Looks great, gas mileage is great. Best looking sports car for the price. Decent pick up for a 4-banger if you don't mind the engine whining at 4500 RPM.

When shifting gears, the stick is very noisy in the console and makes "clunking" noises. This is a total turn off. The color black is absolutely impossible to keep clean for more than a day. Inconsiderate people seem to like to park to close to the car and whip their door open. I still don't know what it is but I get a nasty Hydrogen Sulfide smell from the car once in a while.

For a car that looks nice, and the price, you can't go wrong. It's been very reliable so far and the mileage is excellent, especially when highway driving. I have no regrets having it as a first car, except the color black. Now I konw it's impossible to keep clean.

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Plymouth Sundance on speed.

SPORTY LOOK

STEERING COLUMN FIRE-MANUFACTURER'S DEFECT
PER NHTSB SEVERAL OTHER GM MODELS (CAVALIERS, GRAND AM) HAVE THE SAME DEFECTIVE PART
FIRE OCCURED MAY 2000-RESULTED IN TOTAL LOSS OF MY VEHICLE AND ALMOST KILLED MY HUSBAND AND I.

I WAS QUITE PLEASED W/ MY VEHICLE UNTIL IT CAUGHT ON FIRE. GM KNOWS ABOUT THE DEFECT (DEFECTIVE STARTER) WHICH CAUSES THE STEERING COLUMN TO CATCH ON FIRE. WHEN I CONTACTED THEM THEY BLEW ME OFF. THEY HAD NO INTEREST IN INVESTIGATING ALTHOUGH THEY KNOW THIS IS A PROBLEM. I FOUND ALL THIS OUT BY THE NHTSB. THE CAR WAS PARKED IN OUR ATTACHED GARAGE. GM OFFERED NO RECOURSE FOR THEIR DEFECTIVE PRODUCT. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND BUYING THIS YEAR OF SUNFIRE OR CAVALIERS OR GRAND AM'S WITH THE SAME YEAR. YOU CAN CONTACT NHTSB TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THIS. IF YOU HAVE HAD THE SAME PROBLEM, PLEASE CONTACT ME @JHARO13@HOTMAIL.COM. MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT A RECALL IS TO OCCUR-THAT WAS WHAT I WAS TOLD LAST YEAR!

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PONTIAC LEMANS-SUNFIRE WAS BETTER

I like the looks of the Sunfire, Gas mileage is great and is a great car for the price I paid.

Although I am rough on my cars (I have 65,000+ Miles) I have had the water pump replaced, and some kind of belt replaced also (mostley from wear and tear I'm told). The cupholder could be in a better place and there should be atleast two in front. Back seat is small - but hey, its a coupe.

I guess overall if I was 23 again, this would be a great car for a 1st car. Although my next car will be a 4 door.

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I previously owned a 1995 Cavalier and liked it the same but the Sunfire was much sportier looking.

Acceleration!! Wow-wee. I can outrun almost anybody I come up against in the 1/8 mile. And the gas mileage. I can get between 21 and 24 miles to the gallon!

Not one found yet.

I love this car. It has definitely been the best investment I have every made. I love this car!!!!!!!

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Cavilier. The Sunfire has better acceleration, gas mileage, and is a lot more fun to drive.

Stype - was good looking at the time..
It could keep up with a Golf GTI (up to 170km/h...)
Good A/C
Good cassette player - didn't last long....

Pontiac Quality.
3-speed auto (what was I thinking)
ABS rattle the dash - and would go off too much (loose sand on pavment)
Head gasket
Muffler - rattles
Rust
Auto Stick - fell apart
seats and headrest
brakelights
The Style wears thin on you after a while

It was so bad I will never own a Pontiac again. After having a 1990 Pontiac Sunbird for 6 years, and found that was a great car (still have it), I though the newer model, the Sunfire would be better. WRONG! I bought it at one year old and it had 29000 kms. I had problems with it
from the start to the end.

- Brakes every year
- Head Gasket every two years
- Two heads put in the car
- Ran always hot - dealer could never fix
- When ABS came on (all the time), it would rattle the dash. You would
know when your ABS was working....
- Brake lights kept blowing
- Auto trans stick button fell apart.
- Auto transmission

For the same price, I could of got a Mazda Protégé (what I own now) and
would have far less to no problems with....

DO NOT BUY - EVEN IF IT IS A GREAT PRICE. You will pay in the long run....

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1995 Civic
1999 Mazda Protege SE (traded Sunfire for - best car ever)
1999 Toyota Corolla
1999 Toyota Tercel
1990 Sunbird (good built car - why Pontiac changed them to Sunfires)
1995 Calivier - it was even better than the sunfire...
1995 Escort
1994 Eagle Summit
Everything in this class is better....

Value - Lots of features for the money
Reliable - Zero problems at 87,000 KMS
Looks - Unique styling when introduced

Engine vibration
Awkward cupholder position
Everyone owns one: uniqueness is lost

Overall I have been very pleased with this vehicle. We have had absolutely no problems whatsoever. I just had it mechanically inspected as we are selling it to buy a Jetta. No problems were discovered. I like the styling of the car; the red paint remains brilliant after 2.5 years. I looked at other vehicles in its class when shopping (see above) but none matched the Sunfire for value. The Honda was a few thousand more & offered no buyer incentives. The Dodge has no personality.

Our vehicle has several upgrades (six-speaker CD, nicer cloth, cruise, A/C, more) and the price was only $17,000 CDN. Also GM Canada was offering a generous graduate rebate of $1250 which was used as a downpayment. The 2.2 litre engine delivers decent performance with a manual transmission, but also delivers a lot of vibration.

My main concern with the vehicle involves selling it. There are a lot of Sunfires out there so it's a buyer's market. We have been trying to sell it for the last 3 weeks. We were hoping to get our lease buyout for the vehicle ($10,200) but it appears that won't happen.

Minor gripes include the bizarre location of the single cupholder (it's behind the shifter) & the over-eager and rough ABS as mentioned by another reviewer.

The bottom line is that this car was the perfect choice for someone coming out of school. GM's buyer incentives made it easy to get into and the car's reliability was a pleasant surprise.

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Honda Civic Coupe - Sunfire costs less
Dodge Neon - Sunfire offers better value & styling

Really great pick-up and GO!

The same cupholder problem, though the kid likes the ones in the back.

It's a great car for the first-time buyer. I have been extremely satisfied with my Sunny. It had over 94,000 before she had a fatal accident. She was really sporty, had tons of passing power, and was quite cofortable as a family car without a huge pricetag. Even with all of the mileage I only had to replace the alternator, along with regular maintenance. I feel the loss and am looking to get a new 2001.

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This was the first car I ever picked out for myself.

Balls out acceleration. This was the only compact car with teeth I could find back in '95. The 2.3 Quad 4 that came this year only is exceptionally strong. The car is an absolute blast to drive these past 6 years with no major problems.

Body roll is definite more pronounced in this car than other comparible models

This car is great. The GM Quad 4 never ceases to amaze me. After 6 years there's not another stock 4-cyl that can compare. Low end torque and gobs of horsepower on top. I love this car!!!

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'86 Honda Civic => this car made me hate hondas
'94 Sentra S-ER => fun and high-revving but lacks the power of the sunfire.

good power for a four cyl.corners extremely well.outruns most cars in it's class.i actually beat my friend in his 76 vette on a highway race.i have the governor chip removed from my car.good stereo.

poor seat design.glovebox and brakes rattle for no reason.poor resale value.i bought this car for 10000 canadian with a 3 year warranty.people just don't know what their moissing.

if you are looking for a car thats fun to drive right out of the box this is a good start.easily accessorized and even easier to modify.i get 125 plus mph by bypassing the governor.and it still drives well at these speeds. brake upgrades are recommended.i'm doing mine soon.

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1988 cavalier rs 2.8v6.1990 cavalier 2.04cly.the 90 cavalier was very underpowered but reliable.the 88 2.8 was fun.the car was a 5 speed,fast and handled well.but neither compare to my sunfire.the 88 is actually now owned by a friend.it has been modified and still loses.

Killer gas mileage
Bucket seats
Compact features
Spacious trunk

WHERE ARE THE CUP HOLDERS?!?!?!
Had to change carpet from clutch wear 3Xs
Bought it from an idiot
Puke does not clean up well
Windows easily broken from beer bottles
Does not handle well around guardrails
Hard to open hood
Check engine light has a mind of its own
Temperature gauge has been replaced 4Xs
Air conditioner was replaced with less than 500 miles on it
Hard to see out of rear window (huge blind spots)

RECOMMEND-for gas mileage
NOT RECOMMEND-puking, and see above

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Chevy Cavalier