NHTSA — Suspension: Front Problems

2004 Pontiac GTO (Page 4 of 4)

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
16,571 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.

2004 Pontiac GTO suspension problems

suspension problem

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2004 Pontiac GTO Owner Comments (Page 4 of 4)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #11

Feb 192006

GTO

  • miles

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

I reference claim ODI#10116796. I am having this same problem. My tires are rubbing on my front strut and are completely bald. If I wouldn't have caught it by accident a blow out would have surely occurred.

- Olathe, KS, USA

problem #10

Feb 072006

GTO 8-cyl

  • Manual transmission
  • 21,690 miles
: the contact stated the tire were worn smooth. The vehicle was taken to a dealer for inspection where it was discovered the wear was caused by defective front strut towers. The towers were making contact with the side wall of the tire resulting in the premature wear. The dealer was able to determine the cause of the problem, however no clear remedy was determined. Updated 03/28/06.

- Mentor, OH, USA

problem #9

Oct 152005

GTO 8-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 9,000 miles
My factory-installed tires wear against the strut, especially on the passenger side. This has caused the dealer to recommend that I replace the tires with only 9,000 miles on the vehicle. GM refuses to do anything at all about this problem, and expects me to replace the tires as needed.

- Frisco, TX, USA

problem #8

Jul 062005

GTO 8-cyl

  • Manual transmission
  • 4,000 miles

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

I reference claim ODI#10116796. I am having this same problem. My tires are rubbing on my front struts. Dealership has said that Pontiac has admitted the problem but says there is no fix.

- East Providence, RI, USA

problem #7

Jan 012005

GTO 8-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
The contact owns a 2004 Pontiac GTO. The vehicle will begin to shake in the front end at about 60 mph. The dealership has been unable to address what the cause of the problem was. Dealership stated there was an error to the car, and there was no solution for problem. It was inherent to the car. This last statement was from repair invoice. The dealership statesdthey test drove the vehicle and a slight vibration appeared at 60 mph. Thiswas an inherent in this vehicle. GM was aware and no solution was available.

- Burlington, WI, USA

problem #6

Jun 162005

GTO 8-cyl

  • Manual transmission
  • 6,000 miles
Tire causes rubbing on the front strut, namely and more commonly the passenger side strut. This is evidenced by a rubbing mark on the strut body and many times wear marks on the tires themselves. In some cases, front suspension binding has occurred. In other cases, tire replacement was necessary.

- Boyertown, PA, USA

problem #5

Jun 142005

GTO 8-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles

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

"I reference claim oid#10116796. I am having this same problem. My tires are rubbing on my front strut." And add anything else neded. I used the component discriptors of "suspension: Front" and "suspension: Front, macpherson strut".

- Thousand Oaks, CA, USA

problem #4

Feb 192005

GTO 8-cyl

  • Manual transmission
  • 17,000 miles
I reference claim oid#10116796. I am having this same problem. My tires are rubbed on my front struts and after rotation all 4 tires were worn. Two of them were worn down to the cords and all 4 tires needed immediate replacement. The dealer said that this problem was not covered by warranty and refused to replace my dangerously worn tires. This condition could have easily caused a blowout. I did save the least worn of the 4 tires for a full size spare and have a picture of the damage done to worst of the 4. history: The 2004-2005 Pontiac GTO is an imported version of the australia holden monaro. The holden manaro comes from the factory with 235/45R17 tires, tires that are generally 235mm (9.25") wide. However, when Pontiac spec'd the GTO for the us, they finally decided on a 10mm wider tire, a 245/45R17 bf goodrich G-force kdws tire. Current problem: The larger tire causes rubbing on the front strut, namely and more commonly the passenger side strut. This is evidenced by a rubbing mark on the strut body and many times wear marks on the tires themselves. In some cases, front suspension binding has occurred. In other cases, tire replacement was necessary. This is due, in fact, to the increase in size of the tire that Pontiac has chosen to put on the imported version. Several Pontiac dealerships are aware of this problem, and it has been speculated that Pontiac is aware as well. Future problems: Tires are not all the same size. One 245/45R17 tire can be smaller or larger depending on the manufacturer of the tire. There is a strong posibility that when a consumer replaces his/her worn factory tires with another set of tires, of the same "size", that they would be even larger and could cause serious problems. In light of the Ford-Firestone tire problems, I believe this is a situation that should be researched. Please note: Dealership lot cars would most likely not demonstrate this problem as they will not have been driven enough to cause the rubbing.

- New Port Richey, FL, USA

problem #3

Jan 122005

GTO 8-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 1 miles
Front tires on this vehicle rub on the front struts. Concern is the effect of the rubbing on the structure of the tire. As of yet there are no failures that I am aware of due to this problem. GM is aware of the problem, but has failed to address the issue with owners.

- Chandler, AZ, USA

problem #2

Jan 202005

GTO 8-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 2,000 miles
History: The 2004-2005 Pontiac GTO is an imported version of the australia holden monaro. The holden manaro comes from the factory with 235/45R17 tires, tires that are generally 235mm (9.25") wide. However, when Pontiac specs the GTO for the us, they finally decided on a 10mm wider tire, a 245/45R17 bf goodrich G-force kdws tire. No changes were made to the suspension of the vehicle for us import though. Current problem: The larger tire causes rubbing on the front strut, namely and more commonly the passenger side strut. This is evidenced by a rubbing mark on the strut body and many times wear marks on the tires themselves. In some cases, front suspension binding has occurred. In other cases, tire replacement was necessary. This is due, in fact, to the increase in size of the tire that Pontiac has chosen to put on the imported version. Several Pontiac dealerships are aware of this problem, and it has been speculated that Pontiac is aware as well. Future problems: Tires are not all the same size. One 245/45R17 tire can be smaller or larger depending on the manufacturer of the tire. There is a strong posibility that when a consumer replaces his/her worn factory tires with another set of tires, of the same "size", that they would be even larger and could cause serious problems. In light of the Ford-Firestone tire problems, I believe this is a situation that should be researched. Please note: Dealership lot cars would most likely not demonstrate this problem as they will not have been driven enough to cause the rubbing.

- Norman, OK, USA

problem #1

Jul 042004

GTO 8-cyl

  • Manual transmission
  • 4,300 miles
Immediately after purchase, heard grinding noise from right, front tire when turning and backing up. Also noticed that steering wheel was slightly turned to the left while driving straight down the road. Before 5000 miles I noticed an ever increasing rough ride and that the steering wheel vibrated badly while driving, also noticed that the inside of both front tires were worn completely bald. The right front tire even had the cords hanging out. Immediately after discovering this, I took the car to the closest Pontiac dealer. After being harassed and turned away by the local dealer, I was forced to take the car to the original selling dealer over 2 hours away. Dealer discovered that the right front strut was bent, which caused this severe alignment issue, which made the tires rub while turning, also caused the steering wheel to be turned while driving straight and also wearing out both front tires to the point that driving on them was very unsafe. Dealer replaced the bent strut, while stating that they could not find any evidence of a road hazard that would have caused this failure after delivery of the vehicle. Also replaced the front tires. Then the GM (Indiana ) regional service manager refused to cover the cost under warranty stating that I could have caused this failure after delivery (even after dealer stated that their was no evidence of customer damage) also stated that struts were not covered under the GM 3yr 36K mile warranty. The dealer feeling badly, gave me a set of tires off of another GTO that they put new tires and rims on. This GM "pre delivery" defect was very costly to me and even more importantly, could have cost me my life due to the potential for a tire blow out due to this GM alignment issue. Pontiac customer service, after weeks of appeals, has refused to reimburse me. This is terrible and I advise any GTO owner to check his or her front tires and alignment for unusual wear before it is too late.

- Losantville, IN, USA

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