got cutoff on a busy highway going 70mph and they slammed their brakes. i had 6 car lengths between us and immediately started braking but we were just skidding. I had the choice of hitting the vehicle or swerving left towards the median. I chose the latter. The steering locked up, the abs did NOT kick in and the airbags did NOT deploy. we hit a median at 70mph and no airbags?! I was point of impact. It hit the front drivers side, destroying the light and entire front. the car spun around and it hit again but this time it was the back passenger side/light. Again, NO airbags deployed. So my abs, steering, and airbags all had issues. We are so lucky no one is hurt in severeity but I am beyond fuming, scared, and confused why all of those locked up/failed to serve their purpose! Most severe injuries were me with contusions, strains, and a herniated disc in my neck (likely to cause chronic pain, per doctor.) cop already found me not at fault so no ticket/points, to give an idea. person kept driving. one person stopped and happened to be 4 cars behind us and verified what happened to us. The vehicle is totaled. We are sol on a car now as insurance said it wasn't worth having collision considering how old it was... never had an accident or ticket in 10+ years of driving. the car failed me.
2006 Pontiac Grand Prix steering problems
42 complaints (18% of all complaints for this car). Typical mileage when it fails: 98,800. 7 crashes reported.
- owner complaints
- 42
- of this car's complaints
- 18%
- typical mileage
- 98,800
- crashes
- 7
- recalls
- 0
Which part fails
- Linkages: tie rod assembly4
- Rack and pinion: rack1
- Rack and pinion: pinion shaft1
- Rack and pinion1
- Hydraulic power assist system1
At what mileage
Complaints by mileage at the time of the problem.
Pontiac Grand Prix steering problems in other years
Specific symptoms reported on the 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix steering
Phrases found in the owners' own descriptions, so one complaint can mention several symptoms.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Related investigations
Power steering fluid leaks - fires
General motors (gm) initiated a customer satisfaction campaign in october of 2006 to address a failure of the power steering hose and/or clamps that could occur when the engine is started in vehicles primarily operated in the following states that experience extremely cold temperatures:alaska, maine, minnesota, montana, new hampshire, north dakota, south dakota, vermont, wisconsin and wyoming.at the time this preliminary evaluation (pe) was opened, only 1 of the 33 complaints received by the office of defects investigation (odi) was from a state covered by the customer satisfaction campaign.in response to an information request sent by the odi, gm provided information that included 6 alleged fires and 1 alleged minor crash potentially related to the alleged defect. One of the alleged fires is a duplicate of a report received by odi.of the fire incidents, 2 of the 6 alleged fire incidents occurred after the remedy detailed in the customer satisfaction program was performed.one of the vehicles was totaled as a result of the incident.it is undetermined whether the incidents were related to the alleged defect or were a by product of the repair.of the other four alleged fire incidents, 1 incident involved smoke only and no visible flames.based on the information provided, the remaining 3 fire incidents were localized events that primarily involved damage to the power steering components and surrounding wiring.all 3 of these vehicles were subsequently repaired.none of the alleged fire incidents occurred while the vehicle was unattended.odi is aware of 1 additional alleged fire incident that was not included in gm's information request response.based on the consumer's description of the incident, the fire was quickly extinguished by a friend and the vehicle was subsequently repaired at a dealership.in total odi is aware of 6 alleged fire incidents where the consumer alleged flames were visible.all of the alleged fire incidents occurred while the vehicle was still attended. Odi is aware 1 minor crash alleged to be related to a power steering fluid leak.the consumer alleged a minor crash occurred as the consumer was attempting to pull into a driveway and had difficulty negotiating the turn due to experiencing high power steering efforts and struck a snow bank.in a letter dated september 21, 2009, gm informed odi that a customer satisfaction program will commence in december of 2009 for the entire us. As a remedy the power steering hose assembly for vehicles with v8 engines and the power steering return hose and clamps for vehicles with v6 engines will be replaced with upgraded components.based on the low frequencies and minor severities of the alleged fire incidents and crash,no safety related defect trend has been identified in the subject vehicles.gm's expanded customer satisfaction program will provide free repairs to vehicles excluded from the original campaign.accordingly, this investigation has been closed.the closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by the federal safety agency that a safety-related defect does not exist.the agency will continue to monitor complaints and other information relating to the alleged defect in the subject vehicles and take further action in the future if warranted.
PE09025
What 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
My power steering went out and when you try to go over 40 the car lunges forward and has a hard time shifting and will continue while in cruise control. I already had work done on the fuel line cause the line was clogged and the vehicle would lunge forward cause the fuel wasn't getting pushed through. My power steering went out after my boyfriend parked it. He only noticed it when he tried driving away and he couldn't turn the wheel like usual. The cruise control does its thing while in motion. Also the headlamps! The brights stay on, you have to hold the dimmer switch back to get the brights to turn off but if you let go of the switch they turn on and flash people. It only turns off when turning left. The AC compressor blew too. I had bought the vehicle 3 years ago during the winter so it was blowing cold air, but when summer hit is when I noticed it was only blowing air from outside into the cab. The heater works, but the AC doesn't. My boyfriend was driving home recently and couldn't move the steering wheel and almost had a head on collision because of the power steering. The power steering happened in town at his place of work and had to drive on the highway to come home. The cruise happens on the highway. The headlamps is a constant thing, we pulled the fuse that controls the brights and the dims worked just fine, but it's hard to drive at night without brights.
When I go to press on the brakes it would pull to the right ,and when I go to put on my signal light to the right my bright lights comes on and when I turn on my heater the door or something the shop told me was not opening for my heat to come out,and that's the problems I am experiencing,with the pontiac they are excellent cars but has few issues,can you please help with fixing these problems.I've reported the problem three and a half years ago and I have not heard from anyone yet my number is [xxx]thank you for your time. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
My car started on fire while on a city road because of the power steering pump pulley completely sprung off serpentine belt melted coolant reservoir melted fuse box be melted from the fire how many other things something to do with the power steering pump leaking fluid and hitting my exhaust causing a fire in my car
The bright lights stay on, my horn doesn't work, the instrument codes will blink off and on.. There is a windshield wiper motor that causes a power surge that blows out the blower motor to go out.. It has burn marks..
Went to the local convenience store to get some items, on the way back home the steering got very hard to turn. My brother investigated and found the power steering reseavore empty of fluid. He refilled it and looked under the car and found it leaking, (stream of fluid).
Idk
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 pontiac grand prix. While driving at various speeds, the power steering suddenly malfunctioned and caused the steering wheel to become extremely difficult to turn. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the rack and pinion was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure continued. The vehicle also experienced overheating and loss of anti freeze. The cause of the failure was not available. The manufacturer was not notified of the failures. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 60,000.
Steering: clicking noise when turning transmission has a light slip into 1st and sometimes hard shift into 2nd had this looked at in 2013 while it was still under warranty and the dealer didn't want to acknowledge there was a problem. This should be under recall since more people have this same problem.
I was driving down the hiway when everything just stopped the lights ,powering steering message on dash said starting disabled due to electronic throttle control took to dealer said I had a short in my iginition so put in a new 1 drove about 60 miles did it again went back they couldnt find nothing wrong with it lubed the controls & now im scared to drive it & cant really afford a new car right now as im on ss why cant they find out whats wrong with it
Questions about the 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix steering
Does the 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix have steering problems?
Owners have filed 42 complaints about the steering of the 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix, 18% of all its complaints.
At what mileage do 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix steering problems start?
The typical (median) mileage in owner complaints is 98,800 miles.
Was there a recall on the 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix steering?
There is no recall for this problem on this model year.
What year does the Pontiac Grand Prix have bad steering?
The Pontiac Grand Prix model years with the most steering complaints are 1997 (216 complaints), 1998 (89 complaints) and 2004 (64 complaints).
Other 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix problems
Electrical 65Transmission 61Lights 48Engine 38Brakes 23Airbags 19Suspension 10Visibility 10Acceleration 9Tires 7Driver assistance 5Fuel system 5Body 4Seat belts 3Wheels 3
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