My 2005 Grand Prix GT has been one problem after another since I bought it brand new in 2005. Some of the issues occurred while the warranty was still in effect but I have spent thousands over the last 5 years since the warranty has expired getting one thing fixed after another and my car has less mileage on it then my son's bicycle.

Now I understand that its not strange for cars to require repairs from time to time but I have a very hard time understanding how a car that is only used a couple days a week and in the 8-9 years that I have owned it, it has never been driven for more then 6000 KM in any one year. This car has less then 50000 KM on it and it has already cost me more for repairs then those 3 previous cars combined..

In the late fall/early winter of 2012 I started experiencing an odour in the cabin. This odour was strongest when first starting the car and seemed to dissipate as time went on (how ever I have some people who drove around with me who insist the odour did not dissipate at all and are convinced I was simply getting used to the odour and that's why I didn't think it was as bad). This odour was very noticeable as well if you were standing outside my car when I was starting it. We were never able to agree on whether the odour was related to the fuel or the exhaust. I didn't treat it as much of a priority until some of my passengers started complaining about feeling dizzy, noxious and sick to their stomach after going for long drives, I did experience slight feelings of being noxious at times but I believe my habit of driving with my window cracked open all the time regardless of how cold it is outside helped me..

I took the car to the same GM dealership where I have always taken it for its annual service checks and where I have had my previous issues dealt with. As soon as I explained the problem to my service representative he jumped to the conclusion that the problem was related to my exhaust manifold. An hour later he came back to explain that the mechanic believed it was the manifold but they were not ready to start working on the car because they did not have a replacement manifold in stock so they would have to order one.

A few days later the replacement manifold had arrived so I brought my car in again, after the car was in their shop for most of that day, over night and part of the following day, the service rep explained to me that the car was ready. He said they did not find any cracks in the manifold so they did not have to replace it however the gasket was probably the problem and so they replaced the gasket. The combined cost for parts and the work was over $800. The service rep explained that there would be a strong smell for a few days because of all the solvents they had to use to loosen bolts while taking the engine out.

For about a week there was a very strong chemical smell coming from the engine just like the service rep had warned me about. After a week or so the chemical smell was no longer there, however the exact same odour I had originally experienced was still there, there was no change in the odour or its intensity. After complaining to the service rep that I thought they ripped me off by performing work that wasn't necessary which obviously had not fixed my problem he argued that the manifold gasket needed to be replaced regardless of whether it was the cause of the odour or not. He then suggested that I leave the car with them again so they could shampoo the engine in case there was some oil spilled on the engine and it was smelling when the engine heated up.

After the engine shampoo which was performed for free except for the inconvenience of having to go without my car for another day....the odour was still there!

After driving for a week or 2 to see if the odour would possibly go away after the shampoo I ended up bringing the car back to the dealership. At this point I was more then convinced that all of the work that was performed the first time I brought it in for the odour was a waste of my time and a complete rip off but the rep kept insisting that the gasket had to be replaced whether it was the cause of the odour or not because it was a safety issue. I still believe there was nothing wrong with my original gasket until they removed my exhaust manifold but I know the process of removing the manifold requires a new gasket be applied whether the same manifold or a new one is being put back on. The fact that they had put a new gasket on and I had no way to say whether there was anything wrong with the original gasket prior to their removal of the manifold or not, I had no way to dispute what they were telling me and I had no choice but to pay the bill of over $800 regardless of whether the original problem that I brought the car in for in the first place still existed. . Once again I had to leave my car with them because at this point I felt I had no choice because of all the time and money I had already paid out, I didn't want to start the whole process somewhere else....I guess you can say that I have a lot of distrust for mechanics these days.

This time the service rep explained to me that while they were taking the engine out of the car they discovered that one of my spark plugs was broken. He explained that that the spark plug was broken in such a manner that it was working most of the time however there were times when it wasn't firing and this caused fuel to pool up instead of burning off and that's where the odour was coming from. When I explained that I had absolutely never had any engine warning lights coming on and because I never got any warnings I had a hard time believing there was something wrong with the spark plug that could cause my problem. He insisted that he believed the broken spark plug was the cause of the odour and that he didn't think it made much sense to replace just the one broken spark plug without replacing the rest of them at the same time. I honestly believe the spark plugs I had in the car prior to all this work were from Motorcraft but the broken spark plug he showed me was a Delco. I think he had all of the plugs replaced before even talking to me because he would have had a hard time explaining to me how all of my spark plugs were Motorcraft except for the only one that broke which happened to have been a Delco. The cost of this work and the 6 new spark plugs cost me just over $280.

The odour is still there, it may not be as bad as it once was or maybe I'm just getting used to it but it is still there. Once again I complained about all the previous work that had been done which now totalled more then a thousand dollars but I would probably have been better off talking to my cat.

I left the dealership feeling like I got ripped off in more then one way and that I was being treated like an idiot because I had no choice but to take their word for everything because I'm not a mechanic.

About 6 weeks after my last visit to the dealership I had to have my car towed in because I went to the grocery store and when I was ready to come home I could not get my car into gear. The shifter would slide effortlessly from park to all of the other positions with no effort required at all but the gear would not go into reverse or drive. When the tow truck arrived he found the car had never been in park, what ever had happened it left the car stuck in neutral so I was lucky I had not been stopped on a hill before exiting it because it would have rolled away on me. The problem turned out to be a broken shift cable which according to the dealership required a new gear shift assemble as well because the pin which prevents the shifter from being moved out of part and into gear without stepping on the break first was broken as well. Here is the real funny part....the same dealer rep I deal with tried to convince me that I didn't really need to get the new shift assembly because people normally step on the break anyway before putting their cars into gear. It wasn't until after I argued with him about that being a safety feature and that my car would not pass a safety check if I left it in that condition that he agreed that a new one needed to be put in. I know GM currently has a recall which is related to shift cables breaking prematurely but the recall does not include the Grand Prix. I'm wondering if it should and I'm also wondering whether the gear shift assembly and cable may have been damaged when they were taking my engine in and out while trying to fix the previous problem with odour that never did get resolved.

I did call and complained to a Customer Care rep at GM Canada at that time but that got me no where. He explained that even though my car had less then 50,000 KM on it at that time, it was still a 2005 model and way past the end of the warranty period. As far as whether or not I got ripped off by the dealership, this Customer rep I dealt with was not about to say anything that did not back up what the dealership was saying. He did however send me a voucher for a complimentary lube, Oil and filter service as well as an 86 point Goodwrench Inspection Service. Now I'm afraid to take my car in to have the inspection performed because I'm afraid of what they might tell me needs to be fixed now.

I may try calling GM Canada again to point out that I believe my shifter cable problem was probably similar to the problem they are recalling other GM models for but I wont hold my breath.

Over the years and up to this point I have owned a number of GM's but I can guarantee you this will be my last one, I don't know what my next car will be just yet but I do know for sure it will not be a GM.

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Ok, I had this exact problem on my 2000 Grand Prix GTP - a funny exhaust smell kept creeping into the cabin. After spending $3000 replacing almost all the exhaust system including the catalytic and all the gaskets it was still there making by eyes and lungs burn and making me dizzy. So I ditched the GTP and bought a 2005 Grand prix GT and now the exact same problem has started only 2 months after I bought the damn car! I'm pretty sure it's nothing I'm doing cause I haven't done anything to it other than an oil change, cabin filter change (it was pretty black) and I put in a bottle of fuel treatment to try to fix the problem but still nothing, in fact the smell seems stronger with the fuel treatment in the tank. Seems someone else on this site is also having the same problem with a strange exhaust smell in a grand prix so I think this might be a defect that only few people actually notice.