2002 Pontiac Sunfire problems
Owners have filed 128 complaints with NHTSA about the 2002 Pontiac Sunfire. Electrical system is the most reported problem area, at 20% of complaints. Next are brakes (15%) and engine (9%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 128 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 20% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 9 and 5
- Injuries and deaths
- 15 and 2
- Typical mileage
- 29,000 miles 92 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 | 36 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 18 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 10 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 4 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 9 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 4 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 5 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 3 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 3 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 92 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 29,000 miles. For electrical system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 80,000 miles (19 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 9 complaints mention a crash; 5 complaints mention a fire; 15 injuries reported; 2 deaths reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 87% 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 2002 ranks 5th most-complained-about out of 11 model years of the Pontiac Sunfire with enough data (90 complaints in that window).
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 son was driving home the night before his wedding, was not drunk according to the coroner. The police report said he must have went off the road, overcorrected and began spinning and rolling.the car went 469 feet before it came to rest on top of him, the report says he must have been ejected through the sunroof. My son was 34 very muscular. I do not believe that unless there was something mechanically wrong with the car thar he could not have controlled it.
Blower for heater/airconditioner blew after hitting small bump on 5/26/03; fuse replaced;same problem after hitting pothole on 6/21/03 with a burning plastic smell noted on 6/22/03; brought to dealer on 6/23/03 and was told it was not the fuse it was the blower with part on order; returned to dealer and was told that a purple and white wire "melted' and "was cut back" and that a wire on the radio was not "positioned incorrectly" which may have caused the "short"; since then the floor vent blows warm to hot air…
When a turn was made, the steering made a noise, and became loose, the mechanic stated the problem was the boot and the seal, however the problem recurred two weeks later and the mechanic refused to fix the vehicle.
The gas gage on the pontiac sunfire is not stable. It will move up and down when the car is in park and still running. I have ran out of gas when the gas gage was set at 1/4 of a tank left. This needs to be fixed and I don't think I should have to pay for it. This is a dangerous thing to be happening, it could have ran out of gas on the highway in the night. Sandra