Volvo S40 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	Volvo S40	Pontiac Sunfire
Complaints on file	677	1,641
Model years covered	2000–2011	1985–2005
Worst model year	2001	1996
Best model year	2010	2005
Crashes reported	65	153
Fires reported	18	61
Injuries reported	34	102
Deaths reported	0	7
Most complained-about part	Brakes	Electrical System
Share of complaints involving harm	17.3%	19.7%

Volvo S40 by year

166 112 34 23 75 91 81 36 27 14 11 7

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

Brakes 119 17.6%

Electrical System 103 15.2%

Engine & Cooling 79 11.7%

Fuel & Propulsion 51 7.5%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 42 6.2%

Airbags 39 5.8%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 37 5.5%

Lights 27 4.0%

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%