Apparently, their is a known issue w/the 98 pontiac sunfire steering rack and pinion gear making it feel like their is a total loss of power steering, even though the power steering pump is working properly. I purchased this car in january of 2011 off a little old lady, who kept it in a garage and barely drove it, the car only had 51,000 miles on it. She advised that she didn't know of any recalls, so she didn't take it in for any of the recall repairs. I have check the federal safety agency website as well as several other reputable sites and have found their have been several recalls on this vehicle. However, upon calling pontiacs recall hotline, they are telling me that these recalls on your website never existed for my 98 pontiac sunfire and went on to say that you can believe every thing you read on the internet (how funny, your average moron could have figured that out). But regardless, it appears that pontiac is saying that they will not fix these recalls. Please investigate and let me know if my concerns are legitimate. I don't want to pay for a repair, when the car should have been fixed under their recall. Thanks.
Pontiac Sunfire loss of power problems
17 of the 1,141 owner complaints about the Pontiac Sunfire describe sudden loss of power, most of them for the 1996 model year.
- owner complaints
- 17
- worst model year
- 1996
- typical mileage
- 63,000
By model year
- 20031
- 20023
- 20011
- 20003
- 19982
- 19972
- 19964
- 19951
Often reported together
Power steering loss 4Fuel pump 4Stalling 3Power windows 1Check engine light 1Grinding brakes 1Ball joint 1
What owners say
My window motors started going out or losing power the shop could find nothing wrong with them the finally stopped working in oct of 2007 a friend has the same car and her did the same thing after replacing the motors in the windows 8 months later one of the motors started acting the same way again my friend had to replace her s also is there a defect with the motors.
Fuel pump went out on 2003 gm pontiac sunfire. Lost power on highway in the middle of traffic only 65k miles on the car.
Repeat issue on 12-28-04 - cold weather, expressway speeds - no warning car lost power and stalled on expressway. Finally restarted after tow truck arrived. Stalled again on 12-29-04 same conditions - would not restart - towed to gm dealership. Fuel pump and system replaced.
Repeat failure: after fuel pump was replaced on 12-29-04, on 1-14-05 under same conditions - cold weather - expressway speed - the car lost power and stalled - would not restart and required tow to dealership. Analysis showed the replacement fuel pump also became defective. (car lost power and stalled on 12-28-04 and 12-29-04 and was towed to dealership, were the module was replaced.)
Vehicle made a grinding noise when turning. Dealer determined that rack and pinion had to be replaced. *ak the vehicle also lost power steering when making right turns. Initially the dealer said the problem was with the rack and pinion. The consumer contacted the manufacturer three times. The manufacture wanted the dealer to recheck the vehicle at which time the dealer changed their mind and said that the tie rod was the problem. The consumer believes they changed their minds to get out of performing the recall for free.
While driving 60 MPH the vehicle stalled and the driver lost power steering. The consumer managed to pull over to side of road. The vehicle was towed to the dealer but they have not been able to resolve the problem.
On 9/5/02 my car was involved in an accident which totally destroyed it. Accident was caused when I was slowly making a left turn, suddenly I experienced loss of power making it very hard to maneuver car due to high resistance. I was going south, and when I started to make left turn, north bound was free and clear, but because the length of time I spent trying to control my vehicle, another car going north approached the intersection where I was and could not avoid hitting the other car causing the crash. I spent my entire savings to purchase this car from a pontiac dealer, and this accident that left me without transportation, caused the lost of my job and many other hardships. Then on january 2003, pontiac decides to send me a recall letter, which was too late for me. My question is what took pontiac such a long time to issue the recall notice? If they had done it earlier, I would have never purchase this used vehicle in 2002. Four years is a long time and I am sure there must have been numerous accidents, hope they were as lucky as me who is alive to tell the story. Now for my rights..... What are they in this situation? As I said before, this "minor mistake of gm" left me without car, without savings and without a job. I strongly believe that gm should compensate me with an equal car or the equivalent for me to purchase another car, it is only fair. If the problem was made public in 1999 or 2000 I would not be in this predicament. Please present my complaint to the manufacturer and advise me on how to proceed in order to be reimbursed for the damages this "minor defect" had caused me. I desperately need a car to be able to get to a job. Please help me! Thank you. (by the way, it took me a while to find you) (don't know what eom means, I checked no, but don't know the answer).
The consumer didn't receive recall repair on the vehicle due to the dealer not having the tool. (recall #02v286000/steering rack and pinion) the consumer lost control of the vehicle due to a sudden loss of power steering while turning left. The consumer has demanded reimbursement of the vehicle at blue book value and the towing fee. Mr scc
I filed a complaint on a 2002 grand am gt VIN [xxx] concerning steering problems. I cannot find it in your consumer complaint data base, nor any other information related to this vehicle or recalls, safety issues, etc on 2002 grand am gt in general. Am I looking in the wrong place? Please help. Also, I now own a 2002 pontiac sunfire VIN [xxx]. I took delivery on 10.31.02 as part of lemon law byback by gm on above discussed grand am. I am having several problems with this new car I consider safety hazards. Gm so far has had the car more than I have. How can I file a complaint and find out more information on the areas of concern with this vehicle. So far, it went of park into reverse and hit me in the head causing injury my doc is looking into, the car on the same trip completely shut down, losing all power except radio, and the ABS off light went on. Yet two dealers, midway in phoenix on 12.16.02 and courtesy in las vegas say no problems exist. Courtesy sill has car because it was not fully repaired per work order. I feel like I am in the same black hole I was in with the grand am gt except no serious accidents to the vehicle like the one I had with the gt has occurred. Please guide me on what to do if you can. My wife and I are disabled and this is very trying on us. Also, I am waiting per my doctor for the first week in february to rview x-rays and cat scan f my neck. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Pontiac Sunfire loss of power
Which Pontiac Sunfire years have sudden loss of power problems?
The model years with the most reports are 1996 (4 complaints), 2000 (3 complaints) and 2002 (3 complaints).
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