No sooner had "The Dale" hit 250,000 miles that I stumbled across this 2002 Pontiac Grand Prix for sale out near Toledo. With just 45,000 on it and an asking price of $5,999, this looked to be the kind of bargain Dave Ramsey fans dream about.
The scratchy voiced, very young sounding sales boy on the phone said it was recently traded in by a "little old lady". A twenty-year-old Pontiac with just 45,000 on it traded in by a little old lady in Toledo, Ohio? Sounds like lyrics from a country song.
This vintage of the once venerable Pontiac Grand Prix debuted for model year 1997 and was built through 2003. Built on an updated W-body, originally called the "GM10" chassis that went back to 1988, this iteration of the GP was the last to be offered both as a four-door and two-door.
Pontiac built something they called "Grand Prix" from 1962-2008. At first a full-size, "sporty car", a market niche that never really took off, Grand Prix became a mainstay come 1969 when Pontiac introduced an intermediate sized coupe that spurred growth of the wildly popular personal luxury car niche of the 1970's.
Oddly enough, coupe lover that I am, I prefer the styling of the four-door to the two-door models on these "second-generation" Grand Prix W-bodies. It's as if they forgot to design a coupe when they drew up the four-door model and this is the best they could do. Unlike what Chevrolet did with the Impala and Monte Carlo come model year 2000 when they built those cars off the updated W-body chassis.
1997-2003 Pontiac Grand Prix coupes were all "GT's" so that means this one has GM's 3800 Series II V-6 engine, 3.29:1 final drive ratio, FE3 suspension (or whatever Pontiac referred to it as) and quicker responding steering box than that found on base, four-door models that were known as "SE's" This car is essentially my Monte Carlo SS with a Pontiac body and interior.
Even when these were new the styling, to me at least, was worn out. Which is interesting considering how out-of-the-box the original GM10 Grand Prix was back in its day. GM got lambasted by critics for only offering those cars, the similar Oldsmobile Cutlass and Buick Regal too, only as coupes. Well, I most certainly didn't mind but buyers with families apparently did. Four door versions finally came out in 1990 and they were as awkward looking as what a Pontiac Aztec would be.
Ironic, then, that when Pontiac redesigned the Grand Prix for 1997, the coupes looked as unfinished and ill-proportioned as the four-door models did in 1990. That's just my two cents that's not worth even that. Your opinion may vary as your mileage will. See dealer for details.
Looks aside and bargain hunter I am, I could do worse than this thing. I like their smooth, compliant ride, competent handling, excellent brakes, adequate power, spacious, comfortable interior and decent, although not great compared to a Honda Accord, build quality. My Monte Carlo is living proof of just how much you can get out of one of these things. I'd be giving up heated leather front buckets, a sunroof and a certain amount of swagger but bargain hunters can't be choosers. Well, they can to some extent but hopefully you get my gist.
Having gone through the ringer time and time again with my Monte Carlo, I know where all the bodies are buried as well in terms of what can and will go wrong. I would have to stomach this chintzy, fussy interior, though. Suddenly it's 1989 all over again and not in a good way.
I was actually surprised this was still available when I called on it. This rust on the driver's side rocker panel allegedly the only cosmetic issue. Well, that and the bland styling and the Bush I and Clinton era, rental grade insides. I made an appointment to make the one-hundred seventy-mile round trip out to the dealership to test drive it. And why is it all the "good buys" are always that far way?
I was making Cinco de Mayo dinner for my family when a text from the dealership popped up on my phone. The kid I was talking to wasn't aware that a couple had put a deposit on it earlier that day. Probably just as well as I wasn't exactly doing jumping jacks over this thing, and I wasn't thrilled about a drive out to holy Toledo. That said, I must tell you, it's getting harder and harder to find a good deal on a used car these days.
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