Left front spring broke at first coil of spring. Car was not moving at the time, but the spring contacted the tire. Tire would have been destroyed if vehicle had been moving. Replace entire strut assembly, still have the old parts.

- West Liberty, KY, USA

I heard a strange noise in a 1999 Pontiac Grand Am, while heading for home. The tire soon went flat, and upon inspection the cause was a broken coil spring in the right front. A spare was put on the vehicle, but due to the spring being broken, the right front of the car still dragged. This happened today, but plans are being made to repair the coil spring in the near future.

- Cheswick, PA, USA

TL the contact and family member owns a 1999 Pontiac Grand Am. On the spouses vehicle both of the front coil springs broke and on the contact's vehicle the front and rear coil spring broke. The contact was able to be drive the vehicle; however, the spouses had to be towed. The failures occured while they were driving out of the driveway at 5mph. His wifes failure was in June 2006.

- Summit Hill , PA, USA

I was turning from my driveway to an alley when I heard an unusual pop. I got out of the car and did a visual to see if I could notice anything out of the ordinary. At that time, it was about 5:00 am, I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. I continued on my way to work and drove approximately 1/2 a mile when I noticed smoke billowing out from my hood. Because it was dark out, I parked my car for the day and walked to work. After I left work, I had the car towed to my residence and I removed the front passenger wheel. When I looked behind the wheel I saw that my coil spring was in two pieces. I had also noticed that there was a gouge in my tire from where the coil spring had rubbed against it. I had to have my car towed to the mechanic in order to have it fixed. He had to replace both front coil springs in order for the car to ride correctly. I also had to replace the front passenger tire because of the groove in it. In order to save money on labor, I also replaced the struts.

- Columbus, OH, USA

I released the parking brake--and it released really hard. While driving, there was smoke. My coil spring (right, front) broke and punctured my tire. I had to get towed to a garage to replace both front coil springs. The old coil springs were discarded.

- Pittsburgh, PA, USA

The passenger side front coil spring has broken on 2 separate occasions. The first time, in Aug. 2003, I was making a right hand turn when there was a loud bang. I got out to investigate but could not see anything wrong. Just to be on the safe side I drove it to a mechanic who upon investigation informed me that the coil spring on the passenger side had broken. It was replaced. Then in Aug. 2006, I was backing out of a garage when I heard the familiar bang but this time the front passenger side dropped so I was unable to drive the car. I had it towed to the mechanic who said the coil spring had broken. Again it was replaced. What concerns me most about this is that since there are so many complaints about the same thing happening the manufacturer obviously knows there is a defect in the part yet not only do they refuse to issue a recall, they continue to sell defective replacement parts!!!!!!!! I am now afraid to drive my car as I know the part is defective and could break at any time. I have been fortunate to not have been driving at a high rate of speed the first 2 times but who knows about the next time. It's just a matter of time before it happens again!! I don't want me or someone I love to have to die or be seriously injured before something is done about this!!!!!!!!!!

- Toronto, 00, USA

: the contact stated the front passenger coil spring severely the tire without warning while driving 30 mph down a city street. The vehicle was towed to an independent repair shop who determined that both front coils springs needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was contacted. Updated 08/25/06.

- Whitman, MA, USA

Constant rattling led to discovery of damaged coil springs.......all 4 of them had to be replaced as every one was broken.

- Beverly, MA, USA

I was pulling my 1999 Pontiac Grand Am out of my driveway when the car was making a strange scraping noise. I looked under the car and did not see anything touching the ground. I did not drive the car. My husband checked it out and pulled the car out of the driveway. The wheel popped as he was doing this. The car was in the middle of the street so he had to pull it forward. The tire was shredded. After jacking up the car, he saw that the spring was broken and was poking into the tire. Lucky for us this happened at home. If this had happened on the highway I don't know if I would still be here. The car is currently at the garage. We have not heard back yet. We are a bit worried, my brother-in-law also has a 1999 Pontiac Grand Am and all four of his spring assemblies broke when he hit a pot hole several weeks ago.

- Beverly, MA, USA

No warning or event leading up to failure. 1999 Pontiac Grand Am GT with 87,000 miles. New tires in December of 2004. While backing out of driveway, received some resistance, thought my brakes were sticking. Pushed on accelerator to back out of my driveway and heard a loud snap and ripping noise. After I heard the noise, I stopped the car and put the car back in drive to pull forward. Before hitting the accelerator to pull forward I felt the front right of my car fall down and heard an "air release" noise. I exited my car and discovered I had a flat tire. My husband removed my tire that day and found the whole inside wall of my tire open. The spring coil on the front right hand sight was broken in two and a jagged edge was exposed. I had my car towed to a nearby shop. They have not given me an estimate yet but they suspect I need new spring coils and possibly a whole new suspension. Pending on corrective action. I have contacted the manufacturer and they have advised that there are no recalls with this defect. This is a safety hazard. If I was driving at highway speeds and my tire blew, I could have killed myself. I have researched other websites such as mycarfacts.com and have found several complaints of this same thing happening to people with 1999 Pontiac Grand Am. I have also read the NHTSA has done an investigation (EA03021 and PE03031). I am writing to submit my complaint in hopes that some action will come out of this. It is very sad that a company would allow this to continue to happen, especially here in America. My sister is 8 months pregnant and drives a Grand Am also. I worry for her safety. Is it going to take a death for this matter to be addressed? thanks for your time.

- West Chester, OH, USA

There were no events leading up to the failure. One day after work, I got into my car and as I backed out of the parking spot, the driver's side front coil spring broke. The broken coil spring then lodged itself in my front driver's side tire, completely destroying the tire and rendering the car undrivable. The tire and coil spring were replaced at my expense. The old coil spring is available.

- Zeeland, MI, USA

: the contact stated a loud pop from the garage was heard while in the house. The vehicle was towed to an independent repair shop. The passenger side front coil spring had broken. The front coil spring and both front struts were replaced. Also, the tires on the vehicle were replaced a year and a half ago. The air must be refilled in the tires every 4-6 weeks. The tire dealership stated in order to remedy the problem the entire wheel assembly would have to be replaced. Updated 3/20/2006 -

- Brunswick, OH, USA

The contact stated while having new tires put on vehicle at a nearby garage the front coil springs broke. The vehicle has not been to a repair shop or dealership. No repairs have been made at this time. Updated 12/07/05.

- Owatonna, MN, USA

Spring failure passenger front.

- Cranberry Township, PA, USA

I was backing up out of my driveway when I heard a loud "bang" my driver side front fell I took my car to the shop and they discovered my spring has broke in half and of course you can't just fix the one side because if they did the other side would break so it's going to cost $736.88 to fix the front spring and it's so very nice of Pontiac to have those springs in stock I'm being sarcastic if they know that there is a problem with springs why would they not do a recall, but from what I can gather is they won't even look into unless there is a death that is very sad that it would take someone's life for them to investigate.

- Middletown, OH, USA

I was driving my 1999 Grand Am, and the coil spring snapped and fell which resulted in the tire going up into the wheel well and the spring punctured my tire! I was able to get it off the road. I had it towed home, I called around to all of the parts stores, only to find out that you can only get a coil spring from a GM dealer, so I went to the dealer and bought a coil spring, which they had in stock because they have been selling them quite a bit(it is a common problem around here). So now I have a ton of money wrapped up in this car because of the coil spring. If the other one breaks and I have to buy another new tire, I am going to be very mad. Something needs to be done, this is obviously happening to alot of people, and I am lucky that I didn't wreck, someone is going to get hurt from these springs breaking while driving down the road.

- Meadville, PA, USA

I have a 1999 Grand Am, purchased new. Less than 35000 miles. In March as I was backing out of my drive the entire front right of my car literally "fell" with a deafening bang. Upon service we found that the spring had broken and punctured my tire. It was embeded in the tire and was difficult to remove. If I had been driving my car down the road in traffic I probably would have been killed. The impact of just backing out of my drive was jolting and terrifying. Then to make matters worse as I was making a left hand turn onto a subdivision street from a major road June 7, 2005, I heard and felt a loud bang once again. I immediatley stopped the car as people ran to see what happened and if I was ok. Laying in the street was a piece of coil. This time it was the back right spring which broke. Fortunately it did not pierce the tire and I was able to get the car off the road. At this time I refuse to drive this hazardous car. It is costing plenty to have the rest of the springs on the car replaced. This should never have happened especially with such low milage and routine maintainance. I do not feel that it takes a death to investigate this further. This is apparently a documentated long standing problem according to the records I have researched. I did make sure that the new springs purchased were a different batch and isn't it sad that dealers are stocking these springs because they were apparently fractured internally when installed when the car was built.

- Farmington Hills, MI, USA

While traveling at 50 mph on a 4 lane road there was a loud noise (bang) from the right front of the vehicle. Suddenly the right front tire blew out, the front of the car drop and pulled severely to the right, causing the car to travel completely accross the right hand lane and into the shoulder of the road before being able to stop. After stopping it was found that the right front coil spring broke in half, ripping into the inner side wall of the front tire for approximately 12" and seizing the right front wheel from rotaing. Replaced both front strut assemblies and the right front tire, which had less than 1,000 miles useage.

- Lancaster, NY, USA

While driving 3 mph over a mud puddle the front air bag inadvertently deployed. Vehicle was still drivable. Dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem. The left front spring broke.

- Lapeer, MI, USA

1999 Pontiac Grand Am GT was backed out of garage and a light thumping was noticeable from the front of the car. Vehicle backed out of driveway and proceeded down street - light thumping sound still noticeable. Suddenly, front left end of car dropped - steering became difficult and burning rubber smell was noticed along with some smoke coming from under front left wheel well. Car was turned around and returned home - 500 yds. Car was towed to dealer. Dealer diagonosed problem as broken spring - complete older break and new break identified in spring. Collapsing of spring also damaged strut. Spring, strut and mounting assemblies were replaced and covered under extended warranty of owner. Owner inquired about recalls and requested dealer to also replace front right spring and strut assembly. Dealer and GM representative refused to pay for front right replacement. Owner paid out of pocked $500 to replace undamaged front right assembly for fear of sudden future failure. Dealer would not allow owner to keep broken spring - indicated that it needed to be returned to the factory. Owner obtained spring/strut of undamaged front right assembly.

- North Tonawanda, NY, USA