1996 Pontiac Bonneville: Reliability Data

Source: NHTSA — 181 complaints
181
Total Complaints
110,000mi
Median Mileage
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL
Top Issue
6
Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

Distribution of NHTSA complaints by vehicle mileage at time of report.

87,000 25th Percentile
110,000 Median Mileage
136,000 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

AIR BAGS:FRONTAL
12
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:EXHAUST SYSTEM:MANIFOLD/HEADER/MUFFLER/TAIL PIPE
12
AIR BAGS
12
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
11
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
11
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE
8
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:GASOLINE
7
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:FUEL INJECTION SYSTEM
7
POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
5
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:COOLING SYSTEM
4

Severity Assessment

6
Crashes
11
Fires
15
Injuries
0
Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"THE CONSUMER WAS IN A HEAD-ON COLLISION AND THE DRIVER SIDE AIR BAG DID NOT DEPLOY. *AK"
"THERE'S A VIBRATION AT ALL TIMES AND AT HIGH SPEED, IT GETS WORSE AND THE CAR IS HARD TO CONTROL. PLEASE DESCRIBE IN DETAIL. *AK"
"DRIVERS SIDE REAR SEAT BELT INOPERATIVE."

Source: NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Names and identifying details omitted.

Data source: View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov | NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Public domain.

Methodology: Complaint counts and mileage distributions are computed directly from consumer-reported NHTSA complaints. This data represents reported issues, not failure rates — vehicles without complaints are not represented. Full methodology.

Data through: 2026-03-28