Pontiac Sunfire vs Dodge RAM 3500

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	Pontiac Sunfire	Dodge RAM 3500
Complaints on file	1,641	4,040
Model years covered	1985–2005	1991–2012
Worst model year	1996	2004
Best model year	2005	1993
Crashes reported	153	245
Fires reported	61	171
Injuries reported	102	114
Deaths reported	7	9
Most complained-about part	Electrical System	Steering
Share of complaints involving harm	19.7%	13.3%

Pontiac Sunfire by year

2 1 2 154 320 257 149 128 169 83 128 113 41 94

85 91 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

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

What breaks

Electrical System 339 20.7%

Engine & Cooling 259 15.8%

Brakes 172 10.5%

Airbags 125 7.6%

Steering 115 7.0%

Lights 109 6.6%

Transmission & Drivetrain 76 4.6%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 71 4.3%

Dodge RAM 3500 by year

5 11 26 102 132 182 153 134 146 77 168 59 330 276 240 349 286 221 130 214 297 502

91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12

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

What breaks

Steering 1,051 26.0%

Transmission & Drivetrain 375 9.3%

Suspension 359 8.9%

Airbags 317 7.8%

Electrical System 302 7.5%

Brakes 283 7.0%

Engine & Cooling 263 6.5%

Fuel & Propulsion 229 5.7%