NHTSA — Power Train: Automatic Transmission Problems

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
36,451 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

1999 Pontiac Grand Prix transmission problems

transmission problem

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1999 Pontiac Grand Prix Owner Comments

problem #13

May 032011

Grand Prix

  • 158,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Driving to work as normal and took off from a full stop when all of a sudden the car was going nuts trying to catch a gear. Service engine light blinked than stayed on and now when driving between 1st and 3rd gear car sputters, shakes, slams into gear hard and I need to keep giving it gas to get it to catch so I move and don't get stuck in the middle of making a turn. It is a 99 Grand Prix SE 3800 engine sedan and I brought it to my good friend who owns a shop and the computer said it was a C1 misfire solenoid or something like that. On my engine, the left side has 3 things that 2 spark plug wires goes into each and are labeled 1/3, 2/5 and 4/6 (might be wrong on numbers). The code was saying the first one that says 1/3 was bad causing the misfire. We changed the part and the service engine line went off and car drove fine. The next morning I went to go work and at the first light, I go to take off and it starts shaking and sputters and becomes almost impossible to drive. During this the service engine line blinked than stayed on steady. Now the car has trouble catching a gear from 1st to 3rd and it feels like a roller coaster just trying to take off from a stop or during heavy traffic. I replaced everything else on the car and give up with problems. There has to be a defect that Pontiac won't admit.

- Wantagh, NY, USA

problem #12

Oct 222007

Grand Prix

  • 125,000 miles
Transmission slip's real bad. The car rocks back and forth when slowly accelerating. What will be done about this? this my only form of transportation.

- Princeville, IL, USA

problem #11

Jul 102004

Grand Prix 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
The car is dying without warning. There are no lights on the dashboard that light up when this happens. After the vehicle dies, the battery light is coming on. This has been happening for over a year. The car has been in the shop over 15 times for this same problem. The car has not been fixed at this point. Also, tried a different dealership, and they could find the problem either. The consumer says her car is a death trap, and this is happening anywhere/anytime. This past weekend the car died 4 times on the freeway. Consumer has to wait 15-20 minutes before the vehicle will start back up. The consumer has been in contact with GM and have registered two complaints on this car. Speed is not a factor and also dies while in park.

- Detroit, MI, USA

problem #10

Apr 102004

Grand Prix 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 65,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Transmission failure at 65,000 miles. Trannmission cooler apparently blew a line puttin anti freeze through the the transmission. According to my service man a recurring problem wth Pontiac Grand Prix of the 1999 body style.

- St. Paul, MN, USA

problem #9

Feb 012002

Grand Prix 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 28,000 miles
Rpms jump 100 - 200 rpms in the matter of a second or two while car is accelerating and the car "surges" or "bucks" while rpms jump up and down. Tcc solenoid in transmission thought to be problem.

- Lapeer, MI, USA

problem #8

Oct 152003

Grand Prix 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 49,000 miles
Intermittent transmission problems. Seems to occur more when the car is hot. Transmission "slams" when upshifting into any gear.

- Escondido, CA, USA

problem #7

May 052003

Grand Prix 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 48,860 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Need to repair automatic transmission on vehicle that is 4 years old and has 49000 miles.

- Commack, NY, USA

problem #6

Feb 012003

Grand Prix 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
We had to have a new transmission put into the vehicle towards the end of our warranty period. After the new transmission was put in, we started having the same problems again. The problem that we have is that the car is shuttering during acceleration. You can watch the tachometer and see it bounce up and down during the shuttering. We filed under lemon law to have the car bought back from us. During the arbitration, the car would not shutter. This has always been an intermittent problem. Many times while the car was in to get serviced on this complaint, the technicians were not able to duplicate the shuttering. Unfortunately, the arbitrator did not settle in our favor since we were not able to duplicate the problem. Now, two years later, the problem is becoming severe again. Is there anything we can do? this is the second time since we purchased the car brand new that the transmission has gone bad on us. I noticed that there was another complaint filed with the same problem. During the time that they replaced our transmission, the service manager told us that there were several other vehicles being serviced for the same thing in this region. I feel that we should have had the car bought back from us under the lemon law. Unfortunately, we are now faced with the same problem again, except it's not under warranty.

- Cresview, FL, USA

problem #5

Nov 202002

Grand Prix

  • miles
Because the vehicle had only 26,550 miles on it, owner had no reason to believe the automatic transmission should fail. The vehicle exhibited no symptoms of transmission malfunction until the trip in which the transmission failed. On the trip where the transmission failed. The car made an unusual noise and vibrated a bit when the car was placed in reverse. The same thing happened when the car was placed in drive. Each time the vehicle pulled away from a stop, it made the same unusual noise and vibration. The noise and vibration subsided once the car was moving more than five or ten miles per hour. After two miles the vehicle stopped moving after pulling away from a stop. Although the engine ran fine, putting the car into gear caused a now louder noise and vibration but the vehicle would not move in forward or reverse. The car had to be towed to a transmission shop. The mechanic removed the transmission pan and reported a heavy metal failure. The transmission had to be rebuilt. Pontiac customer assistance said that the manufacturer would provide no financial assistance because the car was out of warranty (vehicle was purchased new 3.5 years ago. Warranty expired at 3 years) the fact that the vehicle had only 26,550 miles was not a factor. Pontiac customer assistance put the owner in touch with the dealer, who said he would work with the owner if he would have the vehicle towed from the transmission specialist to the dealerS facility. When asked what work with the owner meant. The dealer volunteered that although the repair at the dealers facility might cost more than at the transmission specialists facility, the dealer might be willing to pay 50% of the repair cost. Because the work at the independent shop had already commenced. The owner did not take advantage of the dealers offer.

- La Grange, IL, USA

problem #4

May 012001

Grand Prix

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
Vehicle drives well under normal driving conditions for at least 10-15 minutes. After vehicle is driven for a while it jerks into gears. Dealer was notified as problem persisted.

- S Whitley, IN, USA

problem #3

Oct 012000

Grand Prix

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Engine is surging between 50-60 plus miles per hour range, Pontiac dealer recommends transmission change even though car only has 60,000 miles on it. Typically nothing should be done on car till over 100,000 miles. Bought as used car and dealer states I should have bought extended warranty even though I didn't have money to do so, but I bought car with 40,000 miles on it. Shouldn't have to replace when used for only 20,000 miles. Sounds like a rip-off to me. What can we do with it and can we find out previous owners and if had problems with it before I bought it? thanks alot.

- Pella, IA, USA

problem #2

Nov 132000

(reported on)

Grand Prix

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
No summary listed for above vehicle.

- Pella, IA, USA

problem #1

Jul 282000

Grand Prix

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
While vehicle was on and transmission pawl was in park, pawl jumped from park to drive on a flat surface where vehicle crashed into a tree.

- Laurel, MT, USA

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