I had a 2004 Impala SS which was pretty much the same car with the same supercharged 3.8 engine. Drove it for 10 years and loved it. Only complaint I ever had with that engine was with whatever moron engineer decided to route the engine coolant through the belt tensioner using a pair of plastic elbows. I must have replaced those damn things five times before Dorman (bless them) came out with machined aluminium replacements.
My brother had a Grand-Am from that generation. It must have been the same engineer who put in the plastic pieces that held up its windows. In the five years he had that car, he had to replace those at least four times. We stopped rolling the windows up and down after the last time. Nice little car with a great sound system, otherwise.
I love how the same car can be "underpowered" and "quick as hell" to different people. I had a 2nd gen TL (3.2L V6) with about the same hp, and it was plenty of hp for a daily IMO. Was never left thinking, "If only I had more horsepower."
They should have never gotten rid of Pontiac. They should've given Buick the axe instead. Who gives a shit about Buick? Seriously? It's like a Cadillac without any style. Not that Cadillac is that relevant anymore either...
I always love Pontiac even their stupid minivan that look like a space shuttle was kind of cool my Grandpa bought one. I really hope they bring Pontiac back as like an ultra badass electric vehicle performance division. I mean who doesn't want an all electric smoking and the bandit trans am successor?
There is likely a case to be made that while Pontiac can no longer be the GM Performance division, that is now turning into Corvette. By making Corvette a sub brand, it may end up being what Pontiac was/should have been.
Buick has some awesome cars from back in the day as well, should have kept all the divisions and kept them more separated than the homogenous mix they became.
I love them. I had a 00 GTP Daytona edition with some mods. The trans in them loves to let go, but you couldn't kill the motor and they responded to turbos very well.
I've had a couple. A 98 GT that died at around 360k km. Bought at 55k km. Routine maintenance. Replaced an alternator, wheel bearing and had the upper and lower intake manifold gaskets done, which is very common for the 3800. Plastic gaskets were replaced with metal. Otherwise a bullet proof motor as evidenced by the numerous awards it won over the years. Currently driving an 02 GTP as my winter car, however the body is rusting away. Again very little in maintenance costs over the years. Did the upper and lower intake gaskets myself this time, as well as the coolant elbows. At one point, the 98 was my winter vehicle and the 02 was the summer car.
Idk what GTP means but my buddy traded some yugioh cards for a regular Pontiac Grand Prix with almost 300,000 miles and we are stoked to do 24 Hours of LeMons with it.
Bought one brand new in 97… i didn’t hate it but generally average. Lots of orange lights inside, decent HUD for the time. Engine was underpowered even with supercharger but are pretty damned reliable. I traded it in 2 years later on a 98 Supra... big upgrade lol.
They were ok. Not great, not terrible. Had a lot of minor reliability issues. Nothing unusual for the time though. A friend of mine had one. It lived through every jump we took it on. So did we, can't complain.
Tacky, garish styling, typical of pre-mortem Pontiac. Throughout the 2000s, Pontiac had one good looking car: the Solstice. That’s it. The rest were trash.
I liked the concept, I didn't like how a supercharged 3.8L v6 only put out 220-225 HP. I was looking at one of these as a first car. Couldn't get over how the 02 BMW 530i made the same power out of a NA 3.0L inline 6. Bought the BMW.
2002 GTP makes 240hp, but more importantly, makes 280 lb/ft of torque. An 02 530i might make nearly the same hp (225), but nowhere near the same torque (215 lb/ft). The biggest thing holding the GTP back other than the FWD was the crap transmission.
I grew up in a country where we didn't officially get Pontiacs, and I thought these were the coolest when they were new. So pumped when we got one (four door) as a rental on a trip to the US.
Bought one that had a rod knock at a bar for 100$ once. Found and installed a 700$ used engine (craigslist), drove for six months and sold for a few thousand. Good car. Solid ownership experience.
I had a 2000 4-dr GT and a 2002 2-dr GTP. Loved both, but that GTP was a blast for a cheap car. The engine and transmission were solid, but the body and everything else fell apart around it.
Loved them along with the 1999+ Grand AM GT. I wanted a Grand AM so badly as a teenager but they were discontinued. It’s okay though as I ended up getting something else I loved but Pontiac was on fire back then.
Buddy had one years ago and liked it. He fucked it up when he put a bigger turbo on it though. It is an FWD car and any more power than it has leads to really bad torque steer.
Grew up in Lansing Michigan in the early 00’s. These were everywhere. Cheap, great looking, fairly reliable and anyone could work on them around town. Parts were everywhere. Literally 3 people in my family had them, girlfriend at the time and her family had them. When we had LAN parties back then the driveway looking like a Pontiac dealership.
I had one. I absolutely adored it. Of all the cars I’ve owned, it is still #1 on my list. I’ve had three Grand Prixs total. I had a 97 GTP, an 05 GT, and I have currently an 05 GTP. The 97-03 was much better than the 04+ in my opinion. The only issue I have with the 97-03 is the cupholders. They are absolute trash and will most likely be broken. I just took water bottles with me instead of drinks in cups. Worth the investment, in my opinion, if you can find a clean example.
Might want to check the brakes. That has 4 wheel disc and the rear caliper slides are notorious for seizing up. There was a recall on this. You don't want to be driving with only front brakes. There was also an issue with the fuel rail, injection issue.
I have a soft spot for these. As long as it's the 3.8 you're good. Expect normal GM things, though, like shit plastics and component failure that will be cheap to fix, but they'll still go wrong fairly often
I had one back in the day. Was bought for my first car after graduating highschool. I dumped a bunch of money into it when I was in college, pulley, fmic, built trans. Was my favorite car, up until this day and I got rid of that car like 14 years ago.
My high school gf had a 97 or 98 that she inherited from her Grandfather. Transmission started to go out and would slip between gears and then bang in to place after a few seconds. Eventually it went out completely about the same time it blew a head gasket and started overheating.
My dad bought a 98 new. I got to drive it a bit. Definitely fun to drive. It had a ton of torque steer though. Only time to floor it was when your wheels were straight. Side view mirrors make a ton of wind noise Front seats were uncomfortable on long drives. That's why he got rid of it. Had it less than a year. He picked up a 98 e320 and still rocking it to this day.
That engine deserved a better transmission than the GM 4-speed.
There are a lot of products from this era that had the potential to be great, and were ruined by garbage automatics.
The 4l60e is one the most popular transmissions ever built and is massively customizeable... beefing one up right now :)
Worked at a dealership when these were new. Loved the steering and the boost gauge in the center if the dash. Cool car for its day
I had a 2004 Impala SS which was pretty much the same car with the same supercharged 3.8 engine. Drove it for 10 years and loved it. Only complaint I ever had with that engine was with whatever moron engineer decided to route the engine coolant through the belt tensioner using a pair of plastic elbows. I must have replaced those damn things five times before Dorman (bless them) came out with machined aluminium replacements.
Agree 🙄😁👍
The o'l upper intake leak.
My brother had a Grand-Am from that generation. It must have been the same engineer who put in the plastic pieces that held up its windows. In the five years he had that car, he had to replace those at least four times. We stopped rolling the windows up and down after the last time. Nice little car with a great sound system, otherwise.
Was my first ride. Super reliable until the transmission shits out. Lots of fun to drive, and the 3800 is bulletproof.
Hmm, musta had same tranny in my 85 Celebrity. 50k warranty, 52k tranny gone.
Pretty decent cars if they were taken care of. Sadly most people beat the hell out of them.
My buddy had one with mods. It ran low 13s, which was fast for the time. Cheap fun.
it's still fast.
Fucking loved this car, first car I bought in high school. Barely took care of it and it never let me down.
I had one of the dale earnhardt Monte Carlo's with the supercharged 3800 which was pretty much the same car, I think? Loved that car.
I’ve owned four of them, they’ll always have a special place in my car-heart.
I love how the same car can be "underpowered" and "quick as hell" to different people. I had a 2nd gen TL (3.2L V6) with about the same hp, and it was plenty of hp for a daily IMO. Was never left thinking, "If only I had more horsepower."
I love the sound of the exhaust on those.
You could always tell a GP exhaust with a 3800
I always loved these cars growing up, they fascinated me for some reason. Ultimate sleeper sedan.
Still have a 2001 in my driveway now! The 3800 series ii is solid and reliable. In the salt belt, the body gets eaten away, though.
They should have never gotten rid of Pontiac. They should've given Buick the axe instead. Who gives a shit about Buick? Seriously? It's like a Cadillac without any style. Not that Cadillac is that relevant anymore either...
To answer your question, China likes Buick and that’s a pretty large market.
I say Saturn should have been the one to stick around. They had the more innovative line up.
I always love Pontiac even their stupid minivan that look like a space shuttle was kind of cool my Grandpa bought one. I really hope they bring Pontiac back as like an ultra badass electric vehicle performance division. I mean who doesn't want an all electric smoking and the bandit trans am successor?
There is likely a case to be made that while Pontiac can no longer be the GM Performance division, that is now turning into Corvette. By making Corvette a sub brand, it may end up being what Pontiac was/should have been.
Buick has some awesome cars from back in the day as well, should have kept all the divisions and kept them more separated than the homogenous mix they became.
Growing up in Michigan, this was every teenagers car I swear. Maybe not the GTP but grand am’s where everywhere.
Great cars! Had a 99 and loved it! Great gas mileage and a comfortable daily driver!
I like it – – I would drive that.
My buddy had one back in the day. Thing was quick as hell!
That thing was everywhere when I was growing up. I swear every 3rd or 4th car was one of these.
I love them. I had a 00 GTP Daytona edition with some mods. The trans in them loves to let go, but you couldn't kill the motor and they responded to turbos very well.
Unless you chipped a piston! But even then, it still ran.
I loved them when they first came out, and I still do
I've had a couple. A 98 GT that died at around 360k km. Bought at 55k km. Routine maintenance. Replaced an alternator, wheel bearing and had the upper and lower intake manifold gaskets done, which is very common for the 3800. Plastic gaskets were replaced with metal. Otherwise a bullet proof motor as evidenced by the numerous awards it won over the years. Currently driving an 02 GTP as my winter car, however the body is rusting away. Again very little in maintenance costs over the years. Did the upper and lower intake gaskets myself this time, as well as the coolant elbows. At one point, the 98 was my winter vehicle and the 02 was the summer car.
Idk what GTP means but my buddy traded some yugioh cards for a regular Pontiac Grand Prix with almost 300,000 miles and we are stoked to do 24 Hours of LeMons with it.
Great car. Had a Buick GS with the same engine that people thought was a grandpa car but it handled well and was fast.
Hate the interior build quality of these year GMs, I can feel the door panel coming off when trying to close that door.
Bought one brand new in 97… i didn’t hate it but generally average. Lots of orange lights inside, decent HUD for the time. Engine was underpowered even with supercharger but are pretty damned reliable. I traded it in 2 years later on a 98 Supra... big upgrade lol.
You still have the Supra???
Almost bought a new one back in the day
They were ok. Not great, not terrible. Had a lot of minor reliability issues. Nothing unusual for the time though. A friend of mine had one. It lived through every jump we took it on. So did we, can't complain.
Where I’m from their generally considered as a good first car/shitbox
Mediocre but decent cars in their day.
Tacky, garish styling, typical of pre-mortem Pontiac. Throughout the 2000s, Pontiac had one good looking car: the Solstice. That’s it. The rest were trash.
I liked the concept, I didn't like how a supercharged 3.8L v6 only put out 220-225 HP. I was looking at one of these as a first car. Couldn't get over how the 02 BMW 530i made the same power out of a NA 3.0L inline 6. Bought the BMW.
2002 GTP makes 240hp, but more importantly, makes 280 lb/ft of torque. An 02 530i might make nearly the same hp (225), but nowhere near the same torque (215 lb/ft). The biggest thing holding the GTP back other than the FWD was the crap transmission.
Have a 98' Grand Prix SE. Not bad but I wish I had a bigger car because I am a bigger guy.
I've got one and I like it enough to get the trans rebuilt last summer.
Hot
I grew up in a country where we didn't officially get Pontiacs, and I thought these were the coolest when they were new. So pumped when we got one (four door) as a rental on a trip to the US.
Would be a cool car if they were RWD
They are great cars and pretty reliable but the hold rust under the plastic rocker moldings
I like them and I miss Pontiac.
I love these cars. If you're thinking of buying one, do it.
I think it’s crazy that this was nearly 25 years ago! Still looks good and these two doors were SO rare!
Always liked it, but I thought the Bonneville styling was better.
Bought one that had a rod knock at a bar for 100$ once. Found and installed a 700$ used engine (craigslist), drove for six months and sold for a few thousand. Good car. Solid ownership experience.
I knew a guy with the supercharged 3.8 and the GM Hud. A lot of car for something often overlooked.
Cheap fun, and Michigan winters rusted the hell out of them. Don't see too many any more.
I had a 2000 4-dr GT and a 2002 2-dr GTP. Loved both, but that GTP was a blast for a cheap car. The engine and transmission were solid, but the body and everything else fell apart around it.
Loved them along with the 1999+ Grand AM GT. I wanted a Grand AM so badly as a teenager but they were discontinued. It’s okay though as I ended up getting something else I loved but Pontiac was on fire back then.
Buddy had one years ago and liked it. He fucked it up when he put a bigger turbo on it though. It is an FWD car and any more power than it has leads to really bad torque steer.
Graduated high school in 2002, this was one of 'the' cars the 'rich' kids got, so I wanted it.
Shake and bake
Those 3800s are bulletproof, not sure about the rest of the car though. Overall, I like em
Always thought this and the boxster had a similar rear end
Grew up in Lansing Michigan in the early 00’s. These were everywhere. Cheap, great looking, fairly reliable and anyone could work on them around town. Parts were everywhere. Literally 3 people in my family had them, girlfriend at the time and her family had them. When we had LAN parties back then the driveway looking like a Pontiac dealership.
Boosted FWD always seems like a bad idea to me, i like fwd cars, almost prefer them. But torque steer is real, and it sucks.
I had a GT, the Supercharged 3800 Series. My favorite car I’ve owned to date.
those mid-90s GTPs before the bodystyle change were so fuckin hot.
I had one. I absolutely adored it. Of all the cars I’ve owned, it is still #1 on my list. I’ve had three Grand Prixs total. I had a 97 GTP, an 05 GT, and I have currently an 05 GTP. The 97-03 was much better than the 04+ in my opinion. The only issue I have with the 97-03 is the cupholders. They are absolute trash and will most likely be broken. I just took water bottles with me instead of drinks in cups. Worth the investment, in my opinion, if you can find a clean example.
Wider is better!
Style: great
Might want to check the brakes. That has 4 wheel disc and the rear caliper slides are notorious for seizing up. There was a recall on this. You don't want to be driving with only front brakes. There was also an issue with the fuel rail, injection issue.
I had a 98 Regal that had the supercharged 3.8. One of the most ridiculous fwd cars I've ever driven but it was a blast.
I have a soft spot for these. As long as it's the 3.8 you're good. Expect normal GM things, though, like shit plastics and component failure that will be cheap to fix, but they'll still go wrong fairly often
All I can say is that these things aged well, they look pretty good on the roads today IMO
I like the roominess of bigger cars myself. I dont really like the look of the body either.
My cousin had one it was sweet back then, he put a pulley, injectors and some other stuff on it, it was pretty quick fir the time.
A boy got this car from his grandmother. He named it the Granny-P. Good car.
I had one back in the day. Was bought for my first car after graduating highschool. I dumped a bunch of money into it when I was in college, pulley, fmic, built trans. Was my favorite car, up until this day and I got rid of that car like 14 years ago.
Great cars if you take care of the known issues ahead of time. If you drive it till she blows up and then try to fix it, not so much.
AWESOME Car! BALLS-SHIT Transmissions, though!
A 3.4 inch SC pulley and open air intake and these things would scream!
I knew two people who had them and both of them blew up. One went through three transmissions.
My high school gf had a 97 or 98 that she inherited from her Grandfather. Transmission started to go out and would slip between gears and then bang in to place after a few seconds. Eventually it went out completely about the same time it blew a head gasket and started overheating.
is this the car that one guy fucks on my strange addiction, wonder how hes doing now.
This was the first car I bought in Gran Turismo 4
I think they're great other than the interiors.
My dad bought a 98 new. I got to drive it a bit. Definitely fun to drive. It had a ton of torque steer though. Only time to floor it was when your wheels were straight. Side view mirrors make a ton of wind noise Front seats were uncomfortable on long drives. That's why he got rid of it. Had it less than a year. He picked up a 98 e320 and still rocking it to this day.
Silvia S15 at home:
It’s a car.