Vehicle report
1985 PONTIAC FIREBIRD
This model year
What the record shows
The 1985 Pontiac Firebird is a subcompact car, and the 11th model year of a nameplate NHTSA records from 1975 to 2002.
The EPA rated eleven configurations: engines from 2.5-litre four-cylinder to 5-litre eight-cylinder, rear-wheel drive only, three transmissions and running on regular gasoline.
Combined fuel economy ranges from 17 to 24 mpg depending on which one you have.
The federal record holds 16 owner complaints and 1 investigation for it.
Counts are reports, not rates. A complaint is something an owner chose to file; it is unverified and unadjusted for how many of these cars were sold, so the useful comparison is against other model years of the same car. Recalls and investigations carry more weight because a manufacturer or regulator acted on them.
Reading this report
Complaint counts are reports filed with NHTSA, not failure rates. A common model collects more of them than a rare one that breaks more often.