Vehicle report
2003 PONTIAC SUNFIRE
This model year
What the record shows
The 2003 Pontiac Sunfire is a compact car, and the 19th model year of a nameplate NHTSA records from 1985 to 2005.
The EPA rated two configurations: a single 2.2-litre four-cylinder engine, front-wheel drive only, two transmissions and running on regular gasoline.
Combined fuel economy is 25 mpg.
The federal record holds 72 owner complaints, 1 investigation and 411 service bulletins 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.