driver side window power motor fails to operate.

The front wheel bearings are a huge issue around 10,000+ miles as well as the control arm bushings, this will be easy to spot as you'll hear grinding noises from the front end, though they may be feint... This is a problem listed quite regularily as a potential for failing multiple times in a single year.

The brakes in general are reported as having 'huge' issues including the rotors, pads, etc, also being listed as potentials for multiple repairs in a single year.

Internal electrical issues with the dashboard guages, signal relays failing, and the interior dome lights are not working, blown fuses, and other issues with power seats, etc. Typical complaints...

Oil leaks... there are a number of complaints with leaky gaskets.... Purported issues with the intake manifold gasket melting, and other issues coupled back to engine failure.

Multiple complaints with the CD player trashing CD's, scratching them, and failing to eject the CD's... solution, upgrade to a non-stock... Also the light on the radio dash fails.

Also, the cruise control is apparently flakey... occasionally causes racing of the engine, and uncontrolled acceleration. Not certain on the reliability of this one.

Cold weather firing problems...

In general, this is not a tell-tale sign of a lemon, but these are things you know are known problems with the vehicle so you can ask about them, or inspect them personally if you're looking at the vehicle. In general I don't have a lot of respect for north american made vehicles, given a chance I'd drive imports... however... it doesn't sound like this vehicle will have a lot of life left in it.

Problems with the vehicle for first service were beginning as early as 10,000 miles with the brakes, 30,000 miles with the intake, and 60,000 miles is when everything on a whole could be reported to be potentially present. Repairs are apparently not cheap on this vehicle as it can be considered a 'sport' vehicle.

Don't be fooled by the classy look of the car... Also, you'll want to find the 4-door version for the the family, not sure if this is automatic, or standard, and the trunk space is purportedly quite large, has decent fuel mileage, and could be alright. This isn't to say that all cars don't have issues, just be aware of the potentials with this one.

In general this is more suited for a college student than a reliable family class vehicle, it would seem just not built to last the rigors of family abuse. Blue book value has it listed around $6900. So make sure it's flawless if you hazard spending the $7000.

Answer 4

Just depending on if the car was ragged out in those 60,000 miles and it really also would help to know if they were highway/interstate miles. If they are then YES that is a very reasonable price!

Answer 5

that sounds good to me. i had a brand new '99 grand am GT that served me well. they are reliable cars and i never had any trouble with mine even though i rode it hard sometimes.
check to see if there's any warranty of course, and ask for a carfax report, or get one yourself. check the manual and see if the original owner wrote down the times of scheduled maintenance and saved any receipts from parts they might have bought.

Answer 6

Sounds like a decent price and newer cars seem to last longer without as many problems. They are decent cars my dad has one and has had it for 10 years. I'd try to talk them down on the price for your own benefit.