2006 Pontiac Grand Prix Headlight Problems

Which parts fail

• Headlights
  3

Components named in complaints (headlights, tail lights, turn signals, interior lights).

Mileage when the problem started

• Under 25k
  13%
• 25k–50k
  26%
• 50k–75k
  823%
• 75k–100k
  514%
• 100k–150k
  926%
• 150k+
  1029%

Owner reports

Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix. While driving 55 MPH, the headlights suddenly failed. The failure recurred three times. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the hdm relay overheated and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred where the fuse box was burned and caused a fire. The vehicle was taken back to the independent mechanic who replaced the fuse box, the hdm relay, and battery, but the failure persisted. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 153,000. Djr

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 Pontiac. Grand Prix. While driving at night, the low beam headlights illuminated intermittently. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the fuse block had overheated and melted and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 123,000. The VIN was unavailable.

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix. While driving 20 MPH, the headlights failed. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the hdm relay overheated and melted the fuse box. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 130,000.

The bright lights stay on, my horn doesn't work, the instrument codes will blink off and on.. There is a windshield wiper motor that causes a power surge that blows out the blower motor to go out.. It has burn marks..

My power steering went out and when you try to go over 40 the car lunges forward and has a hard time shifting and will continue while in cruise control. I already had work done on the fuel line cause the line was clogged and the vehicle would lunge forward cause the fuel wasn't getting pushed through. My power steering went out after my boyfriend parked it. He only noticed it when he tried driving away and he couldn't turn the wheel like usual. The cruise control does its thing while in motion. Also the headlamps! The brights stay on, you have to hold the dimmer switch back to get the brights to turn off but if you let go of the switch they turn on and flash people. It only turns off when turning left. The ac compressor blew too. …

The headlamps of the vehicle intermittently turn off while one (either with the daytime running lights on, or the lights manually turned on). This is only low-beams. I received a notice from GM/Pontiac that they will cover the replacement, however, it's only if it's under 150,000. If this is a known issue, it should be covered under a recall, regardless of the mileage (ours is almost 199,000). The lights first turned off while I was idling at a gas station. They turned back on sometime days after that when we first drove it again at night. I was less than 2 miles from home when this first happened.. The next time we noticed this, we were about 15 miles from home, driving for about 10 minutes, and the headlights turned off as we were driving. We had to drive with the high-beams on. We got about 3 miles down the road and we were the only ones on the road. …

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix. While driving at various speeds, the vehicle stalled and the electronic throttle and reduced engine power warning messages illuminated on the instrument panel. The contact mentioned that the vehicle started experiencing the failure after being repaired according to NHTSA campaign number: 14V400000 (electrical system). The failure recurred multiple times. In addition, the contact mentioned that the headlights failed to illuminate. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The technician was unable to diagnose the failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 115,000.

In June 2015, traveling at approximately 45 miles per hour straight on a highway at night. The low-beam headlights went out. After pulling over and stopping, I attempted to get the headlights to work by trying and re-trying the headlight switches. I discovered the high-beam headlights did work and proceeded using my high beams. Intermittently I tried reverting back to low beams and, after about 15 miles, low-beam function returned. However, twice more before my 50-mile trip was completed, the low-beam headlights failed, forcing me to revert to high-beams for several miles. Since that time, this low-beam failure has occurred approximately ten times.

Low beam headlight failure. 55,000 on a garage kept vehicle. Wife returning from funeral services when the headlights went out on an unlighted roadway at 55mph. The event caused a panic and nearly lost control. The failed part that caused this is GM#15016745 and readily available at auto parts stores for 35-50 dollars. GM did recall a mess of GM products for the defective part. In conversation with GM they have yet to offer to replace my part with the $300 replacement part under that recall nor offer to take action to recall the part itself. How many unknowing people are exposed daily to this risk daily?

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix. The contact stated that there was an intermittent electrical short that was affecting the low beam lights and burning fumes emitted from under the hood. The failure progressed to the point that the low beams failed to turn off manually or by using the auto feature. A mechanic attempted to remove the low beam relay and replaced it with a new low beam relay. Shortly after, it melted into the fuses. The vehicle was to be taken to an authorized dealer for inspection and repair. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 58,500.

NHTSA investigations

Headlight complaints in other Grand Prix years