Chevrolet Monte Carlo vs Pontiac Grand Prix

Both cars' complete complaint records, side by side.

Read the totals carefully. NHTSA publishes no sales figures, so the car that sold more collects more complaints regardless of quality. The rows worth weighing are the proportions — the share of complaints that involved harm, and which part dominates.

Measure	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	Pontiac Grand Prix
Complaints on file	2,964	7,303
Model years covered	1974–2010	1974–2008
Worst model year	2001	1997
Best model year	2005	2008
Crashes reported	203	478
Fires reported	207	1,013
Injuries reported	133	344
Deaths reported	16	32
Most complained-about part	Electrical System	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	18.9%	25.6%

Chevrolet Monte Carlo by year

1 2 2 1 3 7 6 9 5 1 244 255 218 129 170 332 417 319 204 275 155 146 54 3 6

74 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 91 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 10

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded

What breaks

Electrical System 626 21.1%

Engine & Cooling 518 17.5%

Brakes 395 13.3%

Steering 207 7.0%

Lights 170 5.7%

Transmission & Drivetrain 166 5.6%

Airbags 137 4.6%

Fuel & Propulsion 136 4.6%

Pontiac Grand Prix by year

1 2 2 3 4 3 2 119 202 249 242 158 185 306 245 116 1,064 618 500 588 427 410 137 624 209 365 323 199

74 77 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 1,523 20.9%

Electrical System 943 12.9%

Brakes 930 12.7%

Steering 707 9.7%

Lights 683 9.4%

Transmission & Drivetrain 422 5.8%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 384 5.3%

Airbags 282 3.9%