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Could it have been a mistake, purchasing a rental car? I might be tempted to think so, if it weren’t for so many stories I’ve heard that are similar to mine, from (always former) Grand Am owners. For a month, I had been driving a rental car, after my previous car was stolen. Then the insurance check came, it was time to turn in the rental car, and I needed a ride home. Bad reason to buy a car, for sure. Live and learn. However, I’d had my heart set on buying a Grand Am for a couple of years, and the rental company made buying one of their cars easy. They had the cars available on a list, with the price and options, no hassle, no haggle. I was already familiar with Grand Ams, though not familiar enough, apparently.

My Grand Am was a 2 door LE, white with silver molding, dark blue cloth seats, and 37,000 miles on it. It was 2 years old at the time of purchase. The LE is more basic than the SE and comes with fewer standard features.

Standard Features
automatic transmission
power steering and brakes
front wheel drive
AM/FM radio
14” wheels
tinted glass

Engine
4 cylinder, 2.5 L engine
110 hp
maximum hp 5200 rpm

Options
power windows
air conditioning

Gas Mileage
Oh, in these days of high gas prices, can't ignore this one, can we? The 1990 Grand Am LE was to get 23 mpg in the city, and 30 mpg on the highway. My car never did that well, but it wasn't bad.

Comfort and Space
The 1990 Grand Am was surprisingly comfortable, considering that it was a 2 door coupe. There is plenty of leg room in the front, and enough space in the back to comfortably fit 2 child car seats (with children), and room to spare. The seats themselves were comfortable, and remained that way the entire time I owned the car, through approximately 55,000 miles, which included many long road trips. The trunk is 13.1 cubic feet in area.

This appeared to be a car made for only one person in the front seat, and that would have to be the driver, I suppose. There was one cup holder in between the front bucket seats, and the control for the power windows was just behind the cup holder. Yes. . .the control for both windows, right there in the center. Behind the cup holder was a console with storage.

Upon purchasing the 1990 Grand Am, I immediately replaced the AM/FM radio and all speakers, so I can’t attest to the quality or durability of that equipment.

Driving the Grand Am
The engine was a little loud and raspy, but it had a lot of power compared to other 4 cylinders I've driven. The suspension wasn't very good, as I felt rather jarred around when driving this car, even before the struts went out. It wasn't much better after they were replaced. Handling was good, easy to maneuver in the city or on the highway, and in parking lots.

And now the fun part of car ownership. . .

The Problems. . .beyond normal maintenance

~ Peeling, chipping, and bubbling exterior paint
I later discovered this was a common problem for GM vehicles around this time. Mine had a spot of paint peeling off under the headlight when I bought it, and I naively thought it was some kind of fluke, but it got worse over the years, peeling off the doors, under head and tail lights, and off of the trunk.

~ Excessive rusting around door edges, sides, trunk edges, and wheel wells
This was an obvious problem within the first 50,000 miles.

~ Alternator
I replaced 2 on this car.

~ Exhaust
The exhaust pipe rusted a small hole in it that I lived with for awhile, muffler was rusting badly. . .when the catalytic converter fell off, I replaced the whole shebang.

~ Radiator
Was almost completely rusted out by 80,000 miles.

~ Cracked cv boot
Had to replace the joint, too.

~ Driver’s door handle
On the interior, broke off from the door.

~ Console storage lid
Hinge broke, never latched right afterwards.

~ Leaky passenger side window (door?)
Carpet would be wet after a heavy rain.

~ Outside molding, driver’s door
Blew off in the wind along a highway, one fine day.

~ Mysterious ailment
Never diagnosed, and was the Grand Am’s demise. It would run roughly after a short drive, then stall out when the brakes were applied. After sitting for between 5 minutes and an hour, the car would start back up again, and run well enough to barely putt-putt home. I had 2 mechanics from a reputable shop, as well as a knowledgeable friend look at it, and no one could figure out what was wrong with the car.

I don't know how often it is considered reasonable to replace many of these things on a vehicle. All I know is that it had 92,000 miles on it when I finally gave up, and I've seen many cars go much farther than that, and look better while doing it.

Overall
This was a fun car to drive, when it worked properly, and very nice to look at. . .especially when you consider that this car was produced at the tail end of the "box" car era. However, the beauty of the car was marred considerably by the peeling paint, rust, and missing molding. Interior quality was not much better. It was reliable for the first year I owned it and drove great in snow. But when things start to go on the Grand Am, get rid of the car. . .fast! It will nickel and dime you to death. Most of the time that I owned this car, it sat in the back yard because it needed repairs that I wasn't able to have done. And I knew that when I did get them done, there would be some other semi-major problem just ahead. After I parked it the last time, it wouldn't even start. Eventually, the car was ticketed and towed off. Just as well, I suppose, as I would have felt too guilty about selling it to anybody.

Pontiac's slogan, "We build excitement". . .do they still use that one? Well, they did when they produced the 1990 Grand Am. And sure, it is pretty exciting when your car breaks down in the middle of a busy, 4 lane street, and you have to push all 2,502 pounds of it to the side of the road. Not the kind of excitement I was looking for!