2004 Pontiac Grand Am

ON MY 2004 GRAND AM NOTICED AFTER USING TURN SIGNAL... CLICKING NOISE COMING FROM DASH BEHIND HAZARD SIGNAL STARTED AND NOW SMOKE HAS STARTED COMING FROM THE STEERING COLUMN WITH ONLY 43K MILES ON CAR... NOTICED SEVERAL OTHER COMPLAINTS OF THE SAME PROBLEM AND THAT THIS WAS RECALLED ON EARLIER MODELS... SHOULDN'T THIS RECALL BE EXTENDED?? *TR

SECOND COMPLAINT REGARDING THE TURN SIGNAL ELECTRICAL PROBLEM. THIS PROBLEM IS A RESULT OF A DEFECTIVE MULTIFUNCTION SWITCH AND IS PRESENT IN OTHER YEARS OF THE GRAND AM AS WELL AS OTHER GM VEHICLES. IN RESEARCHING THIS PROBLEM I HAVE LEARNED THAT IT IS NOT A MATTER OF "IF" IT WILL HAPPEN TO YOUR PONTIAC BUT RATHER "WHEN" IT WILL HAPPEN. MY PONTIAC WAS REPAIRED JANURARY 18, 2008. THE FOLLOWING IS THE DESCRIPTION OF THE REPAIR FROM THE MECHANIC: DIAGNOSE CLICKING NOISE IN DASH, DISMANTLE DASH FACE AND CHECK WIRING AND SWITCHES, CHECK TBS'S AND RECALLS. PROBLEM CAUSED BY SHORT IN MULTI FUNCTION SWITCH THAT DAMAGED FLASHER UNIT. R&R STEERING COLUMN COVERS AND AIR BAG TO GAIN ACCESS TO REPLACE MULTI FUNCTION SWITCH, REPLACE HAZARD LAMP SWITCH/FLASHER UNIT. PART DESCRIPTION: MULTI FUNCTION SWITCH ASSEMBLY (HEADLAMPS, WIPERS, TURN SIGNALS, DIMMER ALL IN ONE UNIT.) HAZARD LAMP/FLASHER UNIT ASSEMBLY. TOTAL COST $474.31. MY COST TO RENT A CAR $59.85. IF YOU WILL REFER BACK TO 2000, GM RECALL NO03043 AND 2001 GM RECALL NO03043 YOU WILL SEE THESE VEHICLES WERE RECALLED FOR EXACTLY THE SAME THING! IN ADDITION TO THE CONSEQUENCES OF A POSSIBLE CRASH AS A RESULT OF THE DEFECTIVE SWITCH THAT YOU NOTED, YOU MIGHT WANT TO ADD THAT 1) IT IS VERY DISTRACTING 2) IF THE VEHICLE IS NOT REPAIRED, THE BRAKE LITES START FAILING, THE STEERING ASSEMBLY STARTS SMOKING....AND BEST OF ALL, IF YOU TAKE IT TO CERTIAN PONTIAC DEALERS THEY HAVE ACTUALLY STATED THAT THE SMOKING WAS NORMAL DURING THE SUMMER MONTHS!!! I SINCERELY HOPE THAT SOMETHING IS DONE ABOUT THIS BEFORE SOMEONE IS KILLED. THINK OF YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS AND GIVE THIS SOME ATTENTION. THIS IS NOT ABOUT MONEY ANYMORE. *CN

THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH THE VEHICLE NOT STARTING ALL THE TIME. NO WARNING TO THE PROBLEM AND IT SEEMS THAT THERE IS NO PATTERN. ALSO HAVE A TURN SIGNAL ISSUE, THE SOUND GOES ON CONTINUOUSLY. AFTER SOME ONLINE RESEARCH I HAVE FOUND THE PROBLEMS TO BE COMMON. THE STARTING ISSUE HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE SECURITY SYSTEM WHICH I HAVE HEARD REFERRED TO AS PASSLOCK. HAVE CONTACTED GM ON MANY LEVELS, IN PERSON AND OVER THE PHONE, WITH NO SOLUTION THAT SUITS ME. CHARGED ME $40, TO TELL ME THE TURN SIGNAL WOULD BE $300 TO FIX, OR SO THEY SAY. HAVE NOT HAD AN ESTIMATE ON THE IGNITION PROBLEM BUT HAVE SEEN WHAT OTHER PEOPLE HAVE PAID AND COULD BE BETWEEN $400 AND $1000. TO HAVE THE PART REPLACED WITH THE SAME JUNK FROM GM. WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER GM VEHICLE AGAIN. IT IS A SHAME THAT OUR AMERICAN CARS PALE IN COMPARISON TO THEIR FOREIGN COUNTERPARTS. I HOPE THAT THIS INFORMATION IS USEFUL AND THAT THIS PROBLEM CAN BE RESOLVED, WITH GM RECALLING ALL OF THE PROBLEM VEHICLES AND STANDING BEHIND THEIR TERRIBLE PRODUCT. IF I CAN BE OF ANY FURTHER ASSISTANCE DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT ME. *TR

PROBLEM WITH PASSLOCK SYSTEM, CAR NOT TURNING ON, HAS LEFT STRANDED 6 TIMES WITH MY SON AT NIGHT, COSTED ME TOW CHARGES, NEW BATTERY, MISSED DAYS FROM WORK, CAR IS ONLY 50,000, BOUGHT IT BRAND NEW FROM DEALER, DRIVER SIDE WINDOW MOTOR WILL NOT WORK, REAR VIEW MIRROR FELL, TURN SIGNAL CONTINUE TO CLICK EVEN AFTER TURN MADE, AC REGULATOR BOTTOM FELL OF. THIS CAR IS A LEMON. *TR

IN MAY, MY IGNITION SWITCH COMPLETELY LOCKED UP. THE IGNITION SYSTEM IS INTEGRATED WITH THE PASSLOCK SYSTEM. MY DEALER PERFORMED THE REPAIR OF THE IGNITION SYSTEM, AND NOW, JUST A FEW MONTHS LATER, I AM HAVING PASSLOCK PROBLEMS. AFTER RESEARCHING THE PROBLEM ON THE WEB, I HAVE DISCOVERED THAT THE PASSLOCK ISSUE IS A LONG OUTSTANDING PROBLEM THE MANUFACTURER IS AWARE OF, YET THEY HAVE DONE NOTHING TO RESOLVE THE PROBLEM FOR THE AFFECTED CUSTOMERS. THE COST OF REPAIR FOR THIS TYPE OF PROBLEM IS APPROXIMATELY $380. THIS FEE IS NOT JUSTIFIED AS IT IS THE RESULT OF A DEFECT IN DESIGN OR MANUFACTURE AND SHOULD BE SUBJECT TO A RECALL AND NOT FOISTED OFF ON THE CUSTOMER. *JB