1998 Pontiac Bonneville: Reliability Data

Source: NHTSA — 359 complaints
359
Total Complaints
70,226mi
Median Mileage
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:GASOLINE
Top Issue
12
Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

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

58,460 25th Percentile
70,226 Median Mileage
87,530 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:GASOLINE
52
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:EXHAUST SYSTEM:MANIFOLD/HEADER/MUFFLER/TAIL PIPE
47
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
45
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE
34
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:COOLING SYSTEM
25
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:DELIVERY
16
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:CARBURETOR SYSTEM
11
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
8
POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
8
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
6

Severity Assessment

12
Crashes
40
Fires
8
Injuries
0
Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"WHILE DRIVING VEHICLE ABOUT 10 MPH AND SOMETIMES HIGHER SPEEDS, ACCORDING TO CONSUMER, THE VEHICLE JUST SHUTS OFF, LOSING POWER AND STEERING POWER. THE ENGINE CHECK LIGHT COMES ON WHEN ENGINE STOPS. CONSUMER HAD TAKEN VEHICLE TO DEALER TWICE THEY SAID: THE PROBLEM IS WITH THE FUEL PUMP THAT'S WHY..."
"WHILE DRIVING VEHICLE ABOUT 10 MPH AND SOMETIMES HIGHER SPEEDS, ACCORDING TO CONSUMER, THE VEHICLE JUST SHUTS OFF, LOSING POWER AND STEERING POWER. THE ENGINE CHECK LIGHT COMES ON WHEN ENGINE STOPS. CONSUMER HAD TAKEN VEHICLE TO DEALER TWICE THEY SAID: THE PROBLEM IS WITH THE FUEL PUMP THAT'S WHY..."
"WHILE DRIVING VEHICLE ABOUT 10 MPH AND SOMETIMES HIGHER SPEEDS, ACCORDING TO CONSUMER, THE VEHICLE JUST SHUTS OFF, LOSING POWER AND STEERING POWER. THE ENGINE CHECK LIGHT COMES ON WHEN ENGINE STOPS. CONSUMER HAD TAKEN VEHICLE TO DEALER TWICE THEY SAID: THE PROBLEM IS WITH THE FUEL PUMP THAT'S WHY..."

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

When Were Complaints Filed?

Number of complaints by the year the issue occurred.

When Does Each Component Fail?

Median mileage at complaint for top components.

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:GASOLINE 52 complaints
25th: 55,326 mi Median: 72,108 mi 75th: 76,173 mi
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:EXHAUST SYSTEM:MANIFOLD/HEADER/MUFFLER/TAIL PIPE 47 complaints
25th: 63,130 mi Median: 72,500 mi 75th: 79,716 mi
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING 45 complaints
25th: 60,000 mi Median: 68,504 mi 75th: 86,540 mi
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE 34 complaints
25th: 60,000 mi Median: 71,725 mi 75th: 82,531 mi
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:COOLING SYSTEM 25 complaints
25th: 58,888 mi Median: 63,567 mi 75th: 76,175 mi

Where Are Complaints Coming From?

Top states by complaint count.

IL: 37 MI: 29 IN: 21 PA: 21 WI: 18 FL: 17 NC: 17 GA: 17 OH: 16 NY: 16

Who Files Complaints?

27.3%
Original Owners
72.7%
Second+ Owners

Pontiac Bonneville — Other Years

See how this model compares across different model years.

YearComplaintsCrashes
1990454
1991264
199213917
199318317
199412314
199533018
19961816
19971883
19991769
20003014
20011796
20021124
2003644
2004380
2005375

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