NHTSA — Steering Problems

2006 Pontiac Grand Prix (Page 1 of 2)

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
6 / 4
Injuries / Deaths:
8 / 0
Average Mileage:
149,089 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.

2006 Pontiac Grand Prix steering problems

steering problem

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2006 Pontiac Grand Prix Owner Comments (Page 1 of 2)

problem #36

Jul 102021

Grand Prix

  • miles

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

got cutoff on a busy highway going 70mph and they slammed their brakes. i had 6 car lengths between us and immediately started braking but we were just skidding. I had the choice of hitting the vehicle or swerving left towards the median. I chose the latter. The steering locked up, the abs did NOT kick in and the airbags did NOT deploy. we hit a median at 70mph and no airbags?! I was point of impact. It hit the front drivers side, destroying the light and entire front. the car spun around and it hit again but this time it was the back passenger side/light. Again, NO airbags deployed. So my abs, steering, and airbags all had issues. We are so lucky no one is hurt in severeity but I am beyond fuming, scared, and confused why all of those locked up/failed to serve their purpose! Most severe injuries were me with contusions, strains, and a herniated disc in my neck (likely to cause chronic pain, per doctor.) cop already found me not at fault so no ticket/points, to give an idea. person kept driving. one person stopped and happened to be 4 cars behind us and verified what happened to us. The vehicle is totaled. We are sol on a car now as insurance said it wasn't worth having collision considering how old it was... never had an accident or ticket in 10+ years of driving. the car failed me.

- Bay City, MI, USA

problem #35

Feb 272021

Grand Prix

  • 218,000 miles
My power steering went out and when you try to go over 40 the car lunges forward and has a hard time shifting and will continue while in cruise control. I already had work done on the fuel line cause the line was clogged and the vehicle would lunge forward cause the fuel wasn't getting pushed through. My power steering went out after my boyfriend parked it. He only noticed it when he tried driving away and he couldn't turn the wheel like usual. The cruise control does its thing while in motion. Also the headlamps! the brights stay on, you have to hold the dimmer switch back to get the brights to turn off but if you let go of the switch they turn on and flash people. It only turns off when turning left. The ac compressor blew too. I had bought the vehicle 3 years ago during the winter so it was blowing cold air, but when summer hit is when I noticed it was only blowing air from outside into the cab. The heater works, but the ac doesn't. my boyfriend was driving home recently and couldn't move the steering wheel and almost had a head on collision because of the power steering. The power steering happened in town at his place of work and had to drive on the highway to come home. The cruise happens on the highway. The headlamps is a constant thing, we pulled the fuse that controls the brights and the dims worked just fine, but it's hard to drive at night without brights.

- Scott City, KS, USA

problem #34

Jun 182018

Grand Prix 6-cyl

  • 100,000 miles
When I go to press on the brakes it would pull to the right, and when I go to put on my signal light to the right my bright lights comes on and when I turn on my heater the door or something the shop told me was not opening for my heat to come out, and that's the problems I am experiencing, with the Pontiac they are excellent cars but has few issues, can you please help with fixing these problems.I've reported the problem three and a half years ago and I have not heard from anyone yet my number is [xxx]thank you for your time. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Toledo, OH, USA

problem #33

Jan 122021

Grand Prix

  • 160,240 miles

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

My car started on fire while on a city road because of the power steering pump pulley completely sprung off serpentine belt melted coolant reservoir melted fuse box be melted from the fire how many other things something to do with the power steering pump leaking fluid and hitting my exhaust causing a fire in my car

- Belgrade, MT, USA

problem #32

Feb 142017

Grand Prix

  • 179,000 miles
The bright lights stay on, my horn doesn't work, the instrument codes will blink off and on.. there is a windshield wiper motor that causes a power surge that blows out the blower motor to go out.. it has burn marks..

- West Columbia, TX, USA

problem #31

Mar 042018

Grand Prix

  • 192,000 miles
Went to the local convenience store to get some items, on the way back home the steering got very hard to turn. My brother investigated and found the power steering reseavore empty of fluid. He refilled it and looked under the car and found it leaking, (stream of fluid).

- Clearfield, UT, USA

problem #30

Oct 082017

Grand Prix

  • miles

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

Idk

- Sandy Springs, GA, USA

problem #29

Nov 012014

Grand Prix

  • 60,000 miles
The contact owns a 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix. While driving at various speeds, the power steering suddenly malfunctioned and caused the steering wheel to become extremely difficult to turn. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the rack and pinion was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure continued. The vehicle also experienced overheating and loss of anti freeze. The cause of the failure was not available. The manufacturer was not notified of the failures. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 60,000.

- Buffalo, NY, USA

problem #28

Nov 222013

Grand Prix

  • miles
Steering: Clicking noise when turning transmission has a light slip into 1st and sometimes hard shift into 2nd had this looked at in 2013 while it was still under warranty and the dealer didn't want to acknowledge there was a problem. This should be under recall since more people have this same problem.

- Columbus, OH, USA

problem #27

Oct 302015

Grand Prix

  • 98,800 miles
I was driving down the hiway when everything just stopped the lights, powering steering message on dash said starting disabled due to electronic throttle control took to dealer said I had a short in my iginition so put in a new 1 drove about 60 miles did it again went back they couldnt find nothing wrong with it lubed the controls & now im scared to drive it & cant really afford a new car right now as im on ss why cant they find out whats wrong with

- New York Mills, MN, USA

problem #26

Sep 192015

Grand Prix

  • 100,000 miles

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

The contact owns a 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix. While driving approximately 40 mph, the steering wheel seized and the vehicle stalled without warning. As a result, the vehicle rolled into the curb. After attempting to restart the vehicle, the front of the vehicle caught fire. The contact was able to extinguish the fire. A fire report was not filed and no injuries were reported. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 100,000.

- Virginia Beach, VA, USA

problem #25

May 012014

Grand Prix

  • 225,000 miles
The contact owns a 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix. While making a right turn, an abnormal noise emitted from the steering wheel. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that the steering knuckles fractured and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was to be further diagnosed by the mechanic to determine if additional components needed to be replaced. The contact was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 09E005000 (steering). The manufacturer was notified of the failure and provided no remedy. The approximate failure mileage was 225,000.

- Parshall, ND, USA

problem #24

May 162015

Grand Prix

  • 130,000 miles
The contact owns a 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix. While traveling less than 15 mph to enter a drive thru, the steering wheel locked to the right and the vehicle crashed into a wall. The contact had extreme difficulty unlocking the steering wheel and the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was unable to be driven. The contact was able to get the vehicle to restart the next day and it was driven to a repair shop. The insurance company repaired the body work. The ignition switch failure and power steering failure were not inspected or diagnosed. The vehicle was included in NHTSA campaign number: 14V400000 (electrical system), but the contact had not received the recall repair appointment. The VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 09E005000 (steering). A police report was not filed and there were no injuries. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 130,000.

- Cleveland, OH, USA

problem #23

Oct 072014

Grand Prix

  • miles
The contact owns a 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix. The contact stated that while driving approximately 45 mph, the steering wheel seized and the vehicle stalled as the check engine warning light illuminated intermittently. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the technician informed that the vehicle was operating as designed. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 14V400000 (electrical system) however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

- Garyville, LA, USA

problem #22

Nov 012014

Grand Prix

  • 146,000 miles
2006 Pontiac Grand Prix: Vehicle engine shuts off while driving regardless of the speed you are going example: 10-65mph, steering wheel locks up so you can't pull to the side of the road to avoid crash. A month or so before engine started shutting off my airbag light an tone was appearing and alarming... I've almost been crashed into 4 times by semi's an school buses. This is very serious an dangerous it almost caused my life an I am 7 months pregnant with a 6 year old who has also been in the car with me. I hope this gets resolved I wasn't warned of any recall good thing I started googling an found out that there has been a recall on my ignition/electrical system.

- Louisville, KY, USA

problem #21

Jan 012013

Grand Prix

  • miles
The contact owned a 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix. The contact stated that while driving approximately 40 mph, the vehicle veered to the right and the power steering failed and caused the vehicle to crash into a store. The air bags failed to deploy. A police report was filed. The contact did not sustain any injuries. The vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unavailable.

- Philadelphia , PA, USA

problem #20

Mar 152014

Grand Prix

  • 80,000 miles
The contact owns a 2006 Grand Prix. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 mph, the steering wheel became difficult to turn without warning. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that the rack and pinion needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacture was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 80,000.

- Chicago, IL, USA

problem #19

Jul 102013

Grand Prix 6-cyl

  • 981,125 miles
My lights go off on there own no warning an then the brights come on an stay on an when I try yo use the signal lights all the lights in the car cuts off and when I was driving my brakes. Sometimes not all the time they've been checked several times and each time they have been checked there's nothing wrong with itand now my steering column have a problem with it don't know what's causing it don't know what's wrong but its hard for me to turn my car now.

- Grand Rapids, MI, USA

problem #18

Sep 202014

Grand Prix 6-cyl

  • 131,000 miles
I was driving West bound on I-10 towards tucson Arizona. I was in the right lane and there was a pickup truck in the left lane. The pickup truck cut me off and moved into my lane without checking his blind spot. I quickly swerved to the right into the lane for the upcoming exit to avoid being hit, and when I tried to correct to left in order to not hit exit sign the brakes felt as if they did not work right and I couldn't get control of the vehicle. The car went into a roll and landed on the passenger side. None of the airbags deployed. I had left town the day before and was on my way back. When I contacted my parents about the accident on the 21st they told me that a recall had come in the mail the day before for my vehicle. The recall was the GM recall notice. Because I was unaware of the recall I had many keys on my key ring. I feel that although the reason I had to swerve was because of another car, the reason I couldn't get back control was a malfunction in my car.

- Gilbert, AZ, USA

problem #17

Apr 082014

Grand Prix

  • 80,000 miles
Were traveling and without warning the car stopped running and we were on a very busy highway and barely were able to get off the road and out of traffic area. Had to have the car towed (this expense I think GM should be responsible for now that there is a recall. Also, how can they justify that we wait until October 1st to have their goof-up repaired. At times it is difficult to even get the key in the ignition to start the engine.

- Temple, TX, USA

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