I am very unlucky, or Pontiac needs better electrical engineering

I must start with some personal Pontiac history to convey my conclusions. I have owned two Pontiac vehicles, both with reasonable initial reviews (not excellent, not terrible), the models being nine years apart.

I first bought a used Firebird, a 1993 way back in 1996. Clean! I loved that car, and while it took 800-mile trips often twice a year, it stood up well. It was the 6-cyl, good since the engine had the rep of being above average in reliability, unlike the 8s for the Firebird (or Camaro), which were seen as well below average (this the professional opinion found online back in 1997). The engine itself proved to be very reliable until the poor thing died while I was unemployed, in 2005. I had to relocate, it went unfixed, and is long gone. Why do I tell you this in a GP review? Read on.

I bought a used Grand Prix SE (standard) in 2005, and the operational problems of the Firebird and the GP are strikingly similar. The thing that haunts me is that the electrical issue I had with that F'bird plagues my GP, a 2002 bought in 2005 (with 63K mileage). As the Firebird, it was very clean inside and out so the mileage didn't concern me. But almost immediately the electrical problems started hassling me, and currently will require serious cash to fix them. This is a huge disappointment from such as clean vehicle.

My personal theory is that Pontiac, likely for more than a decade, has had serious electrical shortfalls in their engineering and building. My Firebird had failing electronics that I once blamed on the dudes who put in a car alarm and remote unlock system. But no such changes were made to my used GP - all factory - yet I suffered similar problems, in a car with half the mileage (about 65,000 at the outset of the problems).

The issues in the GP: failed power windows and start-up electronics, including moody A/C-fans and lights. Even my F'bird, with 150,000 miles on it, never had failing vents (the compressor died at the end, but that was a LONG TIME coming). I once blamed the failed power windows on alarm installers doing a bad wiring job on the F'bird. After this GP experience, I am swayed to believe it was not just a cheaply plastic interior, but a cheap-minded approach to wiring that has caused problems in both the sports car and the sports sedan I have owned.

I am fairly convinced that Pontiac is no good where electrical wiring and contacts, or window mechanical design and build, are concerned. I doubt I will buy from GM after this, because these two vehicles proved to me that Pontiac, thus its parent, are making costly shortcuts in important areas.

Electronics, for me, is a bit of a sore spot, after long-standing problems with the Firebird, and now the GP. On the GP another (to me, surprising) problem I dealt with was replacing the front wheel bearings before they reached 75,000 miles, which surprised me (and cost something like $700). This was confirmed by two repair shops, independently.

Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, and, well, shame on me but I have learned my lesson. Anybody have a nice, energetic, used Subaru or Toyota (preferably built in the USA) they want to sell? So long as the 4-cyl. isn't a slowpoke, I will drive it. No need to get up lots of hills in Florida, after all.