1996 PONTIAC SUNFIRE — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 198 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: AIR BAGS (30 complaints · 15.2%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 30
  • Fires 11
  • Injuries 24
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 1995 →
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 AIR BAGS appears in 30 of 198 owner complaints (15.2%) in this vehicle snapshot. AIR BAGS: 30 complaints, 15.2% of reports AIR BAGS 30 · 15.2% · 15 crash reports ENGINE: 30 complaints, 15.2% of reports ENGINE 30 · 15.2% ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 27 complaints, 13.6% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 27 · 13.6% · 1 crash reports 9 fire reports SERVICE BRAKES: 20 complaints, 10.1% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 20 · 10.1% · 7 crash reports POWER TRAIN: 15 complaints, 7.6% of reports POWER TRAIN 15 · 7.6% · 1 crash reports STEERING: 15 complaints, 7.6% of reports STEERING 15 · 7.6% FUEL SYSTEM: 8 complaints, 4.0% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 8 · 4.0% · 2 crash reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING: 7 complaints, 3.5% of reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING 7 · 3.5% SUSPENSION: 7 complaints, 3.5% of reports SUSPENSION 7 · 3.5% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 147 complaints, 74.2% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 147 · 74.2% · 25 crash reports 9 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)
AIR BAGS 30 15.2% 15 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 30 15.2% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 27 13.6% 1 crashes · 9 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 20 10.1% 7 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 15 7.6% 1 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 15 7.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 8 4.0% 2 crashes · 0 fires
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 7 3.5% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 7 3.5% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 147 74.2% 25 crashes · 9 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 Oct 1995. 1995-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 1996-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 1996-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1996-Q3: 6 owner reports 6 1996-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 1997-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 1997-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 1997-Q3: 6 owner reports 6 1997-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 1998-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 1998-Q2: 12 owner reports 12 1998-Q3: 10 owner reports 10 1998-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 1999-Q1: 9 owner reports 9 1999-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 1999-Q3: 13 owner reports 13 1999-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2000-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2000-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2000-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2000-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2001-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2001-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2001-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2002-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 2002-Q2: 14 owner reports 14 2002-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2002-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 2003-Q1: 9 owner reports 9 2003-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2003-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2004-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2004-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2004-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2005-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2005-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2007-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2007-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2008-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2009-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2013-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2016-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Oct 1995 Jul 2016 Investigation EA98001 ● Investigation EA98001 Investigation PE02001 ● Investigation PE02001 Investigation DP03007 ● Investigation DP03007
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1995-Q4 Owner reports 1
1996-Q1 Owner reports 3
1996-Q2 Owner reports 2
1996-Q3 Owner reports 6
1996-Q4 Owner reports 4
1997-Q1 Owner reports 5
1997-Q2 Owner reports 5
1997-Q3 Owner reports 6
1997-Q4 Owner reports 4
1998-Q1 Owner reports 5
1998-Q2 Owner reports 12
1998-Q3 Owner reports 10
1998-Q4 Owner reports 2
1999-Q1 Owner reports 9
1999-Q2 Owner reports 6
1999-Q3 Owner reports 13
1999-Q4 Owner reports 4
2000-Q1 Owner reports 2
2000-Q2 Owner reports 5
2000-Q3 Owner reports 5
2000-Q4 Owner reports 4
2001-Q1 Owner reports 3
2001-Q2 Owner reports 1
2001-Q3 Owner reports 2
2001-Q4 Owner reports 2
2002-Q1 Owner reports 6
2002-Q2 Owner reports 14
2002-Q3 Owner reports 4
2002-Q4 Owner reports 5
2003-Q1 Owner reports 9
2003-Q2 Owner reports 1
2003-Q3 Owner reports 5
2003-Q4 Owner reports 2
2004-Q1 Owner reports 4
2004-Q2 Owner reports 3
2004-Q3 Owner reports 2
2005-Q2 Owner reports 2
2005-Q3 Owner reports 1
2005-Q4 Owner reports 1
2007-Q1 Owner reports 2
2007-Q2 Owner reports 2
2007-Q3 Owner reports 1
2007-Q4 Owner reports 1
2008-Q1 Owner reports 1
2008-Q2 Owner reports 2
2008-Q3 Owner reports 1
2009-Q1 Owner reports 2
2009-Q4 Owner reports 1
2011-Q1 Owner reports 1
2011-Q2 Owner reports 1
2013-Q2 Owner reports 1
2015-Q2 Owner reports 1
2016-Q3 Owner reports 1
Defect investigation 1 EA98001
Defect investigation 1 PE02001
Defect investigation 1 DP03007
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (0)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

Zero safety recalls recorded for this model year in official NHTSA 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.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 198 complaints · page 1 of 8

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 Aug 21, 2026
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.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

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