The cd player and the look of the car

The body and longevitity of the car

Unfortunately I have not had a good experience with my sunfire. I started to lease it 3years ago as of July. The body has always been crappy and now the engine/mechanical stuff is going to waste as well. More specifically the little pieces of the body would fall off randomly. For instance, setbelt cover, the hood popper, the outside key slots, etc. As for the engine, the ABS has always been wonky. Sometimes it works other times it would cut in and out. Just recently, I took the car in to have it checked over for a road trip and found out the head gasket was leaking. To add to my bad luck I couldn't return the vehicle without paying way too much money. So I am stuck with this worthless piece of crap that I will end up eating the cost just to get rid of it. Oh, there are only 107000km on the car.

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Does not come close to comparing to either my Old Toyota or Saturn.

GREAT stereo
GREAT horsepower with the 2.4L
TIGHT handling

SPENT $1700 on a new transmission at just under 100,000 miles.
SPENT $400 on a new alternator
SPENT $900 on cooling system repairs
SPENT $400 on replacement CD player

Gas mileage could be better for such a small car.
After time, things start rattling pretty bad as time takes it's toll on the 900 pounds of plastic in the interior.

I have been driving my Sunfire for over 2 years. In that time I have put almost 70,000 miles on it. I enjoy it (although I do go look at new ones from time to time). Not so sure I'd buy another one though. (See: Weaknesses). The car drives good and is a blast with the optional 2.4L 150hp engine. It really DOES get up and go. Overall I'd say that I won't ever regret buying my Sunfire.

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N/A

SAFE!!!

Handling.

Suspension.

Zippy little engine.

3-speed auto tranny shifting felt just right.

Excellent ABS braking.

Very good fuel economy despite the lack of overdrive gear.

Good AM/FM/CD stereo with 5-band equalizer, speakers in the dash, doors and rear. CD rarely skipped on bumpy roads.

Fit and finish inside and out.

Cargo capacity.

Great air conditioning and heating in our 110-degree summers and sub-freezing winters.

Fun to drive.

Passenger side airbag couldn't be turned off in this year model.

Between turning ratio and distance from driver to front end, parallel parking could be tricky.

Wheel alignment did seem to require more frequent adjustment on our rural roads.

And the worst thing is, we ain't got the car anymore! I'm gonna miss that little rascal. We replaced it with a GMC Sonoma pickup. Hope it's as good a vehicle as that Sunfire was.

Zounds! A super reliable and safe pocket rocket over our 40,000 miles of ownership. Excellent bang for the buck.

Unfortunately, after 40k trouble-free miles the car suddenly experienced the disastrous effects of zero-transition deceleration. In other words, it was wrecked. Another driver ran a red light, resulting in the Sunfire mashing head-on into the side of the full-size SUV. My speed was around 45 mph - the other driver's I'm not sure of (around 50 mph according to witnesses) but the SUV stopped about 75-100 yards down the road after rolling.

The Sunfire, on the other hand, stopped on a dime. It didn't spin or get knocked sideways an inch. The airbags fired. My little grandsons - safely buckled in as I always insist - were apparently fine. I've experienced some neck, back and knee injuries (plus a minor sprain to my left hand) but nothing as serious as one might expect in such a confrontation between a small car and a big truck.

While I'm glad we weren't broadsided by the SUV, I can't imagine a safer small car than the Sunfire in a head-on collision at moderate speed. The crumple zones performed exactly as designed. While the doors were a bit stiff they opened easily enough to allow us to escape quickly. And we didn't get a faceful of broken glass.

Before the poor thing was totalled, tho', we enjoyed nearly four years and 40,000 miles of absolutely trouble-free driving. Not a single one of the few problems we experienced could be attributed to manufacturing or design. We had a few flat tires, to be expected on our rough rural roads; a dead battery when I left our cell phone plugged in to the cigarette lighter for a couple of weeks without driving the car; three of four dinged fenders, courtesy of my youngest daughter who was the original driver of this, her first car.

Now, usually when someone tells me their vehicle has been completely trouble free I'm skeptical. I figure they've forgotten to tell me about having to replace an alternator, water pump, battery or something like that. Well, I swear on a stack of Chiltons, this Sunfire required nothing more than oil changes, tire rotations and one or two wheel alignments due to our rough roads. It never failed to start ('cept when I ran the battery dead once), never died unexpectedly on the highway. I'm 43, have driven since I was 15, have worked for several automobile dealerships and driven everything from old VW bugs to Mercedes, Porsches and BMWs, and this Sunfire delivered the best value of 'em all.

The body didn't seem any more vulnerable to parking lot dings than any comparable car. Fit and finish inside and out were very good. Front seat comfort was fine for most people, tho' my grandmother and mom, both with bad backs and knees, complained about difficulty entering and exiting the car and that long trips were uncomfortable. I rode in the back several times on trips up to one hour and was pretty comfortable (I'm 5'11" and 190 lbs).

Front seats in this two-door vehicle were designed to scoot forward for easy access to the rear seat - a real plus for folks with little kids in car seats.

It's also a deceptively roomy car. Besides what appears to be an ordinary locking trunk the rear seat back folds forward to expose the trunk compartment, practically doubling the length and volume of cargo capacity. Just pull a release strap at the top of the rear seat back - no need to flip up the rear seat bottom as with some vehicles. The deck rests fairly flat without going through painful contortions.

Something in the glove compartment loosened and rattled during the first few months of ownership, fixed free by the dealer.

Other than that, no rattles, squeaks, squawks or thunks. Pretty impressive considering our area's potholed, bombed out, cratered roads.

At first the handling felt a bit twitchy to me, but I was accustomed to granny sedans like Buick LeSabre's. After a bit of practice handling was spiffy - responsive but never dangerous. Great power steering without losing road feel.

Suspension was surefooted under any conditions (including the rare bit of ice and snow we get here in Texas). A bit stiff, to my grandmother's dismay, but fine to me. While I'm usually a very cautious driver I'll admit there are a couple of local roads with washboarded curves that I occasionally enjoyed charging around - the car never hopped, skipped or missed a bit.

The interior was finished very nicely. The armrest console was handy. The open bin forward of the shifter was less handy, as was placement of the cup holder next to the shifter (auto tranny model).

I don't know whether ours was the 2.2/115 hp or 2.4/150 hp engine, but it was darned zippy even with just the 3-speed auto tranny. No problems passing gravel trucks traveling at that annoying speed of 60-65 mph, which is right at the power peak for some 4-bangers, making it difficult to pass promptly.

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As a former car salesman (Mazda, Ford, Nissan, Euro cars) I've driven more sporty cars than you can shake a dipstick at. The Sunfire ain't the fastest or the slowest but it doesn't lack for pep. It handles better than any Porsche I've driven other than the incomparable 911. It's the most Japanese-feeling American car I've experienced, and that's a compliment.

very decent accelleration (given the amount of horsepower it has)
handling is great
a lot roomier than you would expect it to be (course i'm only 5'8")
looks nice (love my red color)
.....and..uhh...other things that i'm not thinking of

the stupid cup holder/ash tray...but that's GM for you...always smoking something
the ABS system is not the best, but then again i never liked ABS at all
wouldn't hurt em to increase horsepower just a little...the car has so much potential

I love this car. I was a little skeptical of how much i was going to like it, but after about 1 week the car seemed to become exactly what i wanted. this car is just as good as any civic. well, given the model civic is in the same HP range. it has a lot more giddy-up than i expected. hell, i raced an integra and easily kept up the whole way. soon as i get some extra $$$ the engine will be upgraded. can't wait =)

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my 2nd car, before i owned a '91 cavalier
sunfire is MUCH better that that p.o.s.