On 12/23/2012 at 7:15pm we just arrived home & parked our 2002 pontiac grand prix in our garage. About 3 minutes later my daughter went into the garage & came to get me telling me our garage was filled with smoke. Our car was on fire. I tried to release the hood but it did not release. I tried to start the car to drive it out of the garage it turned over but didnt start. I tried to put it in nuetral. The gear shift moved in neutral position but the car would not release. The doors automatically locked. My brother in law and family just happened to come in the middle of these events. He hooked a chain to the car and drug it out of our garage with his 4x4 truck. The drivers window was broken to regain access to the car and try the hood release again. The hood would still not release. A pry bar was used to force the hood open. Buckets of water were continually thrown on the car during this entire event. Once the hood was open the fire was put out. The car is a total loss.

First and foremost, if you drive a 98-03 Pontiac Grand Prix 3.8L V6, keep a fire extinguisher nearby. There was a recall on this vehicle, including my former 2002, for "Engine Compartment Fire." GM says oil splashes over the manifold due to things such as hard braking, it can spark fire, come in and fix it for free. So I did. And 1 month and 3 days later, my engine caught on fire. This was a devastating issue. Myself and anyone else I was driving could have been seriously injured or worse. Luckily, it had just been parked. I parked it in my driveway, went inside, and went right back out to find smoke billowing out from under my hood. We popped the latch, saw the glow of flames, grabbed fire extinguishers, put it out, and rinsed it off in hopes that it would not complicate the fix. No problem there, the car was a total loss, in excess of $4800, which was more than KBB.

This should be a Class Action Lawsuit. GM should also pay my rental overage and deductible, at minimum. It is naturally very difficult to make GM admit fault to this issue. They make it extremely unappealing to continue further due to time and financial constraints. I filed a complaint with GM, and they may have sent out a forensic investigator eventually. I was told resolution could take up to 120 days, and they would only deal with the owner. That situation left me looking at having a dead vehicle, possibly paying for storage at their facility, and preventing me from buying another car in the meantime. It is neccessary that I drive, so I was left the other option, hand over power of attorney to my insurance company, and use the money to purchase another vehicle. From here, it is up to the insurance company, as the "owner," to further pursue investigating. I hope they do and it is worth the money they would invest. There are others out there that have had engines fires AFTER fixing the recall.

In March 2008, GM announced a plan to recall all 1997-2003 Grand Prix GTP models (as well as sister car Buick Regal GS) due to a problem which causes fires in the engine compartments of these vehicles. Over 230 fires were reported. This recall affected over 200,000 vehicles equipped with the Supercharged 3800 Series II Engine. GM sent a letter to the owners of these vehicles on March 13, 2008, instructing them not to park in garages or carports until the problem was resolved.[22] The recall for the Supercharged engine was to change the left (front) valve cover gasket, as GM says oil leaks onto the exhaust manifold cause the engine fires. However, many people in the Grand Prix community believe this recall did little to nothing to fix the fire problem, and instead the problem is likely faulty fuel rail quick disconnect o-rings. There have been reports of fires happening after the recall has been performed.[23]

In April 2009, the recall already posted for the Supercharged iterations of the 3800 Series II was expanded to cover all 3800 Series II engine-equipped vehicles after many fires were reported with Grand Prix GT and 3.8 equipped SE versions, as well as the sister car Buick Regal LS. The recall for the non-supercharged V6 is to remove the front spark plug retainer only, and a valve cover gasket is not changed on non-supercharged 3.8 engines. At this point, the recall now covers nearly 1.5 million vehicles.[24]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontiac_Grand_Prix

I want everyone who drives one, is trying to sell one, or is looking to buy these cars- BE CAREFUL. Seriously, have a fire extinguisher. We were lucky enough not to be in the car, who knows if it could have exploded if I was on the side of the road without a fire extinguisher. If you ever smell burning plastic with the underlying electrical smell, check it immediately. I never thought that smell was coming from under my hood when I got home that night, I thought someone was burning trash. This is a terrible experience, I put a lot of money into the upkeep of my car, and had an appointment to put a few more hundred dollars worth of parts in. My appointment was for Monday, it caught fire Sunday night.