2nd Mar 2006, 12:28

Hi all.

I picked up a 1998 Sunfire GT for about $1000 CDN last month with 128,000km on it. Generally the car runs fine however before it will pass safety, I have the following repair work to do:

- replace corroded fuel tank (I could smell the fumes when the car was fully fueled)

- DRL and headlights do not work surprise surprise! another wiring harness issue!)

- replace seized rad fan (causes SRS light to come on)

And I also have a problem with the motor resistor on the fan speed selector such that the first interval does not work. I have off, medium and high. LOL.

The car drives well - before I bought it from my friend, she had about $1500 CDN worth of suspension work done to the car. This car is going to replace my 2002 Echo which is soon due back after a 4 year lease. I decided to try the whole "fix the junker, no car payment" route for a while. :)

Good luck to all the Sunfire owners out there! Seems like GM needs to recognize the design flaws in the headlight and fan systems. Since I didn't spend a lot of money to purchase the car in the first place, I don't mind spending a few thousand on getting it to run well for the next few years - considering the monthly cost of a lease on a new car. :)

J in Halifax.

23rd Mar 2006, 10:14

I bought a 2001 sunfire 4 doors sedan made in Mexico in december 2000. I had most of the problems everyone talked about.

For the blower, it wouldn't work in position 1-2 and 3.

As someone said, it was a fan resistor located under dash passenger side. Cost me 15$ to repair it myself. Would have cost over a hundred if repaired by the dealer.

I also had the 2 recalls, one about fuel gauge and another one about ignition.

I changed my radio/CD player a few times in the firsts months.

My car started stalling for no reason someday and they changed an oxygen captor, but it did not solve the problem because I stalled a few more times after that.

I also have the headlights problems right now and trying to find a way to solve it. Lights will flicker on and off and then I got no daylights.

Both turning signals don't work properly anymore.

5th Apr 2006, 14:46

I have a 2000 Sunfire with almost 80K miles and am very glad a purchased an extended warranty for it when I bought it 3 years ago. In the last 6 months I have had AC problems. 6 months ago I took it in and they said nothing was wrong and they just recharged the AC, they also fixed my fan then, my fan didn’t work in the first position. My first bill was $350 the warranty only covered $50. Then 2 months later the AC was not working again. This time they said I needed my evaporator core replaced; this was a $1250 fix of which my warranty covered $1000 of this. Now I’m having problems with the AC again. Reading online it might be the AC/Heater door that is not functioning correctly when I move it over to the cold side. I still have 20k left of extended warranty or 2 years which ever comes first and it has already paid for itself. Luckily I have not had any headlight problems with my car as of yet. Might get that checked when my warranty is about to expire. Has anyone else had AC problems like mine?

10th Apr 2006, 13:13

I just traded in my 2000 Sunfire (less than 50K miles) and feel the weight of the world has been lifted off my shoulders!

The air conditioning has been dead for several months (I had the blower repaired before, but now it's the compressor), the oil is leaking, the trunk is full of water and the radio lights are out. I could actually live with these things.

But a few weeks ago it stalled on the expressway; I thought it was something I did (low on gas). But then it did it again! I can't say how scary it is to be alone on the side of the expressway with your car not starting. I traded it in the day after for non-GM car. I felt bad about not getting another GM, but I've really had enough.

10th Apr 2006, 17:11

Sorry it's too late to help you, but I hope you didn't act mistakenly in haste. My aunt also had a Sunfire and it would have mysterious starting and stalling problems. What it came down to was the gasoline. For some reason, the fuel injectors became badly clogged when using gasoline with a high ethanol content. She changed the station where she got gas, and the problem went away.

14th Apr 2006, 14:27

HI,

My wife has a 2000 Pontiac Sunfire with the daytime running light problem as well as the #1 fan setting.

Is there anyway that we can organize ourselves and force GM into a recall?

13th May 2006, 23:35

HI there,

I have a 2001 Sunfire with these similar issues.

My blower doesn't work on #1.

The airconditioner doesn't work.

At 120,000 my head gasket blew causing a warped head, they would not cover this on warranty and cost me 1200.00 for. Then 6 mnths later, the head gasket blew again. Again would not cover with extended warranty.

Now one of my dashboard lights stays on and I don't know what it means, cuz when I bought my car, it didn't have a manual and they were gonna mail one to me, but of course it never happened. The oil and water and everything is filled, so I don't know what the light can be for. It is a square box, has a water level at the bottom of it and an arrow pointing down.

Nothing but problems, would sell it, but I still owe more than it is worth.

Can wait to get a NON GM Car. No wonder people are buying Japanese cars and there are more and more GM Factories closing. They are making crappier cars and not standing behind their warranties.

I will never buy another GM Car!!!

24th May 2006, 10:41

I bought my 2000 4 dr Sunfire approximately a year ago. I have had to redo the brakes and some maintenance stuff.

However, I just had my catalytic converter replaced & oxygen sensors, also, my daytime lamps stopped working and the service light came on, so I had that fixed.

I am considering trading in the vehicle because I do not like dealing with the expense and time it takes to repair it.

Also, the exhaust is really loud if I roll down the passenger window. I can barely hear the radio! I am scared my exhaust is going to go next.