1999 Pontiac Montana problems
The 1999 Pontiac Montana has 329 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (26%) concerns engine. Next are air bags (10%) and brakes (9%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 329 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 26% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 18 and 2
- Injuries and deaths
- 23 and 1
- Typical mileage
- 60,000 miles 144 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 | 6 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 17 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 49 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 32 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 12 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 4 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 14 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 4 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 5 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 1 |
What the data shows
Of the 144 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 60,000 miles. For engine specifically, the median reported mileage is about 60,000 miles (56 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 18 complaints mention a crash; 2 complaints mention a fire; 23 injuries reported; 1 death reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1999 ranks 1st most-complained-about out of 10 model years of the Pontiac Montana with enough data (230 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 5 safety recall campaigns.
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.
The engine caught fire and all we can say is that 3 weeks prior to that, the car was worked on by the dealer to fix a colant leak between the intake maniful and the cylinder head. We drove the car up on a steep hill, the car was parked and 2 or 3 minutes later we were informed that our car's engine was on fire. Abd the car wsa totalled.
The van was involved in a head-on crash, traveling at 35 MPH and there was no deployment of the driver's side or passenger's side air bags. Van will be repaired.
While driving down a hill approximately 45 MPH brake pedal unexpectedly fell to the floor, and driver was unable to activate brake system. Vehicle went through a red light and caused a crash. Three people were injuried; 2 people in pontiac, montana received restraint related chest injuries, and 1 person in another vehicle was hospitalized with unknown injuries. Vehicle has not been examined to determine cause of the brake problem. Please provide any additional information / documentation.
Leaking intake manifold gasget at 44,000 miles. Was found by dealer when in for normal service. Told they look for this problem. This is out of warranty service even though this is a common problem on the 3.4l engine.
Dt*: the contact stated while the vehicle was parked antifreeze was observed on the ground below the front end of the vehicle. An independent repair shop replaced the intake gasket and head gasket on two separate occasions. The problem returned following both repairs. Updated 06/07/2006.