Hi, I'm new here as you already know and while I don't own a GP right now, I hope to soon. I need to replace my current truck. A Bronco. I've been looking into some of my favorite cars to replace that with.
Anyway, I plan to buy myself a '97-03 Grand Prix GT (GTP if I can find one for the right price) because I really love Pontiacs and GP's. Anyway, I've got some questions about the GP.
First of all, is it reliable? This is the reason I'm replacing my Bronco as I just can't rely on it at all. The second question would be, WHEN it breaks, are parts for it cheap? As well if it's something I can't fix myself, what would the price at a shop cost me?
Thanks for the info!

Welcome, Look for a 98 or newer. 97s had more then there share of problems. Try for the GTP if you settle for the GT you'll end up kicking yourself. As for reliability I've heard many of owners surpasing 150k with out a single problem. The transmissions are the weak point but as long as you avoid one wheel burn outs you should be fine or as long as you dont try and run 12s in the quarter you'll be fine. As for replacement parts well they are on par with other makes. Aftermarket parts can be a bit scary since there isn't alot of competition. I've had my GTP since september and I'm still in love with it. Happy hunting and down now that it's spring.

Welcom to the group. Sorry HercMan... I can't say I agree with necessarily avoiding '97s. But then again I suppose I'm somewhat biased seeing as I own one. Anyway, they're all good cars depending on how they're treated. Granted... sometimes you come across a lemon, in which case there's really nothing you can do about that. Just the luck of the draw. How well a car performs and how long it lasts has A LOT to do with maintenance. As I stated above, I have a '97 and currently have 189K miles on the original engine and tranny. Plus, most of the mods you see below have been on since around 50K miles. I have a regular maintenance schedule I follow religiously and it hasn't let me down. BTW, that goes for just about any brand or model car you buy.

Good luck with you purchase,
Marc

Welcome. Definetly don't get a '97. And get a GTP, in the last couple years, they've depreciated enough to not really be that much more expensive than a GT. I've had some problems with my '97, but jus stupid little things. I've never had a single engine problem (90,000 miles). Ward's had the 3800 Series II engine on their top ten best engines ever list. Right up there with the Mustang 5.0 and the Jeep Inline-6.

Well I don't know so much about getting a GTP.
I'd really like to get one, but my options are rather limited.
When I sell my truck, I'm hoping for around 4k for it, then I'm gonna save up an extra 6k or so to grab a GT. I've seen one GTP in that price range, but I don't have the funds currently. I'd love a GTP, but it's all about affordibilty, heh.
Are GT's really that bad? I know the difference between the two is around 45HP, right?
GT - 195Hp
GTP - 240Hp
Done some reseach on Grand Prix in the past cause I really like em.
Whats bad about the GP, besides the HP difference (I plan to mod it out, I know it wont be as fast as a GTP, but hey)? Think I outta just wait a little longer and save-up the extra funds and go for the GTP? It seems around here the difference between the GT and GTP can be anywhere from 1k to 2k for a '97-00.
Could you guys give any more specific info on why the '97 is bad?

Oh, I read on one of my other favorite car places (www.shotimes.com) that GTP's and Taurus SHO's have annual show downs? Thats sounds really cool, anyone know anything about that?
Was originally thinking about a SHO, but decided it would be just as expensive as my truck and about as reliable, so. heh.

Thanks for the info.

You can pick up a GTP for between 8k and 10k and if you want to mod the car your best bet would be to grab a GTP. It takes a great deal more cash to make a GT compete with the GTP then it does to make a GTP a 13 sec car.

Fair book value (Kelly Blue Book) on my GTP is only $6000. It's a '97 with 90,000 miles. You could pick up one with lower mileage or a '98 for a little more than that.

I don't know why the '97s are getting such a bad rap. As far as I can tell, they aren't any worse than any other model. Granted, they were the first run on that body style... but they can hold their own fit and finish. Again... Just my opinion.

Marc

With the '97's, they were split between lemons and perfect cars. Marc seems to have gotten the perfect car, some people get complete crap (mine's in between there somewhere). It's like that with almost any car, but it seems a little more common on the 97's. I suggest buying the newest Grand Prix you can afford.

Here's a good list of model changes with each year. It's not complete by any means, but it gives an overall idea of what was changed with each year. You might see something in there that would make you pick a different model year. With this list, you can also weed out the stuff that you don't care about and possibly buy an older one too.

http://www.zzperformance.com/zzp/info/info_model_changes.htm

Awesome! Thanks for the info guys!
I'll be visiting this site a lot in the future I think! Espessially when I plan to mod out my GTP!

97`S have a weaker tranny I thought, and of course the problems related to a new body style, but usually when you buy a used car, these problems are corrected already. there is a link in this site that talks about GP`s usual problems, again I don`t want you to get discouraged to buy one, think that most of these problems have been fixed by now.

Buying a 97 isn't such a bad idea any problem's with the car should be fixed by now and you should be able to buy reasonabley cheap ,If your not mechanicaly enclined try for a gtp modding a gt even into the 14's takes nohow & $ but the gt's a nice car to play with and the3.8 is strong welcome to the club anyway.

Actually, the '97s have a slightly stronger tranny. I tried finding the reference over on ClubGP's message board, but couldn't locate it. It had something to do with having to switch to a different supplier of internal parts. Apparently, the new supplier's parts weren't hardened to the same standard of the original supplier.

If anyone can locate that thread... I'd appreciate a link.

Thanks,
Marc

i knew I have seen this somewhere, don`t mean to sound like a know it all but ... I was right.

http://thrashercharged.com/tech_htm/FAQ-4t65E.shtm

You guys do make a good point that most of the problems on the '97 Grand Prix have been fixed already. A lot of the habitual problems do occur in the first couple of years. My car really hasn't had too many problems since it turn 75k miles or so.