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Path: utzoo!utcs!mnetor!clewis
From: clewis@mnetor.UUCP (Chris Lewis)
Newsgroups: net.auto
Subject: Re: Info wanted on Nissan Maxima and Pontiac Grand Am
Message-ID: <1091@mnetor.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 26-Jun-85 13:40:09 EDT
Article-I.D.: mnetor.1091
Posted: Wed Jun 26 13:40:09 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 28-Jun-85 11:40:58 EDT
References: <5493@cbscc.UUCP>
Reply-To: clewis@mnetor.UUCP (Chris Lewis)
Organization: Computer X (CANADA) Ltd., Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Lines: 59
Summary: 

In article <5493@cbscc.UUCP> co@cbscc.UUCP (Corinna Owens) writes:
>
>I am considering buying the Nissan Maxima or the Pontiac Grand Am
>(automatic with a 3.0 V6 engine).  I would appreciated any 
>info/experiences netters have had with these autos.
>...
>They do say to beware of GM autos their first year.  What do you think?

I'd like to recount some experiences that I've had, that will point out
the problems of buying a new-model car, particularly the Grand Am:

My wife and I were looking at a Grand Am a little while ago, with the
intent of possibly buying one.  We liked it a lot.  Being a small-scale
do-it-yourselfer, I looked under the hood to see whether I could do
some of the routine maintenance.  The engine (I'm not sure of the
size), was a mechanical masterpiece.  It seemed to be a rectangular
block of Aluminum (or some other metal - doesn't really matter) with
wires, pipes, and hoses sticking out.  I thought that the engine was
really neat.  But, then I tried looking for the oil filter.  The sales
rep and I looked for 15 minutes and couldn't find it.  (No
flames/corrections - If I bought one I'd look it up in the manual).
Later, I thought some more and remembered that there are major
problems with cars using new subsystems:

	1) Ordinary mechanics don't know how to repair them (yet) -
	   so you are a prisoner of the dealers and they always charge more.
	   And it will take longer.

	2) New subsystems frequently have problems, eg:
		a) 1980 Citations had severe problems with their transaxles
		   (My mother's car has had the bushings replaced twice -
		   once under warrantee, the second by my father and I -
		   NOT a nice job - even though we managed to do it without
		   removing the transaxle).  They didn't really get
		   rid of this problem until the '82 model year.
		b) 1980 Citations are very difficult to work with because
		   the engine is "odd" (you gotta take off the right front
		   tire to change the oil filter, replacing belts sometimes
		   requires removing the air-conditioner and some body
		   struts, and replacing the ignition subsystem may require
		   hoisting the engine - a $500-$800 CDN job!)

	3) It takes 2-3 years for 3rd party parts manufacturers to make
	   parts for them - if they ever do.  Again, you are a prisoner of 
	   the manufacturer's higher price parts.  The problem is worst 
	   when your model is the only one that uses a part - we're still 
	   looking for wiper blades for our '83 Century!  (GM doesn't seem
	   to make them anymore, nor the adapter, and I refuse to buy 
	   new wiper arms with a different mounting mechanism!)  Even 
	   now, my 75 Valiant's air filter is 1/4 the cost of a 80 
	   Citation's.

The Grand Am sure was neat, but I've never seen anything like that engine
before.  I wouldn't buy one until the engine has proven itself and has
become somewhat of a "standard".  Slant-6's - I love 'em!
-- 
Chris Lewis,
UUCP: {allegra, linus, ihnp4}!utzoo!mnetor!clewis
BELL: (416)-475-8980 ext. 321