2002 Pontiac Sunfire from North America - Comments

Dealer left oil filter loose, blamed "defective oil filter". Interior filled with smoke as oil was burning off engine.

My Sunfire was a SE Sedan with the base engine, 4 spd. automatic transmission, standard wheels and tires, but had all of the power options. The sticker price of this vehicle was over $17k. Steep for a Sunfire.

Unrefined, but economical best sums up the car. Handling was so-so, engine noise under hard acceleration was ear-drum shattering, although acceleration itself was okay for its class. Ride was

good for this class. Fit and finish were

not up to par with its imported competitors such as the Honda Civic or VW Golf. Thoughful interior appointments such as cup holders, coin holders etc. were provided, but what was really missing was a refined drivetrain, additional sound-proofing and high quality interior materials.

The standard stereo system was adequate, but with the sedan you could not get a stereo with both cassette and CD player, nor was a CD changer available according to the dealer.

Surprisingly the Sunfire was fairly comfortable on a long trip, and gas mileage was excellent. (As high as 34 mpg on a long trip, 23-27 around town or combined driving).

I liked the styling of the Sunfire Sedan although it was perhaps a bit over-styled. (Pontiac tends to overdue the body-cladding on some models). Overall it was a likable

little car better suited to around town driving than high speed highway commuting though.

A big negative worth noting was that the dealer service was terrible.

After 7 months and 11,000 miles I decided I wanted a vehicle a bit more refined and returned to my VW roots.

I think your dealer charged to much for your sunfire.

I just bought a new 2003 sunfire for $16.5 k. (cdn) and 44km.

Too many people now a days think that there is a lack of refinement in americn cars. This may have been true a couple of years ago, but not any more. the truth is that many American cars including the sunfire have rated better then most imports as far as reliability according to JD power and asscosiates and other. The interior may not be the best in the market, but you're not buying a BMW either. The refinement is in the powertrain. after all that's what makes the car.

Your review is very accurate. The Sunfire especially lags behind the competition, being based on a now geriatric platform and looking like it was aesthetically redesigned about five times too many.

In the small car market, I have yet to drive a domestic (American) small car that I would consider on par with its Japanese and German counterparts in the areas of refinement, engineering, or reliabilty. Domestics get a thumbs up for good looks in many cases, but that just isn't good enough.

Thanks for a review that I believe hits the nail right on the head.

What do you expect for a cheap car. Don't people understand that you save a considerable amount of money on a car like this over Japanese? Why pay 5K more for the equivalent, when its clearly not worth it. Japanese cars were a lot better 5 years ago, but now the difference isn't that great. Its your money!

I think this review is very accurate. With an MSRP sticker price of over $17,000. the Sunfire costs as much if not more than a Civic or a Corolla. It certainly lacks the refinement and fit & finish of those models. It certainly lags well behind the Jetta in all of those areas as well.

Hello.

Nowadays, I think that the Japanese imports especially the small cars like the Civic and the Corolla have, in my opinion, fallen in quality. I own both a 2004 Civic and a 2001 Corolla, and have been quite disappointed with both products. Both cars each developed a rattle after about a year of ownership, and both dealers were inept in trying to fix it. Ultimately I just gave up. I now own a Sunfire SL 4 door and really am impressed with the highway/passing power of the 140 hp engine, compared with the Civic's 127 hp and the Corolla's 125 hp. The Sunfire can average 80 miles/hour with relative ease where as both Japanese imports were struggling in 5th gear to maintain that speed. Overall all, given that the finish of the North American/domestic small cars are not the same as the Japanese imports, for the high prices of the imports versus their falling quality, I don't think it's worth buying imports in the small car size. I truly believe that the Japanese cars of the 2000 decade are not the cars of the 1990's decade. They are not as good and I believe that at this point in time, import car dealers are depending on their long time tradition to make their case.

Just me.

I agree with the above mentioned! He is totally correct! my family has had many Gm products and still own today, and have no problems..hmmm... I wonder why GM is and always will be THE LARGEST AUTOMAKER IN THE WORLD. Maintain it and it will last, respect it and it will respect you back. keep that in mind.

I also just wanted to add to the debate about domestic/import cars. My family has always owned domestic cars (as my father worked for a parts supplier for Ford, Chrysler and GM). I just bought a 02 2dr Sunfire. During my 'car hunt' everyone was telling me to buy an import, however in all the test drives (well over 20) I found that about every time the Sunfire/ Cavalier out preformed the Civics, Corollas and Sonatas.

I just got rid of my 1993 Ford Tempo with 250000km. My family purchased this car new and it never gave us any trouble. All domestic cars want is routine maintenance (IE. oil changes at 5000km). We never had it oil sprayed so the under body rusted out completely to the point where it was becoming dangerous. I attribute this to the harsh road salt living in Canada. The engine on it was still is stellar condition. I hope my 02 Sunfire can be as good of a car as my 93 Tempo.