$800 for a new fuel pump

[andrewe77]

I love getting raped at the dealer. After the failed fuel pump, failed fuel sending unit, failed radio, warped brake rotors, failed water pump, failed lower intake manifold gasket, failed battery, failed headlight socket, failed gear shifter, crappy transmission I'm done with Pontiac and I'm done with GM. I don't care if I get the employee discount or not. This is f-ing rediculous. I'm sorry I got rid of my Ford Escort for this piece of ****.

Sorry, just had to vent.

[sicc]

[99GAGTX]

So far I had the failed water pump, failed resistor in the heater blower switch twice, warped brake rotors, tire bead flex that causes that annoying low speed sound, failed lower intake manifold gasket, failed alternator, failed gasket on the lower left back-up light (yeah the one that always fills with condensation and water, then turns black and looks like sh*t with black on one side and silver on the other). Oh yeah, the glue let go on my rear view mirror a couple summers ago and I found it hanging by the electrical wire one morning. The drivers door window motor failed, and the "GT exclusive chrome rims" that added an extra $750 to the sticker price were made standard equipment on the SE model two years later. And they're not even real chrome, the 1999 models were labelled as "chrome" rims not "chrome-tech". The dealer told me GM received numerous complaints (and I'm guessing a lawsuit or two) about false advertising. Hence the reason the rims are called chrome-tech from 2000+

But I still like the car, and if GM would offer the GTO in Canada I'd buy it. But it doesn't look likely now that rumors are spreading around Wall street about GM being close to a position where they may declare backruptcy. If you want me to state my source, 97.1fm in Detroit, Michigan was talking about it early this afternoon.

[Panacea]

Just an FYI your battery is 5 (6?) years old. It was time for a new one. Can't blame that one on bad engineering.

[digitalballz]

FYI we charged $750 for a new fuel pump on a 97 suburban last week. Part alone was over $600 so thats not too much of a shock to hear. If its the same style as the one we just did.

[redfox]

i just had the fuel pump replaced on my car yesterday. $387 for part, $205 for labor, $65 tow, $20 misc, $50 tax. total around $721.that hurt

[kong]

$759 for my 99 gagt about 2 months ago. i had it with this car.

[AaronGAGT]

i feel sorry for you guys. I got a used pump with 20k on it for $150 and ~$175 labor... towing free. Yah, I agree y'all got RAPED!

[cmoore]

You are not alone in repairs. Last 2 weeks I have spent
$1850 on my 2002 GAGT to get it certified for buyout at end of lease
$800 on my 1996 Lumina Van to repair power window, new door handle, new rear hatch lock.

Money spend on van ok as it has 200,000 km on it and is 10 years old. GA has only 80,000 km. At least dealer split cost with me for the car. Called GM and they responded with standard answer 'out of warrenty' and should have bought extended warrenty. Dealer was good with me in the interest of customer loyality as I have bought several cars from them over the last 10 years.

However with the problems I have had with my GA, same as most of the common ones other people have had, this will be my last GM car ever and I have been a GM customer for over 30 years. The quality of a lot of their vehicles, the indifference of a lot of the dealers, but most importantly the attitude of GM towards its customers has finally convinced me that my next purchase will not be GM.

Living in Oshawa, Ont which is a GM town with a lot of my friends working for GM makes this a hard choice .

[Malaclypse]

Easier choice than abandoning GM alltogether is to buy something built in Oshawa. The Impala, Monte Carlo, Regal, Century, etc are all W-bodies and all built in Oshawa.

I've seen the fewest problems out of W-body cars in comparison to the rest of GM's car line-up. Hell, even GM's truck line up has more problems than the cars from Oshawa. N-body cars aren't noted for their reliability (Grand Am, Malibu, Alero etc).

Case in point, My 1998 Monte Carlo (Oshawa built) has had two major problems in its 114,000 miles. Those have been a lower intake gasket leak and a water pump failing. Everything else that has been replaced has been maintainence or a common failure due to heat (alternator / battery). My Monte has served me well and still runs perfectly to this day.

My 1991 Grand Prix ran great 'til it was totalled out at 105,000 miles. Oshawa built cars are really GM's top shelf for reliability. Don't let your experience with your grand am sour your view on GM's entire car-line... GM has alot better to offer.

[AaronGTR]

Originally Posted by andrewe77

I love getting raped at the dealer. After the failed fuel pump, failed fuel sending unit, failed radio, warped brake rotors, failed water pump, failed lower intake manifold gasket, failed battery, failed headlight socket, failed gear shifter, crappy transmission I'm done with Pontiac and I'm done with GM. I don't care if I get the employee discount or not. This is f-ing rediculous. I'm sorry I got rid of my Ford Escort for this piece of ****.

Sorry, just had to vent.

My friend had a 92 escort with ten times that many problems so it's a piece of shat too. (and it had the mazda engine... Goooo japanese quality!)


Fuel pumps are expensive and they do fail after a while. Get over it. The one in my car was replaced twice before two years was up (under warranty), but on the second time I got the revised design unit and haven't had any problems with it for the last four years... and my fuel pump see a lot higher stress than yours. Also as an fyi, they have to replace the pump and sending unit together because they can't order them seperate, so you can't count that as two things.

Just because you've had some problems with a car doesn't mean it's crappy. All cars need maintenance no matter what brand you get, and maybe your just a crappy driver and don't take care of your car properly. I wonder how all these people with warped rotors drive because I put 35,000 miles on mine with no warping.

[coupe]

Originally Posted by AaronGTR

My friend had a 92 escort with ten times that many problems so it's a piece of shat too. (and it had the mazda engine... Goooo japanese quality!)


Fuel pumps are expensive and they do fail after a while. Get over it. The one in my car was replaced twice before two years was up (under warranty), but on the second time I got the revised design unit and haven't had any problems with it for the last four years... and my fuel pump see a lot higher stress than yours. Also as an fyi, they have to replace the pump and sending unit together because they can't order them seperate, so you can't count that as two things.

Just because you've had some problems with a car doesn't mean it's crappy. All cars need maintenance no matter what brand you get, and maybe your just a crappy driver and don't take care of your car properly. I wonder how all these people with warped rotors drive because I put 35,000 miles on mine with no warping.

amen to that. I havent had half the problems these guys have had.

[kong]

sure, i'd buy a USED pump a risking the chance of it failing.

[DrFabulous]

Originally Posted by kong

sure, i'd buy a USED pump a risking the chance of it failing.

It's the same design as a new one.... it has the same chances of failing. If it only has 20k, and they last, say, 80k.... it's worth it.

[Ajaxus]

Originally Posted by kong

sure, i'd buy a USED pump a risking the chance of it failing.

there's a way to avoid this. never run your car on less than a quarter tank of gas, ESPECIALLY on warm/hot days. it strains the pump too much. was talking to my mechanic and he noted that this summer the top repair he's had to do is replacing fuel pumps because people run their cars practically on empty on the warm weather, putting undue strain on the pump and causing it to fail.

its not always the manufacturer's fault when a part fails, sometimes the owner is at fault as well.

[H.O. Driver]

I was looking at fuel pumps and depending what you buy, the price varies, for the whole Bosch fuel pump and assembly it would have been $800 just for that. Regaurdless of what you buy the car will always have a problem sooner or later.

My first set of brakes (even with all the track passes) lasted to 55,000 miles on the stockers. I had a spring break, but the car was 6yrs old, it rusted through, that will happen. The only major problems I have had is the LIM gasket (duh, everyone will have that) and my waterpump failed (again the car was 6 years old) Welcome to the joys of owning a car


If you don't wanna have to buy some old crappy car or any car that you have to fix stuff on and pay for it. Just lease a car, don't mod it, and drive the **** out of it for 3 years and turn it back in for a new one. <--- the money you will spend in the larger payment will make up for the repairs you gotta do to it.

[AaronGAGT]

Originally Posted by kong

sure, i'd buy a USED pump a risking the chance of it failing.

my used one has been working great for 2.5 years... I think i got my money's worth.

[andrewe77]

Originally Posted by AaronGTR

Just because you've had some problems with a car doesn't mean it's crappy. All cars need maintenance no matter what brand you get, and maybe your just a crappy driver and don't take care of your car properly. I wonder how all these people with warped rotors drive because I put 35,000 miles on mine with no warping.

I disagree. I think the Grand Am is a real piece of **** and has been for years. Just look at all the posts on the board and you can see how many of us have the same problems over and over. I look at the window sticker sometimes and just shake my head that I paid so much for such an unreliable car. It seriously should have a $10,000 sticker price for what you get. Luckly, I don't have a car payment and don't want one. I hope it'll last for another 3 years and I seriously doubt I will be buying a GM product then.

If GM wonders why they're in such a financial bind, they shouldn't. They have a justified reputation for building cheap, unreliable pieces of junk. It pains me to say that because both my Grandparents worked for GM for years, but it's the truth.

[AaronGTR]

Originally Posted by andrewe77

I disagree. I think the Grand Am is a real piece of **** and has been for years. Just look at all the posts on the board and you can see how many of us have the same problems over and over. I look at the window sticker sometimes and just shake my head that I paid so much for such an unreliable car. It seriously should have a $10,000 sticker price for what you get. Luckly, I don't have a car payment and don't want one. I hope it'll last for another 3 years and I seriously doubt I will be buying a GM product then.

If GM wonders why they're in such a financial bind, they shouldn't. They have a justified reputation for building cheap, unreliable pieces of junk. It pains me to say that because both my Grandparents worked for GM for years, but it's the truth.

You really are naive you know that? This is an enthusiast forum. People here complain about every little thing. For all the people here that complain about one specific problem though, there are ten times that many just on this forum that have never had any of the problems you are complaining about. How do you think that translates to the hundreds of thousands of other grands am's GM has sold to people that just drive them and don't go on the internet? For every 50 that have a problem, there are probably 1,000 that have no problems, and other than normal wear and maintenance people just drive them.

This is the same with other manufacturers too. EVERY CAR HAS IT'S SHARE OF PROBLEMS!!! You just don't talk to the people with other cars, you don't own another car, and you don't look at their forums. You have your eyes shut to the world. Why don't you go to some of the toyota forums (generally acknowledged as the most dependable cars) and ask them what kind of problems they have. Maybe you'll hear from the guys with MR-S's with the 1ZE four cyl who are on their third completely replaced engine in three years! But still, compared to the majority this is a relatively small occurance. You just need to wake up man.

[pushnfords]

Originally Posted by redfox

i just had the fuel pump replaced on my car yesterday. $387 for part, $205 for labor, $65 tow, $20 misc, $50 tax. total around $721.that hurt

A new pump for your car from Autozone costs $237 and a fuel filter is $10. I've found that most repair shops mark up parts 50%. I've started doing work on the side for $20-30 an hour depending on the job and then I don't add the markup on. You might be better off finding a mechanic who does side work. Before I started doing my own work I found a Ford mechanic who worked out of his garage on weekends and had him do everything for me.

Derek