1999 pontiac grand am coil springs break without warning or cause. I have 2 of these cars, and both have had front and read coil springs break without cause. I see there are several complaints filed with the federal safety agency since this was investigated in 2004. I request a new investigation be conducted due to numerous new complaints, and the fact that most people will not take the time to report cases, and there are many of the vehicles on the road being driven with this danger existing.
1999 Pontiac Grand Am suspension complaints
Page 2 of 5: complaints 11 to 40 of 107, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Front coil spring snapped. No apparent prior problems, just a clean break. It happened at a slow rate of speed and did not cause tire damage. No known cause for the break, other than possible manufacture defect. Both front coil springs were replaced at a cost of about $500.
Problems with the suspension with spring coils breaking .. Notice of pulling went for alignment and found coil right rear broke and punctured tire , had replaced and new tire and alignment , then year later front right broke and pulling again had replace asap .
The coil spring on the strut on the front of a 1999 pontiac grand am broke. This was replaced with a new spring on both sides of the car. In talking to many repair shops, this is a very common problem with this series of gm cars. This incident happened at low speed in town, but had it happened at highway speed the outcome could have been a bad wreck. The local service manager at the pontiac dealer stated this was fairly common, but they would only pay for repairs if the owner had an extended warranty. I have the old parts in my possession. This was a clean break, not something that was cracked for a period of time.
1999 pontiac grand am -- the vehicle is equipped with a coil spring-over-strut front suspension with the spring itself resting in compression between two polymer isolators. This is regarding fracture of this spring. The fractures occur in the first active coil above the lower isolator. I had both coils fracture. First (passenger front at approximately 95,000 miles and the driver front happened at about 110,000 miles). There appears to be very little wear or pitting on these coils. Coil coating is in tact and is in very good condition for the year and miles. The coils fracture in the same location. The fracture is very dangerous and can cause a puncture in the tires. I am referencing an existing complaint notice #pe03-031. Investigate reports.
Rear stabilizer bar broke causing the vehicle to spin, cross 4 traffic lanes, and collide into an 8-12" curb resulting in a shattered wind deflecter and 8-10" crack in bumper stabilizer bar was replaced along with the required nut and bolt and a 4 wheel alignment which is necessary when the stabilizer bar is replaced.
Left rear axel spindle broke while going around a sharp curve changing highways.causing the car to slide out of control landing in a ravine. Very lucky to even be alive.
Left front spring broke at first coil of spring. Car was not moving at the time, but the spring contacted the tire. Tire would have been destroyed if vehicle had been moving. Replace entire strut assembly, still have the old parts.
I heard a strange noise in a 1999 pontiac grand am, while heading for home. The tire soon went flat, and upon inspection the cause was a broken coil spring in the right front. A spare was put on the vehicle, but due to the spring being broken, the right front of the car still dragged. This happened today, but plans are being made to repair the coil spring in the near future.
Tl the contact and family member owns a 1999 pontiac grand am. On the spouses vehicle both of the front coil springs broke and on the contact's vehicle the front and rear coil spring broke. The contact was able to be drive the vehicle; however, the spouses had to be towed. The failures occured while they were driving out of the driveway at 5mph. His wifes failure was in june 2006.
I was turning from my driveway to an alley when I heard an unusual pop. I got out of the car and did a visual to see if I could notice anything out of the ordinary. At that time, it was about 5:00 am, I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. I continued on my way to work and drove approximately 1/2 a mile when I noticed smoke billowing out from my hood. Because it was dark out, I parked my car for the day and walked to work. After I left work, I had the car towed to my residence and I removed the front passenger wheel. When I looked behind the wheel I saw that my coil spring was in two pieces. I had also noticed that there was a gouge in my tire from where the coil spring had rubbed against it. *jb I had to have my car towed to the mechanic in order to have it fixed. He had to replace both front coil springs in order for the car to ride correctly. I also had to replace the front passenger tire because of the groove in it. In order to save money on labor, I also replaced the struts.
I released the parking brake--and it released really hard. While driving, there was smoke. My coil spring (right, front) broke and punctured my tire. I had to get towed to a garage to replace both front coil springs. The old coil springs were discarded.
The passenger side front coil spring has broken on 2 separate occasions. The first time, in aug. 2003, I was making a right hand turn when there was a loud bang. I got out to investigate but could not see anything wrong. Just to be on the safe side I drove it to a mechanic who upon investigation informed me that the coil spring on the passenger side had broken. It was replaced. Then in aug. 2006, I was backing out of a garage when I heard the familiar bang but this time the front passenger side dropped so I was unable to drive the car. I had it towed to the mechanic who said the coil spring had broken. Again it was replaced. What concerns me most about this is that since there are so many complaints about the same thing happening the manufacturer obviously knows there is a defect in the part yet not only do they refuse to issue a recall , they continue to sell defective replacement parts!!!!!!!! I am now afraid to drive my car as I know the part is defective and could break at any time. I have been fortunate to not have been driving at a high rate of speed the first 2 times but who knows about the next time. It's just a matter of time before it happens again!! I don't want me or someone I love to have to die or be seriously injured before something is done about this!!!!!!!!!!
Dt*: the contact stated the front passenger coil spring severely the tire without warning while driving 30 MPH down a city street. The vehicle was towed to an independent repair shop who determined that both front coils springs needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was contacted. Updated 08/25/06.
Constant rattling LED to discovery of damaged coil springs.......all 4 of them had to be replaced as every one was broken.
I was pulling my 1999 pontiac grand am out of my driveway when the car was making a strange scraping noise. I looked under the car and did not see anything touching the ground. I did not drive the car. My husband checked it out and pulled the car out of the driveway. The wheel popped as he was doing this. The car was in the middle of the street so he had to pull it forward. The tire was shredded. After jacking up the car, he saw that the spring was broken and was poking into the tire. Lucky for us this happened at home. If this had happened on the highway I don't know if I would still be here. The car is currently at the garage. We have not heard back yet. We are a bit worried, my brother-in-law also has a 1999 pontiac grand am and all four of his spring assemblies broke when he hit a pot hole several weeks ago.
No warning or event leading up to failure. 1999 pontiac grand am gt with 87,000 miles. New tires in december of 2004. While backing out of driveway, received some resistance, thought my brakes were sticking. Pushed on accelerator to back out of my driveway and heard a loud snap and ripping noise. After I heard the noise, I stopped the car and put the car back in drive to pull forward. Before hitting the accelerator to pull forward I felt the front right of my car fall down and heard an "air release" noise. I exited my car and discovered I had a flat tire. My husband removed my tire that day and found the whole inside wall of my tire open. The spring coil on the front right hand sight was broken in two and a jagged edge was exposed. I had my car towed to a nearby shop. They have not given me an estimate yet but they suspect I need new spring coils and possibly a whole new suspension. Pending on corrective action. I have contacted the manufacturer and they have advised that there are no recalls with this defect. This is a safety hazard. If I was driving at highway speeds and my tire blew, I could have killed myself. I have researched other websites such as mycarfacts.com and have found several complaints of this same thing happening to people with 1999 pontiac grand ams. I have also read the federal safety agency has done an investigation (ea03021 and pe03031). I am writing to submit my complaint in hopes that some action will come out of this. It is very sad that a company would allow this to continue to happen, especially here in america. My sister is 8 months pregnant and drives a grand am also. I worry for her safety. Is it going to take a death for this matter to be addressed? Thanks for your time.
There were no events leading up to the failure. One day after work, I got into my car and as I backed out of the parking spot, the driver's side front coil spring broke. The broken coil spring then lodged itself in my front driver's side tire, completely destroying the tire and rendering the car undrivable. The tire and coil spring were replaced at my expense. The old coil spring is available.
Dt*: the contact stated a loud pop from the garage was heard while in the house. The vehicle was towed to an independent repair shop. The passenger side front coil spring had broken. The front coil spring and both front struts were replaced. Also, the tires on the vehicle were replaced a year and a half ago. The air must be refilled in the tires every 4-6 weeks. The tire dealership stated in order to remedy the problem the entire wheel assembly would have to be replaced. Updated 3/20/2006 -
Dt: the contact stated while having new tires put on vehicle at a nearby garage the front coil springs broke. The vehicle has not been to a repair shop or dealership. No repairs have been made at this time.*ak updated 12/07/05.
Broken coil spring failure - rear of vehicle - found during yearly vehicle safety inspection.
Spring failure passenger front.
I was backing up out of my driveway when I heard a loud "bang" my driver side front fell I took my car to the shop and they discovered my spring has broke in half and of course you can't just fix the one side because if they did the other side would break so it's going to cost $736.88 to fix the front spring and it's so very nice of pontiac to have those springs in stock I'm being sarcastic if they know that there is a problem with springs why would they not do a recall, but from what I can gather is they won't even look into unless there is a death that is very sad that it would take someone's life for them to investigate.
I was driving my 1999 grand am, and the coil spring snapped and fell which resulted in the tire going up into the wheel well and the spring punctured my tire! I was able to get it off the road. I had it towed home, I called around to all of the parts stores, only to find out that you can only get a coil spring from a gm dealer, so I went to the dealer and bought a coil spring, which they had in stock because they have been selling them quite a bit(it is a common problem around here). So now I have a ton of money wrapped up in this car because of the coil spring. If the other one breaks and I have to buy another new tire, I am going to be very mad. Something needs to be done, this is obviously happening to alot of people, and I am lucky that I didn't wreck, someone is going to get hurt from these springs breaking while driving down the road.
About march 1, 2005, steering mechanism would vibrate and lose control. Front brakes would pull the car to the right. A subsequent motor vehicle accident occurred on february 7, 2005, on i80, 7pm, going southbound. Luckily no one was injured in either car ... My car was hydroplaning due to inclement weather conditions.
Both the left and right coil springs broke while driving , with the last blowing out the tire while my 16 year old daughter was driving.
Dt: the contact owns a 1999 pontiac grand am. The front tire makes a popping sound when turning the wheel left or right. The car leaned on driver's side. One could tell this if just standing outside of the car and looking at it. The vehicle has been having this problem for about a year, but it gradually got worse.
I have a 1999 grand am,purchased new. Less than 35000 miles. In march as I was backing out of my drive the entire front right of my car literally "fell" with a deafening bang. Upon service we found that the spring had broken and punctured my tire. It was embeded in the tire and was difficult to remove. If I had been driving my car down the road in traffic I probably would have been killed. The impact of just backing out of my drive was jolting and terrifying. Then to make matters worse as I was making a left hand turn onto a subdivision street from a major road june 7, 2005, I heard and felt a loud bang once again. I immediatley stopped the car as people ran to see what happened and if I was ok. Laying in the street was a piece of coil. This time it was the back right spring which broke. Fortunately it did not pierce the tire and I was able to get the car off the road. At this time I refuse to drive this hazardous car. It is costing plenty to have the rest of the springs on the car replaced. This should never have happened especially with such low milage and routine maintainance. I do not feel that it takes a death to investigate this further. This is apparently a documentated long standing problem according to the records I have researched. I did make sure that the new springs purchased were a different batch and isn't it sad that dealers are stocking these springs because they were apparently fractured internally when installed when the car was built.
On thursday may 12th I opened my car door and heard a load crack, after reviewing my car with several co-workers we found noting visible wrong. On saturday may 14th, I pulled into my driveway heard another load crack at that time the spring on the drivers side front broke into two pieces, 1 with a very sharp edge went directly into my tire. (ps same thing happened to my girlfiends 00 grand am less then 24 hours prior to mine breaking)
1999 pontiac grand am brakes creek all the time had fixed three times, just lost the spring in left rear tire , could have resulted in a accident.
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