Volvo XC40 vs Pontiac Firebird

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 XC40	Pontiac Firebird
Complaints on file	326	802
Model years covered	2019–2025	1976–2002
Worst model year	2023	1995
Best model year	2025	2001
Crashes reported	48	86
Fires reported	0	53
Injuries reported	31	52
Deaths reported	0	5
Most complained-about part	Driver Assist & Collision Avoidance	Brakes
Share of complaints involving harm	24.2%	24.4%

Volvo XC40 by year

43 23 80 46 65 49 20

19 20 21 22 23 24 25

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

What breaks

Driver Assist & Collision Avoidance 94 28.8%

Electrical System 44 13.5%

Other & Unspecified 39 12.0%

Brakes 30 9.2%

Engine & Cooling 19 5.8%

Transmission & Drivetrain 15 4.6%

Fuel & Propulsion 15 4.6%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 14 4.3%

Pontiac Firebird by year

1 1 3 2 2 5 6 20 22 27 11 10 23 10 29 33 18 72 112 50 59 91 76 35 36 48

76 77 78 79 80 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02

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

What breaks

Brakes 148 18.5%

Electrical System 86 10.7%

Fuel & Propulsion 70 8.7%

Seat Belts 68 8.5%

Engine & Cooling 67 8.4%

Transmission & Drivetrain 54 6.7%

Airbags 45 5.6%

Steering 39 4.9%