Buying a gand am. Is it worth it.

[Toomanycars]

Hello I am lookin at obtaining a 1993 grand am.. I am told that the car has a 3300 in it. Now I know that these motors are close to the 3.1 and 3800 in my other cars. So I have a start.. But I was told the problome with the car is that it over heats after about 1/2 an hour of driving.. and that it had done this once before and the thermostat was replaced.. So I guess my question is dose the 3300 have a problome thats know thats prolly causeing this and is fixable .. Or should I look elase where.

[RocketFast321]

I don't about the problems but the 3300 is a 90 degree engine. It's base off the 3800. The 3100 is a 60 degree engine. It roots comes for the 2.8 to 3.1mpi to 3100 to 3400 to 3500

[cheap80Z28]

All I can say is that my wife has the 93 W/ the 3300 and we got almost 98,000 miles with out any real problems.
steve

[mike_wiz]

NO don't buy it I have had nothing but problems with My 3.3

Get one that doesn't have that engine

[1mean99grandam]

honestly - anything you buy will have problems and if you're buying used, you will deff have some problems. most of the time people sell their cars to get rid of their problems. I don't care what a nice little old lady she is, she's still lying to you because she doesn't want to deal with it anymore.

good luck

[merouby]

Buying a gand am. Is it worth it.

Stay away from any used GM Grand Am V6...go get a 3800 V6-GM or an early 3.1/2.8 car.

[digitalquirk]

Thing is, it's a 12 year old car. Any car is going to have problems after 12 years. Your best bet, if you're looking at getting a car that old, is to get something basic...crank windows, no A/C, manual door locks...and assume that stuff like the stereo and speakers are going to need to be replaced. The fewer options the car has, the less there is to go wrong. Always keep in mind that the car is 12 years old, so don't waste too much money on such a car unless it's a collector's item (which a Grand Am won't be).

[tburgee]

If you like to drop hundereds of dollars at a pop, and spend almost all your time pissed off about your car, and like nothing but frustation, worry, and headaches from your car, THEN BUY A PONTIAC!!!! I have a 99, ran good about 2 years, nothing but trouble since, would sell my soul to get rid of the POS.

[Prospeeder]

my 15 year old pontiac turbo grand prix is perfectly fine, my moms 99 GAGT is perfectly fine, my moms old 92 Grand am SE runs perfect cause we sold it to a friend, friend 98GASE is perfectly fine and they drive that thing HARD, other friends 93 GASE 3.3 runs PERFECT and it has close to 110k on it, so mabye u just dont know how to manatin and drive a car like a normal human being, flooring it than slamming to brakes, flooring it slamming on the brakes, take corner at high speed, isnt taking good car of ur car.

[AznGA]

How many miles does this thing have?

[Rad_Pander]

It doesnt matter what car you buy, import domestic, whatever, If you treat it good it should last a while, unless you buy the cheapest car you can. Vehicles are hit and miss, you can have two identicle models one lasts forever the other is nothing but problems. If you buy a car expect to spend money they all are money pits.

[dziukap]

Yes, while all vehicles can go bad, I think many times it has more to do with the idiot owner. Some people see little old ladies as somone that must have driven the car easy, and not abused it.

Most of the time, I see little old ladies who let it go 20K without an oil change, never have flushed the tranny, prolly don't even know what an air filter is, and the radiator fluid is often the color of mud.

When I by a used car like a Grand Am that is a little more sporty, I often instead look for a car that has a winshield sticker, or something to show that the owner had a little pride in their car and probably knew how to take care of it. Look under the hood. Is there decay built up in the coolant bottle? Is the oil filter somewhat new? Is the tranny fluid burned up(I think you can still get to it on your own on this model.) Look for little details that indicate care level. Are the winshield wipers falling apart? Headlights both working?

Personally, I have seen a few 3.3's and they have belonged to people who took care of them so they worked, but others have complained. In the end it might come down to the fact taht where other engines may take abuse, the 3.3 doesn't but will still work if it was well cared for. In which case I would still tend to lean away form it.


Quick question, why such an old Grand Am? How much $$ can you spend, because that baby should be practically free.

[digitalquirk]

Some other tips in buying a used car:
-Avoid tinted windows and cars with performance items like aftermarket exhausts. These are signs that the previous owner had probably driven the snot out of the car (the tinted windows makes them more anonymous to other drivers as they drive aggressively). NOTE: This may not be the case with everyone, but should certainly set off some red flags.
-Avoid sportier cars. For instance, given the choice between a 12 year old Grand Am SE and a 12 year old Grand Am GT, go for the SE, as odds are that the GT was driven harder.
-Avoid coupes. Once again, coupes tend to have been driven harder, on average, than sedans. The more family-oriented the car looks, the greater the odds that it wasn't driven hard.
-Pull up the carpet in the trunk. It's the best way to see if it's been hit in the rear.
-Check underneith. There should be no rust, and the frame should look solid.
-Check all dip sticks (tranny, oil). This will help you determine if maintenance was performed or not.
-Given a choice between an automatic and a stick shift, go for the automatic. Odds are greater that the stick shift car suffered more abuse.