Diary of a Dead Pontiac: Ultimate Lemon

In the car industry, a used car being sold that is imminent of breaking down is called a   "Lemon"

It is sometimes hard to spot these hidden disasters because car salesman and there mechanics are quite the crafty ones. They can relay information that specifically fits the customers’ needs and wants so that this "lemon" appears to be a 

Well maintained top-of-the-line

Mechanical masterpiece

When it is actually more closely related to this

Here is my story, and my #1 advice I can give to anyone buying a used car.

When I started driving for the first time, I wanted what everyone else wanted... 

1: An awesome ride!

2: hot chicks overflowing that ride

Now, I never had a golden spoon. That all went to my sister and pretty much the silver one also.  I ended up really not getting much of a spoon at all...   In any case, there was no Ferrari for me on my birthday, and I was stuck with using the "beater", but man, this old hunk-of-junk Buick was a beast and reliable. Just not really much of a chick magnet.

But I was determined to get an affordable car that made me look badass. So, when I was 20 I went searching and stumbled upon 

The Pontiac Grand Am    (dum duuum duuuuuummmmbbb)

I was at a used lot, and found this Gem at discount! Took some test rides, and signed the papers the same day. I even got a crappy interest rate on it, but whatever I was pumped! 

I had so many plans. Rims, Tint, underbody kit, and stereo system. I was ballin'

Listed price: $10,800    My price:  $8,200

Miles:  67,000

2months later:

This is where I'll start tallying up the cost.  

The wheel bearing goes out, but no big deal, this can happen to every car at any time. ($500)

But then around the same time the breaks start to grind. I was in no rush to pay another 500$ so I did what anyone should do.

LEARN to Fix It 

But the rotors were warped and had deep gouges, so they needed to be replaced. Just doing it myself, it took a whole day and nearly 200$. But again, no big deal, this also happens to used cars, around every 60-100k miles.

@3months:

I'm driving and all of a sudden -  the car starts shaking uncontrollably. So bad, I could only travel at most 20mph. 

I’m clueless so I have to use a shop. 

Turns out the front right tie-rod nearly broke and needed to be replaced along with the left rod was close to follow. This definitely isn't normal for a car under 100k miles and under 5years old. ($850)

Then things were good for a couple months.

@6months:

The damn front breaks start grinding again! This should never happen in 4months, obviously I messed it up?

So I brought it to a shop again.

Turns out my calipers were cracked or warped or whatever this guy said, so they needed replacing. (550)

At this point I was already getting mad with the car. But it was just the beginning.

Within the next year I got stranded many times while driving. 

Broken fuel pump ($800)

Corroded radiator leak decided to explode? ($750)

But the final nail to the coffin came 2years after purchase.

Head Gasket Failure!

Now a head gasket can fail, but in many cases you can continue driving a car for quite a long period, and in some instances you won’t even realize you have a problem. The main issue is that your car will now, consume oil. It will get so bad that your basically using a mixture of gas/oil to power your car and that will cause big problems. 

You have actually probably watched people drive with this. Those cars you see that emit a huge white smoke cloud - That’s it.

Anyway, apparently mine was small enough to not notice the smoke, but it was burning up my oil. When driving, it decided to get bad. I felt the engine heave, like it was struggling to breathe, or run. It was puttering at 60mph? 

All a sudden. The RPM gauge goes limp, and the car slows to a stop.

 Seized engine...

That was it. I was done. The final cost on this one was too much for me. $3200 price tag to replace the engine...

The car sat in the back yard, under the oak tree for many years. 

Cost of repairs over 2years:  $3,300     plus all the "preventative" maintenance costs.

Here is an old picture I found of the thing getting junked.

Since then I have learned the Ultimate Lesson!   Which everyone should follow because it's such a simple thing to do.

Get your own mechanic to look it over. 

You pay them $50 and they will find the little things that you don't look for.

-Buying used cars is tough. You typically get what you pay for, and nobody will ever tell you the problems it has. 

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed my car misery-