1996 Pontiac Sunfire problems
Owners have filed 320 complaints with NHTSA about the 1996 Pontiac Sunfire. Engine is the most reported problem area, at 14% of complaints. Next are electrical system (13%) and brakes (11%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 320 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 14% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 36 and 13
- Injuries and deaths
- 30 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 136,000 miles 40 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 | 1 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 0 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 0 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 8 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 2 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 5 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 8 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 6 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 4 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 2 |
| 200k+ miles | 4 |
What the data shows
Of the 40 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 136,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 36 complaints mention a crash; 13 complaints mention a fire; 30 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1996 ranks 1st most-complained-about out of 11 model years of the Pontiac Sunfire with enough data (163 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 7 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.
My wreck happened in 2006. The air bag deployed and crushed my face I had to have titanium plates put in my face crashed my legs broke many bones.
The ets light, ABS light, and sensor for the ignition is remained on. The vehicle would not start and was taken to the dealer. The dealer had the car for a year but it still would not start. *nlm
Car turns over but will not start.brought it back to dealer and they replaced the camshaft sensor. Got the car back two days later and the same thing happened. Brought back to dealer and they said it was the oem sercrity system. Took back and are still having problems starting all the time.