Vehicle report
1987 PONTIAC SUNBIRD
This model year
What the record shows
The 1987 Pontiac Sunbird is a compact car, and the 9th model year of a nameplate NHTSA records from 1979 to 2000.
The EPA rated five configurations: a single 2-litre four-cylinder engine, front-wheel drive only, three transmissions and running on premium gasoline and regular gasoline.
Combined fuel economy ranges from 21 to 26 mpg depending on which one you have.
The federal record holds 6 owner complaints, 1 investigation and 1 service bulletin 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.