1997 Pontiac Sunfire problems
Owners have filed 257 complaints with NHTSA about the 1997 Pontiac Sunfire. Steering is the most reported problem area, at 17% of complaints. Next are electrical system (14%) and brakes (13%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 257 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Steering 17% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 35 and 10
- Injuries and deaths
- 21 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 96,000 miles 56 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 | 5 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 5 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 6 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 14 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 8 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 7 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 1 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 6 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 3 |
What the data shows
Of the 56 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 96,000 miles. For steering specifically, the median reported mileage is about 99,000 miles (15 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 35 complaints mention a crash; 10 complaints mention a fire; 21 injuries reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 81% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1997 ranks 2nd most-complained-about out of 11 model years of the Pontiac Sunfire with enough data (138 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 6 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.
During impact at 5 to 10 MPH, the driver's and passenger's side air bags deployed, causing driver to sustain burns to the skin, and passenger sustained a broken arm.
Consumer had head on collision and air bags did not fully inflate, causing consumer to hit the steering wheel with chest.
Involved in a front end collision at 5 MPH both airbags deployed and busted windshield, and it hit driver's face and chest.
I bought my car in oct 1999 since I have had 3 recalls.none of those are the other problems I have experienced or repaired already. In 2000 I had to replace the front wheel beearing in the passenger side that was in bad condition,in 2001 I had to replace the rear strut mounts becasue the were dried and cracked, I month ago my wipers broke a pin and clip broke and they stop in the up position. Now my window on my drivers side will not go up or down I have been having problems with it for about a year now.
While driving 35 MPH vehicle stalled. Consumer managed to pull over ,and had the vehicle towed. Dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem.