2001 Pontiac Grand AM Burnt Up

Driving home a few days ago and our Grand Am just died on us as we were driving down the road. All of the lights started dimming slowly and then the power steering died.

It was late at night so we left the car at the side of the road and were going to get it towed the next morning. We get home and around midnight from the police saying that the car was found on fire where we had left it.

Totally destroyed.

Never, ever again will I buy a Pontiac.

Sorry to hear about your car, but that sounds a little bit suspicious that you car was found on fire.... it sounds like someone may have did that on purpose... like someone thinking it was funny to torch a car that's on the side of the road. The lights dimming to nothing sounds either like a battery or altenator issue. I do feel that it's a little premature for you to judge pontiac by a mishap such as this, unfortunet as it may be though.... unless you've had several pontiacs in the past with lots of problems... I would though see if the insurance company will investigate into the possiblity of arson.

We have had several problems with this car.

Insurance company is looking at the car either today or tomorrow I think. According to the police report the fire department said that the fire started in the "passenger compartment of the car".

Either way, whether it be the car or if someone did it I just can't believe that I have lost my car.

I can just imagine how frustrating this must be, I haven't been put in that situation yet, but i've seen the frustration through my brother who just was told his car was totalled yesterday due to an accident. Hopefully the insurance company will be fair with your car... Good Luck

That really really sucks, Pieter. I don't even know what to say. My car was totalled once, but we bought it back and restored it to good as new (with a salvage title), but obviously there just aint no fixin yours. I'm really sorry man.

PieterMC, So Sorry to read your thread, But like grfnkl states there is something suspicious about the fire, especially if the battery was dead, it sounds like that was happening if the lights went dim and then out. If the battery was dead there was no source of power for a short to cause a fire on the interior of the car. Unless something over heated and caused your initial problem and went un-noticed behind the dash there would be no other way for a fire to start, at least I would not think so.

Well, good luck, I hope everything works out to your advantage, and at the very least everyone is safe. Take care,

Sorry to hear about your car. Sounds like the alternator failed causing the battery to die and the car to shut down, the fire sounds like arson but a thorough investigation will determine that. Have you had a lot of problems with Pontiacs? They make pretty good cars (based on my experience of owning three different platforms of Pontiacs). Anyway, good luck with the insurance.

nice way to get rid of your 01 ...