Owners have filed 1,214 complaints on the Pontiac Bonneville, covering 1995–2005. The system named most often is Engine And Engine Cooling (371 reports). Worst years by volume: 1998, 1995, 2000; cleanest: 2005, 2004, 2003. 42 reports describe a crash, 97 a fire. On average the car was 5.3 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Pontiac Bonneville
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 1,214 Bonneville complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Engine And Engine Cooling 371 Read
The low track system malfunctioned, and vehicle caught fire. As a result the vehicle was a total loss. Dealer notified. Please provide additional information. Ph
Consumer started the vehicle, went into the house to let the vehicle warm, upon returning the vehicle was on fire. Recently a recall 04V090000 was received indicating a possible fire
Loud pop, smoke, car engine caught fire destroyed car
Steering 156 Read
Vehicle was involved in a frontal collision of 25 mph, crashing into a light pole. Integrity of structure body damage has exceeded over $3600.00 compared to four star crash test rating given by NHTSA. Feel free to provide any further information
The contact owns a 1998 pontiac bonneville. The contact stated that while driving approximately 40 mph, the power steering suddenly failed causing the steering wheel very difficult to turn. The contact lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a concrete road divider. The contact sustained a back injury that…
Horn is worthless. Was hit by a party who ran a red light. Applied horn to get their attention, but it would not work. I have tried to use the horn on numerous occassions when about to be hit in a parking lot or on the street, but it never seems to work. Very hard to get to work. Airbag did not deploy even though…
Electrical System 133 Read
Driving on highway, we (wide and I) noticed a smell of something burning. Since we were in a farming area we didn't think too much of it. About 20 miles later the smell lingered and we noticed smoke began filling car. Pulled over to see what was going on and my wife noticed smoke coming out from back seat. I took the…
Vehicle speaker located on the rear deck caught on fire. *mr shortly after purchase, while the vehicle was being operated, the speaker on the rear deck caught fire. The service dealer stated the problem was due to the electrical system and suggested the removal of all non-essential fuses and electrical connections…
The contact owns a 2001 pontiac bonneville. While stopping the vehicle, the contact smelled a strange odor similar to burning oil or something electrical. The vehicle has not yet been inspected by a dealer. The powertrain was unknown. The current mileage was 88,500 and failure mileage was 86,500
Air Bags 85 Read
Car shut off while sitting at yield sign ,was rear ended by oncoming traffic
The contact owns a 2003 pontiac bonneville. While approaching a traffic stop at 25 mph, the contact failed to stop the vehicle and crashed into the rear of another vehicle. The contact's seat belt failed to properly restrain her and did not retract. The front driver's side air bag did not deploy. The contact sustained…
The contact owns a 2003 pontiac bonneville. While driving approximately 35 mph, the contact crashed into the rear of another vehicle. The front end was damaged, but the air bags failed to deploy. There were no injuries. The insurance company stated that the vehicle was destroyed. The current and failure mileages were…
Fuel System 79 Read
Vehicle fire that originated in the engine compartment
When involved in an accident, the fuel safety shut off in my wife's bonneville didn't work. She was struck just behind the passenger side rear door and then pushed into a traffic light hard enough to set off the air bags. After both impacts the car was still running and had to be shut off by the ignition key.…
My wife started the car to let it warm up while it warmed up she went back into the house to get the kids as she was coming out of the house she heard a boom thinking it was a radiator hose she started to open the hood when she did that flames shot out from under the hood so she called the fire department a couple of…
Power Train 73 Read
The contact owns a 2005 pontiac bonneville. The contact stated that the vehicle suddenly loss power and stalled. The contact stated another vehicle crashed into the rear of the vehicle and the airbags did not deploy. A police report was filed. The contact suffered minor injuries and was hospitalized. The vehicle was…
Vehicle was in the driveway and without prior warning vehicle rolled into wall of garage and damaged the vehicle.*ak
While standing outside of the vehicle the vehicle began to roll forward. The vehicle rolled across a neighbor's yard and into a tree. The vehicle was totaled. Cause is unknown. Please describe further
Visibility 69 Read
Car started on fire after tuning on the defogger
Wipers are operating erratically when in the off position. Wipers start on their own and go as they please, all while in the off position. Wipers stop in eye-line sight and cause visibility problems. After a few months of the above activity the wipers stop functioning all together making visibility null in rain and…
Left outside rear view mirror vibrates, causing a blurry vision. Contacted dealership. Replaced mirror and motor mounts however, problem reoccurred. *ak inside trunk panel keeps falling, window controls/left front door door panels are loose
Service Brakes 69 Read
Brakes do not work correctly. Consumer has to stop at a good distant to come to a complete stop. Also, drums have been checked. Last month dealer replaced brake cylinder. Brake problems have caused an accident. *ak brakes failed frequently since the purchase of the vehicle. The rim cracked during the accident. The…
I was driving home from when work when my car caught on fire. My brakes stopped working and I was unable to stop the car. The car was engulfed in flames in the matter of a few minutes
ABS brake system , applied the brakes and the pedal went the floor, impact 12:00 position, speed 35 mph, applied the brakes on wet surface, complete loss of brakes. Hit one vehicle and knocked into another one
Bonneville years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Air Bags | 2 | — | |
| 2004 | Air Bags | — | 1 | |
| 2003 | Air Bags | 3 | 5 | |
| 2002 | Air Bags | 4 | 2 | |
| 2001 | Air Bags | 5 | 18 | |
| 2000 | Air Bags | 2 | 17 | |
| 1999 | Air Bags | 3 | 5 | |
| 1998 | Air Bags | 9 | 25 | |
| 1997 | Air Bags | 3 | 14 | |
| 1996 | Air Bags | 4 | 7 | |
| 1995 | Air Bags | 7 | 3 |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 332 |
| Average complaints per series | 3.7 |
| Worst single series | 20 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 5.3 years |
A model average of 3.7 hides a worst series at 20. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
- No ads, on every page
- No ads, no tracking — and much more
How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Bonneville?
By complaint volume, 1998, 1995, 2000 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Bonneville years are the cleanest?
2005, 2004, 2003 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Pontiac Bonneville have?
1,214 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1995–2005. Of those, 42 describe a crash and 97 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.