Any other G8 owners?

[-The Stig-]

I can't be the only one that went out and bought one of the damn things...

I've only seen 3 other G8's out on the road in my area... one of which was mine before I bought it. (Owner of the dearship's wife was out in it.)

...and I live in Los Angeles for cryin' out loud. Car capital of the world.

[7T9Shark]

I'm surprised, too, that this forum is a ghost town. Based on some of the consumer reviews I've read elsewhere, I thought there'd be a ton of rabid owners singing its praises here. (haven't found much on the V6, though)

I'm thinking of buying a G8 (V6) and was hoping to get some straight skinny on what to expect.

So, OK Stig, tell me what you bought, what you like and dislike about your car. Does the V6 require premium fuel?

AJ

[-The Stig-]

The V6 should not require premium fuel. The GT with the 6.0L V8 doesn't require premium, in fact the owners manual recommends 87 octane for the GT. So, the V6 should be more than fine on the 'cheap' stuff.

It's a comfortable car for long trips. Stable at high speeds, and by high speeds I mean anything over the 'century' mark on the speedo. I wish it got better fuel mileage though, to get anything respectable you really have to baby the throttle.

With the 6.0, it has Active Fuel Management (AFM) where it'll shut down 4 cylinders at anything over 40mph and light throttle inputs on the highway. Unfortunately, around town in all reality the time you spend above 40mph is very little and doesn't do you any good. So, you're driving around with 8 cylinders active, even when you're idling at a light. I don't understand why the engine can't idle on 4 cylinders and stay on 4 while you're putting around town under light throttle/low load conditions. A 4 cylinder displacing 3 liters should be enough to pull the car around.

That's just a general gripe about the car... nothing major.

What I don't like about the car is the low quality that is used to build it. My car has just under 3800 miles on it. Obviously, I don't drive it very much seeing as I bought it in June of 2008. There's paint chips in the rocker panel, they look like rocks might of hit the paint and chipped it off. But where they're located nothing could strike there because the door would cover it.. hard to describe but it looks like the paint just flaked off.

Also, on the steering wheel trim piece. There's a large piece roughly the size of a quarter where the paint has rubbed off exposing the plastic. It looks like it's got over 120,000 miles of use... I just noticed this the other day. Kind of pissed me off, less than 3800 miles and it's got 'wear n tear'.

I had to have a battery module replaced on the On-star system as well. Apparently, it wasn't communicating properly.

And now my biggest complaint to date about this G8 of mine. It's pulled to the left since day one. I've brought it in for alignment countless times now, they've checked it and say the Alignment is spot on. Mostly they didn't want to touch the car at first saying it needed to be broken in. Fine, whatever. I put miles on the car and still it never went away.

After a few trips of them having the car for the day, and getting it back and only to find it wasn't fixed I was very upset. I've come to the conclusion that the problem must be in the braking system. It feels like a caliper is gummed up and gets caught up and drags on the rotor causing it to pull to the left from time to time. I say this because sometimes it'll track straight like normal, but after a few stops in traffic it'll resume it's pull as if the caliper is hung up. I've mentioned this to the service managers at my dealership and they just look at me like I'm crazy. As if I don't know what I'm talking about. I also mentioned that when I apply the brakes, it pulls more to the left and only the left. In fact, if you're driving say 10-15mph in a flat parking lot and press the brake hard enough while not holding the steering wheel the wheel will turn to the left almost 90 degrees.

The service manager told me "this is normal, it's because of the performance tires grab the road differently". I laughed at that. I said "ok, that's fine... maybe it grabs the road but what about on a flat surface like a parking lot where your theory of uneven road surfaces goes out the window?". Idiots. I keep telling them my 2001 Chevy truck with over 150,000 miles on it still tracks straight, actually it does have a slight pull now but I just need to rotate the tires on it. A new car should not have this problem.

With experiances like mine, I can't help but realise why GM is in such financial troubles.

I haven't checked any other G8 forums on the web to see what people think of them, I think mine is a lemon. It's been a headache since almost the day I bought it.

[indyram]

Have you had an other issues? What kind of mileage have you been getting?

[Pontiacforever]

I've had my G8 since January, about 5000 miles and love it !! Soul of a GTO in a four door; poor mans Cadillac CTS-V, etc. Haven't done much in the way of mods because unless you are doing track time, it doesn't need any. Over the years I've owned many Pontiacs and this is the best one yet. Too bad they're killing it off now.

I've visited the G8 Forum mostly. LOTS of very enthusiastic people there with lots of knowledge on any subject.

[meinsla]

Bought my G8 GT a couple days ago and love it. Best car I've ever owned. I got window tint put in and a grill kit is in the mail.

It's a shame this forum isn't more popular.

[AGranatelli]

Just found this forum... I am on 2 other G8 forums. My black G8 GT has 7400 miles on it and is 15 months old. Andy

[L78MARK]

Not real busy hear is it....

For what it's worth I own a G8 GXP #992........

[Tech II]

Is it me, or am I the only one who would rather have a 2005 Bonneville, than 2008 G8?

['88 Dread GT]

Man am I ever late for this thread... I just bought an '09 G8 GT. I got rid of my '01 Grand Prix GTP. The underbody was starting to rust out (apparent when I'd open the rear doors and looked at the sills...) It was 60 miles away from rolling over 200K miles, and I lost 4th gear. I couldn't justify sinking another dime into it.

This G8 hauls ass! I feel like a 45 year old teenager. First V8 car I've owned since my '76 Firebird back in '89.