1996 PONTIAC GRAND AM — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 443 complaints · 6 recalls
Most-reported system: AIR BAGS (97 complaints · 21.9%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 31
  • Fires 13
  • Injuries 66
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 1995 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution AIR BAGS appears in 97 of 443 owner complaints (21.9%) in this vehicle snapshot. AIR BAGS: 97 complaints, 21.9% of reports AIR BAGS 97 · 21.9% · 19 crash reports 2 fire reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 97 complaints, 21.9% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 97 · 21.9% · 10 fire reports ENGINE: 52 complaints, 11.7% of reports ENGINE 52 · 11.7% SERVICE BRAKES: 52 complaints, 11.7% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 52 · 11.7% · 7 crash reports VISIBILITY: 24 complaints, 5.4% of reports VISIBILITY 24 · 5.4% SUSPENSION: 18 complaints, 4.1% of reports SUSPENSION 18 · 4.1% · 1 crash reports 1 fire reports POWER TRAIN: 16 complaints, 3.6% of reports POWER TRAIN 16 · 3.6% FUEL SYSTEM: 15 complaints, 3.4% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 15 · 3.4% STRUCTURE: 13 complaints, 2.9% of reports STRUCTURE 13 · 2.9% · 1 crash reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 337 complaints, 76.1% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 337 · 76.1% · 28 crash reports 10 fire reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
AIR BAGS 97 21.9% 19 crashes · 2 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 97 21.9% 0 crashes · 10 fires
ENGINE 52 11.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 52 11.7% 7 crashes · 0 fires
VISIBILITY 24 5.4% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 18 4.1% 1 crashes · 1 fires
POWER TRAIN 16 3.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 15 3.4% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 13 2.9% 1 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 337 76.1% 28 crashes · 10 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Jan 1996; the first recall shown was reported in Dec 1996. 1996-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 1996-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 1996-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 1996-Q4: 14 owner reports 14 1997-Q1: 20 owner reports 20 1997-Q2: 8 owner reports 8 1997-Q3: 20 owner reports 20 1997-Q4: 14 owner reports 14 1998-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 1998-Q2: 8 owner reports 8 1998-Q3: 11 owner reports 11 1998-Q4: 13 owner reports 13 1999-Q1: 9 owner reports 9 1999-Q2: 12 owner reports 12 1999-Q3: 21 owner reports 21 1999-Q4: 14 owner reports 14 2000-Q1: 20 owner reports 20 2000-Q2: 8 owner reports 8 2000-Q3: 12 owner reports 12 2000-Q4: 7 owner reports 7 2001-Q1: 21 owner reports 21 2001-Q2: 12 owner reports 12 2001-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 2001-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2002-Q1: 9 owner reports 9 2002-Q2: 32 owner reports 32 2002-Q3: 21 owner reports 21 2002-Q4: 7 owner reports 7 2003-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 2003-Q2: 10 owner reports 10 2003-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2003-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2004-Q1: 8 owner reports 8 2004-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2004-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2004-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2005-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2005-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2005-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2006-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2006-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2007-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2008-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2008-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2008-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2008-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2009-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2010-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2011-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2011-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2012-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2012-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2013-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2013-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2016-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2017-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jan 1996 Jul 2017 Recall campaign 96V249000 ◆ Recall campaign 96V249000 Recall campaign 96V250000 ◆ Recall campaign 96V250000 Recall campaign 98V027000 ◆ Recall campaign 98V027000 Recall campaign 02V070000 ◆ Recall campaign 02V070000 Recall campaign 07E015000 ◆ Recall campaign 07E015000 Recall campaign 07E021000 ◆ Recall campaign 07E021000 Investigation RQ98013 ● Investigation RQ98013 Investigation RQ03001 ● Investigation RQ03001
  • Campaign 96V249000 was reported 203 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
  • Campaign 96V250000 was reported 329 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
  • Campaign 02V070000 was reported 2,142 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
  • Campaign 07E015000 was reported 3,710 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
  • Campaign 07E021000 was reported 3,724 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1996-Q1 Owner reports 3
1996-Q2 Owner reports 6
1996-Q3 Owner reports 4
1996-Q4 Owner reports 14
1997-Q1 Owner reports 20
1997-Q2 Owner reports 8
1997-Q3 Owner reports 20
1997-Q4 Owner reports 14
1998-Q1 Owner reports 6
1998-Q2 Owner reports 8
1998-Q3 Owner reports 11
1998-Q4 Owner reports 13
1999-Q1 Owner reports 9
1999-Q2 Owner reports 12
1999-Q3 Owner reports 21
1999-Q4 Owner reports 14
2000-Q1 Owner reports 20
2000-Q2 Owner reports 8
2000-Q3 Owner reports 12
2000-Q4 Owner reports 7
2001-Q1 Owner reports 21
2001-Q2 Owner reports 12
2001-Q3 Owner reports 7
2001-Q4 Owner reports 2
2002-Q1 Owner reports 9
2002-Q2 Owner reports 32
2002-Q3 Owner reports 21
2002-Q4 Owner reports 7
2003-Q1 Owner reports 6
2003-Q2 Owner reports 10
2003-Q3 Owner reports 2
2003-Q4 Owner reports 3
2004-Q1 Owner reports 8
2004-Q2 Owner reports 4
2004-Q3 Owner reports 3
2004-Q4 Owner reports 4
2005-Q2 Owner reports 5
2005-Q3 Owner reports 2
2005-Q4 Owner reports 3
2006-Q1 Owner reports 2
2006-Q2 Owner reports 1
2006-Q3 Owner reports 1
2007-Q1 Owner reports 3
2007-Q2 Owner reports 1
2007-Q3 Owner reports 4
2008-Q1 Owner reports 3
2008-Q2 Owner reports 5
2008-Q3 Owner reports 5
2008-Q4 Owner reports 1
2009-Q1 Owner reports 1
2009-Q2 Owner reports 3
2009-Q3 Owner reports 1
2009-Q4 Owner reports 1
2010-Q1 Owner reports 1
2010-Q2 Owner reports 3
2010-Q3 Owner reports 3
2011-Q1 Owner reports 3
2011-Q4 Owner reports 1
2012-Q3 Owner reports 2
2012-Q4 Owner reports 1
2013-Q2 Owner reports 1
2013-Q3 Owner reports 1
2014-Q2 Owner reports 2
2016-Q2 Owner reports 1
2017-Q3 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 96V249000
Recall campaign 1 96V250000
Recall campaign 1 98V027000
Recall campaign 1 02V070000
Recall campaign 1 07E015000
Recall campaign 1 07E021000
Defect investigation 1 RQ98013
Defect investigation 1 RQ03001
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (6)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 02V070000

    Report date
    Component:
    ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
    Consequence:
    IF THE SWITCH IS DAMAGED, A FIRE COULD OCCUR IN THE STEERING COLUMN, EVEN WITH THE ENGINE OFF AND THE KEY REMOVED.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL INSTALL A RELAY KIT IN THESE VEHICLES TO PREVENT HIGH CURRENT FROM FLOWING THROUGH THE IGNITION SWITCH. OWNER NOTIFICATION BEGAN MARCH 27, 2002. OWNERS WHO TAKE THEIR VEHICLES TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER ON AN AGREED UPON SERVICE DATE AND DO NOT RECEIVE THE FREE REMEDY WITHIN A REASONABLE TIME SHOULD CONTACT CHEVROLET AT 1-800-222-1020, PONTIAC AT 1-800-762-2737, BUICK AT 1-800-521-7300, OR OLDSMOBILE AT 1-800-442-6537.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  2. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 07E015000

    Report date
    Component:
    FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE
    Consequence:
    A STALLED VEHICLE CAN INCREASE THE RISK OF A VEHICLE CRASH. A FUEL LEAK CAN RESULT IN A FIRE.
    Remedy:
    DELPHI WILL NOTIFY OWNERS AND REPLACE THE DEFECTIVE MRAS FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON MARCH 20, 2007. OWNERS CAN CONTACT DELPHI AT 1-877-335-7443.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  3. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 07E021000

    Report date
    Component:
    FUEL SYSTEM, OTHER
    Consequence:
    FUEL MAY LEAK, POSSIBLY RESULTING IN A FIRE.
    Remedy:
    DELPHI WILL NOTIFY OWNERS AND REPLACE THE UPR FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON APRIL 23, 2007. OWNERS CAN CONTACT DELPHI AT 877-411-8770.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  4. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 96V249000

    Report date
    Component:
    STEERING
    Consequence:
    AN UNDERTORQUED PINCH BOLT CAN RATTLE AND CAUSE LOOSENESS IN THE STEERING SYSTEM. IF THE PINCH BOLT BACKED OUT OF THE JOINT COMPLETELY, ROTATION OF THE STEERING SHAFT AGAINST THE CONNECTOR COULD CAUSE INCREASING LOOSENESS IN THE STEERING SYSTEM AND RESULT IN LOSS OF STEERING AND AN ACCIDENT.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL INSPECT THE STEERING COLUMN PINCH BOLT FOR CORRECT TORQUE AND, IF NECESSARY, TIGHTEN THE BOLT TO THE SPECIFIED TORQUE.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  5. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 96V250000

    Report date
    Component:
    EXTERIOR LIGHTING
    Consequence:
    IF THESE LAMPS WERE NOT FLASHING, OTHER VEHICLES WOULD NOT BE AWARE THAT THIS VEHICLE WAS STOPPED INCREASING THE RISK OF AN ACCIDENT.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS OR VEHICLE OWNERS WILL INSPECT FOR PROPER FUNCTION OF THE HAZARD WARNING LAMPS. IF NECESSARY, DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE HAZARD LAMP SWITCH.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  6. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 98V027000

    Report date
    Component:
    Not available in the source record
    Consequence:
    THE INTERIOR LAMPS COMING ON UNEXPECTEDLY COULD STARTLE A DRIVER CAUSING A MOMENTARY LOSS OF CONTROL INCREASING THE RISK OF A VEHICLE ACCIDENT.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL RUN A DIAGNOSTIC TEST ON THE LAMP CONTROL MODULE AND, IF NECESSARY, REPLACE IT.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot 2026-08-21
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 443 complaints · page 1 of 18

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot 2026-08-21
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources