1996 PONTIAC GRAND PRIX — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 79 complaints · 2 recalls

Verdict & Safety Summary

Most-reported system: SERVICE BRAKES (13 complaints · 16.5%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 7
  • Fires 3
  • Injuries 6
  • Deaths 0
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution SERVICE BRAKES appears in 13 of 79 owner complaints (16.5%) in this vehicle snapshot. SERVICE BRAKES: 13 complaints, 16.5% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 13 · 16.5% ENGINE: 11 complaints, 13.9% of reports ENGINE 11 · 13.9% · 2 fire reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 9 complaints, 11.4% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 9 · 11.4% STEERING: 7 complaints, 8.9% of reports STEERING 7 · 8.9% STRUCTURE: 5 complaints, 6.3% of reports STRUCTURE 5 · 6.3% · 2 crash reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 5 complaints, 6.3% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 5 · 6.3% · 1 crash reports SEAT BELTS: 4 complaints, 5.1% of reports SEAT BELTS 4 · 5.1% · 2 crash reports VISIBILITY: 4 complaints, 5.1% of reports VISIBILITY 4 · 5.1% AIR BAGS: 3 complaints, 3.8% of reports AIR BAGS 3 · 3.8% · 1 crash reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 65 complaints, 82.3% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 65 · 82.3% · 6 crash reports 2 fire reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
SERVICE BRAKES 13 16.5% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 11 13.9% 0 crashes · 2 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 9 11.4% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 7 8.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 5 6.3% 2 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 5 6.3% 1 crashes · 0 fires
SEAT BELTS 4 5.1% 2 crashes · 0 fires
VISIBILITY 4 5.1% 0 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 3 3.8% 1 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 65 82.3% 6 crashes · 2 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Jan 1996; the first recall shown was reported in Dec 2003. 1996-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 1996-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1996-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 1996-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 1997-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1997-Q3: 6 owner reports 6 1997-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 1998-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1998-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1998-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 1998-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 1999-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 1999-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 1999-Q3: 8 owner reports 8 1999-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2000-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2000-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2001-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2001-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2002-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2002-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2003-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2004-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2004-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2016-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jan 1996 Oct 2016 Recall campaign 03V527000 ◆ Recall campaign 03V527000 Recall campaign 07E021000 ◆ Recall campaign 07E021000 Investigation EA96023 ● Investigation EA96023 Investigation EA99026 ● Investigation EA99026 Investigation PE02050 ● Investigation PE02050
  • Campaign 03V527000 was reported 2,831 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
  • Campaign 07E021000 was reported 1,355 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1996-Q1 Owner reports 2
1996-Q2 Owner reports 2
1996-Q3 Owner reports 4
1996-Q4 Owner reports 2
1997-Q2 Owner reports 2
1997-Q3 Owner reports 6
1997-Q4 Owner reports 2
1998-Q1 Owner reports 1
1998-Q2 Owner reports 2
1998-Q3 Owner reports 4
1998-Q4 Owner reports 1
1999-Q1 Owner reports 2
1999-Q2 Owner reports 6
1999-Q3 Owner reports 8
1999-Q4 Owner reports 1
2000-Q1 Owner reports 2
2000-Q2 Owner reports 4
2000-Q3 Owner reports 1
2000-Q4 Owner reports 2
2001-Q1 Owner reports 4
2001-Q2 Owner reports 4
2002-Q1 Owner reports 1
2002-Q2 Owner reports 2
2002-Q3 Owner reports 1
2003-Q1 Owner reports 1
2003-Q2 Owner reports 2
2003-Q3 Owner reports 2
2004-Q1 Owner reports 2
2004-Q2 Owner reports 1
2005-Q3 Owner reports 1
2005-Q4 Owner reports 1
2009-Q3 Owner reports 1
2014-Q3 Owner reports 1
2016-Q4 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 03V527000
Recall campaign 1 07E021000
Defect investigation 1 EA96023
Defect investigation 1 EA99026
Defect investigation 1 PE02050
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (2)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 03V527000

    Report date
    Component:
    STEERING
    Consequence:
    IF THIS OCCURS, THE PINION SHAFT CAN BE FORCED UPWARD DURING LEFT TURNS AND BACK DOWN AS THE STEERING WHEEL IS MOVED BACK AND TO THE RIGHT. IF THE PINION SHAFT MOVES FURTHER, THE DRIVER WILL NEED TO EXERT MORE EFFORT TO TURN THE STEERING WHEEL, SIMILAR TO A VEHICLE WITHOUT POWER ASSISTED STEERING. IF THE PINION SHAFT MOVES EVEN FURTHER, THE DRIVER WILL REQUIRE MUCH HIGHER EFFORT TO TURN LEFT AND MAY NOT BE ABLE TO TURN THE WHEEL AS MUCH AS INTENDED. WITH THE MAXIMUM PINION SHAFT MOVEMENT, WHICH REQUIRES INTERNAL GEAR COMPONENT DAMAGE, THE DRIVER CAN ENCOUNTER HIGH RESISTANCE TO TURNING LEFT, FOLLOWED BY UNINTENDED POWER ASSIST TO THE RIGHT. IN ANY OF THESE CONDITIONS, A CRASH COULD OCCUR.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL INSTALL A NEW LOWER PINION BEARING UNLESS INSPECT OF THE EXISTING BEARING INDICATES THAT REPLACEMENT OF THE GEAR ASSEMBLY IS NECESSARY. OWNER NOTIFICATION BEGAN ON FEBRUARY 5, 2004. OWNERS SHOULD CONTACT BUICK AT 1-866-608-8080; CHEVROLET AT 1-800-630-2438; OLDSMOBILE AT 1-800-630-6537; OR PONTIAC AT 1-800-620-7668.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
  2. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 07E021000

    Report date
    Component:
    FUEL SYSTEM, OTHER
    Consequence:
    FUEL MAY LEAK, POSSIBLY RESULTING IN A FIRE.
    Remedy:
    DELPHI WILL NOTIFY OWNERS AND REPLACE THE UPR FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON APRIL 23, 2007. OWNERS CAN CONTACT DELPHI AT 877-411-8770.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot 2026-08-21
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 79 complaints · page 1 of 4

No complaints match the current filters.

EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot 2026-08-21
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

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Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources