1999 Pontiac Firebird problems
Owners have filed 76 complaints with NHTSA about the 1999 Pontiac Firebird. Brakes is the most reported problem area, at 28% of complaints. Next are electrical system (12%) and drivetrain & axles (9%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 76 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Brakes 28% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 6 and 0
- Injuries and deaths
- 3 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 51,000 miles 32 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 2 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 9 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 10 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 11 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 0 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 0 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 0 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 32 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 51,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 6 complaints mention a crash; 3 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1999 ranks 3rd most-complained-about out of 11 model years of the Pontiac Firebird with enough data (55 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 1 safety recall campaign.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
There is no reason for air bags to deploy after hitting a curb, and that is where all the damage came from on my car.
Whenever accelerator pedal is applied, the pedal would stick to floor & would not let up. Vehicle would suddenly take off. Would apply brakes, but vehicle fail to stop. Vehicle hit a curb & went airborne & landed 200 feet facing the other direction. Drive vehicle to shop to have mechanic check the throttle linkages on vehicle.
My service engine soon light keeps coming on (steady and flashing). All in less than 2 months I have had to replace the battery, path lock sensor and ignition cylinder, remote alarms and keys, spark plug wires, clean fuel injectors, replace serpentine belt and upgraded my gas octane in a v6. And now the stupid service engine soon light is on again and the engine is hesitating and the bearings on pulleys are making a noise (after replacing the serpentine belt). I have receipts for all of it so far.
Tl* the contact owns 1999 pontiac firebird. The contact stated the vehicle clutch system disengaged whenever the clutch pedal was depressed. This caused the vehicle to have unintentional vehicle movement, increased stopping distances and difficulty in shifting. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnose that the clutch master cylinder failed. The dealer was notified who stated there was a recall NHTSA campaign id number: 99v239000 (power train: clutch assembly).