Faults:

I had the rear rebuilt after a collision with a drunk driver, however there haven't been any problems with the rear save for the paint coming off in some minor areas.

I had to get the crank shaft sensor replaced, this was causing the car to stall in traffic.

I had to get the water pump replaced at 185k.

General Comments:

I like the driver's seat in this car. Everything is rather close to the driver for interaction and the lumbar support is certainly nice to have.

The car is rather quick for being an economy type car, the ride is rather smooth even at high speeds.

I have trailered a SeaDoo with this car with 0 problems at all, however you should be using a lo-rider trailer to see out the rear.

Faults:

Mechanically, not much has gone wrong with the car. The normal oil and fluid changes, as well as a set of brake pads every now and then has kept me out of trouble.

However, the shocks and struts have been horrible since day one, as I personally knew the original owner. It's so bad that I have re-routed my way to work, just to avoid a set of railroad tracks.

General Comments:

I am getting ready to sell this car, but only because I practically get blown off the road during the snowy Ohio winters.

Nevertheless, its' light weight has kept the gas mileage low. To ask to get more miles per gallon on this car would be just plain greedy.

Road trips probably aren't the greatest idea in this car, though. I recently made the drive from northern Ohio to central Florida and the seats were so uncomfortable that I had to stop twice as much to keep my back from tightening up... and I'm only 20!

Overall, I would definitely recommend a Sunfire if you are only doing city driving in a warmer climate.

Faults:

Three days after I got the car the battery went dead. We jumped the car and the dealership fixed at no cost.

Heater core. The red and green antifreeze were mixed together. Don't know exactly how this happened, could have been bought that way. Cost over $600 to fix and voided warranty on cooling system.

Valve cover. I think due to mileage, cost $300 to fix with GM parts.

A/C compressor has a bad leak. Estimated $800 to fix with GM parts, $600 without GM parts.

Has had two recalls while I have owned it. One for the steering and the most recent for the rack and pinion on the driver side. The steering recall was for fires starting in the steering column, they installed a relay kit. The rack and pinion recall was for the drivers side, it could cause the steering to go out when turning left.

Found out it could have up to five more recalls.

Paint is chipping off of front bumper.

General Comments:

The interior is in great shape.

This car gets great gas mileage. I get 430+ miles per tank of gas, on 87 octane.

This car has high mileage and no signs of needing an overhaul before 200,000 miles.

Very affordable.

Faults:

Too many recalls. After steering rack recall ran even worse.

The timing went

Constant engine knocking

The exhaust stank like rotten eggs no matter what I did.

Steering failed causing a head on collision in which I shouldn't have lived. The car crumpled like an accordion.

General Comments:

The dealer said they couldn't do anything about the steering after replacing the recall on the rack. I then had my mechanic look at the car, he couldn't find the problem. On June 7/03 at 7:10 am the steering went and I almost bought the farm. I'm pursuing legal action as the accident was a mechanical failure. For as many recalls the Pontiac Sunflower has the whole car should be replaced!!! Own one? Get rid of it before it kills you. I'm lucky my family was not with me or I would have lost them. The car was written off at 85kms/hr. Anyone else suing or had a similar incident call me at (519) 240-7629, I'd like to hear what happened to yours. I took pictures at the scene and I can't believe I'm here to talk about it.