1997 PONTIAC GRAND AM — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 374 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM (77 complaints · 20.6%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 31
  • Fires 12
  • Injuries 35
  • Deaths 3
Compare with 1996 →
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 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM appears in 77 of 374 owner complaints (20.6%) in this vehicle snapshot. ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 77 complaints, 20.6% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 77 · 20.6% · 1 crash reports 7 fire reports SERVICE BRAKES: 54 complaints, 14.4% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 54 · 14.4% · 2 crash reports 2 fire reports ENGINE: 50 complaints, 13.4% of reports ENGINE 50 · 13.4% · 1 fire reports AIR BAGS: 34 complaints, 9.1% of reports AIR BAGS 34 · 9.1% · 15 crash reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 23 complaints, 6.2% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 23 · 6.2% VISIBILITY: 18 complaints, 4.8% of reports VISIBILITY 18 · 4.8% · 1 fire reports STEERING: 16 complaints, 4.3% of reports STEERING 16 · 4.3% · 2 crash reports SUSPENSION: 16 complaints, 4.3% of reports SUSPENSION 16 · 4.3% · 3 crash reports POWER TRAIN: 14 complaints, 3.7% of reports POWER TRAIN 14 · 3.7% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 309 complaints, 82.6% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 309 · 82.6% · 23 crash reports 12 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)
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 77 20.6% 1 crashes · 7 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 54 14.4% 2 crashes · 2 fires
ENGINE 50 13.4% 0 crashes · 1 fires
AIR BAGS 34 9.1% 15 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 23 6.2% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VISIBILITY 18 4.8% 0 crashes · 1 fires
STEERING 16 4.3% 2 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 16 4.3% 3 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 14 3.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 309 82.6% 23 crashes · 12 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 Oct 1996. 1996-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 1997-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1997-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1997-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 1997-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 1998-Q1: 11 owner reports 11 1998-Q2: 14 owner reports 14 1998-Q3: 14 owner reports 14 1998-Q4: 11 owner reports 11 1999-Q1: 9 owner reports 9 1999-Q2: 10 owner reports 10 1999-Q3: 17 owner reports 17 1999-Q4: 15 owner reports 15 2000-Q1: 12 owner reports 12 2000-Q2: 22 owner reports 22 2000-Q3: 10 owner reports 10 2000-Q4: 13 owner reports 13 2001-Q1: 18 owner reports 18 2001-Q2: 10 owner reports 10 2001-Q3: 8 owner reports 8 2001-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 2002-Q1: 12 owner reports 12 2002-Q2: 20 owner reports 20 2002-Q3: 24 owner reports 24 2002-Q4: 11 owner reports 11 2003-Q1: 8 owner reports 8 2003-Q2: 7 owner reports 7 2003-Q3: 9 owner reports 9 2003-Q4: 9 owner reports 9 2004-Q1: 7 owner reports 7 2004-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2004-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2004-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2005-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2005-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2005-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2006-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2006-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2006-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2008-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2008-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2008-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2012-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2013-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2016-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2020-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Oct 1996 Apr 2020 Investigation RQ98013 ● Investigation RQ98013 Investigation RQ03001 ● Investigation RQ03001
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1996-Q4 Owner reports 1
1997-Q1 Owner reports 1
1997-Q2 Owner reports 2
1997-Q3 Owner reports 7
1997-Q4 Owner reports 6
1998-Q1 Owner reports 11
1998-Q2 Owner reports 14
1998-Q3 Owner reports 14
1998-Q4 Owner reports 11
1999-Q1 Owner reports 9
1999-Q2 Owner reports 10
1999-Q3 Owner reports 17
1999-Q4 Owner reports 15
2000-Q1 Owner reports 12
2000-Q2 Owner reports 22
2000-Q3 Owner reports 10
2000-Q4 Owner reports 13
2001-Q1 Owner reports 18
2001-Q2 Owner reports 10
2001-Q3 Owner reports 8
2001-Q4 Owner reports 6
2002-Q1 Owner reports 12
2002-Q2 Owner reports 20
2002-Q3 Owner reports 24
2002-Q4 Owner reports 11
2003-Q1 Owner reports 8
2003-Q2 Owner reports 7
2003-Q3 Owner reports 9
2003-Q4 Owner reports 9
2004-Q1 Owner reports 7
2004-Q2 Owner reports 5
2004-Q3 Owner reports 5
2004-Q4 Owner reports 3
2005-Q1 Owner reports 4
2005-Q2 Owner reports 2
2005-Q3 Owner reports 1
2006-Q1 Owner reports 2
2006-Q2 Owner reports 3
2006-Q3 Owner reports 2
2006-Q4 Owner reports 1
2007-Q1 Owner reports 1
2007-Q3 Owner reports 1
2007-Q4 Owner reports 2
2008-Q1 Owner reports 3
2008-Q2 Owner reports 3
2008-Q3 Owner reports 1
2008-Q4 Owner reports 1
2009-Q4 Owner reports 1
2010-Q1 Owner reports 1
2010-Q4 Owner reports 1
2011-Q2 Owner reports 1
2012-Q1 Owner reports 1
2013-Q4 Owner reports 1
2014-Q1 Owner reports 1
2014-Q3 Owner reports 1
2016-Q2 Owner reports 1
2020-Q2 Owner reports 1
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 (0)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

Zero safety recalls recorded for this model year in official NHTSA 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.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 374 complaints · page 1 of 15

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 Aug 21, 2026
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