Stock parts, or not?

[glockyman]

We bought my car from a used GM dealership. Theyve got a no-crash guarantee, I do believe.

One of the headlights on this car was getting fogged, and I had to replace it. However, when I did so, I noticed that the back of the unit had "99 GAM" written on it with a marker, and also had a serial code (again in marker). However, this is fishy to me because first of all, a factory part should generally not need written info on it, plus, my car is an 02, not a 99. I realize that its the same model, but still, little questionable.

What I need to know is, is there a way to see if parts on the car are oem replacements, vs. factory parts? I need to know if the car has been in a wreck and I wasnt told.

Thanks for any help.

[00SilverGA]

You can try checking carfax, although sometimes they wont have the information. i have heard of people having a clean carfax but they know the car has been in an acident. Try that and see what you come up with.

[Brandon]

it seems on ga's and other gm the headlights like to get condinsation build up and they seem to like to replace the unit... i would think it would be a replacement to begin with and its just what they had?
my car was only 6 months when i got a replacement headlight.

[glockyman]

I would imagine that the car's been carfaxed, since it came to me through a used dealership. I'll check that though.

As for condensation in the headlights, that also might be right, that's why I'm gonna check for serial codes on the front fascia and the radiator as well, to see if I can determine whether or not they're stock.

[tenspeed]

Someone could have replaced the headlamp with one from a junkyard. I could see them writing 99GAM, everything from 1999 to 2005 is refered to as 99+. Sounds like junkyard shorthand.

[Cronk152]

I agree, sounds like a junkyard part

[glockyman]

Okay, I used the Haynes to take off the front fascia and the wheel well covers, and checked serial codes on all of the parts I could find. None of them had anything in common, so either they're all replacements, or GM doesn't standardize their codes (very likely). However, I did find some questionable things. One, there were yellow pricetag-like stickers the inside of the fascia that say "Certified", and also something else, but it's too faded to read. I havent seen that on any of the other parts I've ever pulled off of that car. Secondly, the fascia is manucatured in Canada, and has no GM or Pontiac insignia printed anywhere with the serial code and other batch info. I realize that while assembly is done in...what...Lansing, parts can be sent in from all over. Regardless, I've sent an email to Pontiac asking them where they produce the fascias for Grand Ams, to check this against what the car says.

[SilverGA2001]

I believe when I took my fascia off recently, it had "Made in Canada" on the inside. I have those yellow "pricetag" stickers on my stock parts as well.