Saab 9-5 vs Pontiac Sunfire

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	Saab 9-5	Pontiac Sunfire
Complaints on file	662	1,641
Model years covered	1998–2011	1985–2005
Worst model year	2001	1996
Best model year	2011	2005
Crashes reported	13	153
Fires reported	23	61
Injuries reported	10	102
Deaths reported	0	7
Most complained-about part	Electrical System	Electrical System
Share of complaints involving harm	6.9%	19.7%

Saab 9-5 by year

1 157 121 113 74 69 30 15 29 17 21 2 2 11

98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11

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

What breaks

Electrical System 306 46.2%

Engine & Cooling 76 11.5%

Airbags 61 9.2%

Fuel & Propulsion 52 7.9%

Brakes 36 5.4%

Transmission & Drivetrain 16 2.4%

Lights 13 2.0%

Tires 13 2.0%

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%