10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 3 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 4 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 28,221 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
« Read the previous 20 complaints
At approximately 72K miles, the passenger air bag warning light has lit up on my dash, and it will not turn off. It happened at start up one morning in my garage. The warning now stays on all the time whether the car is stationary, in motion, on a city street or highway, turning, or any other type of vehicle situation.
- Virginia Beach, VA, USA
The airbag passenger sensing system has failed in my 2008 Pontiac Solstice with less than 20,000 miles on it. This car is near museum condition and there is no reason for this failure.
- Chelsea, AL, USA
Service air bag light came on while driving with no passenger in the seat. Taken to GM dealer, was told that the passenger seat sensor failed (pss error). The vehicle has less than 16000 miles and the passenger seat was used perhaps 5% of that time. I was quoted $800 for repair since the bottom passenger seat requires replacement. This is in addition to NHTSA action number: DP16001
- Foxboro, MA, USA
The airbag warning light would not go off. Found the sensor in the seat was defective. It will have to be replaced and the vehicle only has just over 64,000 miles on it. We were just getting into it and it failed and the start of the engine.
- Portland, IN, USA
Dic service air bag message came on. Passenger air bag off light came on with a passenger in the seat. Car was in motion in a parking garage.
- Nazareth, PA, USA
Passenger airbag sensor located in seat failed, expensive part replacement, and recall on same style sensor in different cars.
- Winslow, ME, USA
After 60,000 miles, "service air bag" light came on referencing to the passenger air bag sensor in seat. Clearly this is a reoccurring issue. It needs to be addressed via the recall process.
- Palos Heights, IL, USA
Passenger air bag sensor failed at 67,000 miles. Vehicle meticulously maintained and never involved in an accident. Dealer quotes appx $1000 for repair. Incredible...
- Waynesville, NC, USA
Car has 46K miles on it. Service air bag light comes on when key is turned on. Passenger airbag status is off with adult passenger. Light stays on with no passenger so airbags will not work. Passenger sensor has failed as it did in Cadillac cts that were recalled. Why is my car not recalled since it is the same year and same part as the Cadillac cts?
- Springfield, MA, USA
Passenger air bag service light came on at 67K. The car was never been involved in any accident and has no damage. Took it to GM dealer, they want $900 to fix the faulty sensor what it should be a manufacture recall.
- Glendale, CA, USA
I recently started a relationship where my significant other has children (about 4 months ago). I previously did not have passengers very often. While driving with my stepchild age 12 in the passenger seat the air bag system failed. While driving on the highway at 70mph the there was a chime from the car and the dash display said 'service airbag'. the air dic light came on, and the passenger airbag activation light switched to off. It turns out that the sensor in the seat is bad. This causes the passenger air bag to be always off, putting all my passengers at risk or serious injury or death. My car only has 56K miles on it, but a brief search has shown that this is a very common problem for 2007 and 2008 Pontiac Solstices -- often with miles in mid to high twenties. The failure rate of this critical system and the fact it defaults to always off with no bypass for selection presents a serious concern for the safety of my family. The cost of diagnosis and repair is just short of $1000, which means that a critical safety feature of the care that fails regularly with low miles and in my case very low use of the passenger side until recently will cost a much more than I can afford in order to keep my family safe. I have owned numerous vehicles with air bag systems and never had any issues.
- San Luis Obispo, CA, USA
The vehicle was in to the local GM dealer for regular maintenance service on 8/7/14. Shortly after that, the indicator light came on showing that the air bag system was inoperative, apparently due to a failed passenger presence sensor on the passenger seat. Took the vehicle to the dealer, and was told the repair was approximately $1,000. The car had fewer than 13,000 miles of use over six years. There is no excuse for a major safety component of the vehicle to fail. I also understand that this component has been recalled by GM on other vehicles. Why has it not been recalled for the Pontiac Solstice?
- East Brunswick, NJ, USA
Passenger airbag sensors failed at 50,000 miles
- North Bay Village, FL, USA
The airbag sensor under the passenger seat is malfunctioning. "service air bag" light is comming on it is my understanding that this is a very common problem for these cars and happens between 20K and 50K miles on car which is unacceptable. And extremely unsafe for a passenger in a convertible. This repair can cost up to $800. On top of that there are many documented cases where the new sensor failed within a year or two of being installed. This should be a recalled part. People shouldn't have to put in hundreds of dollars every few years just to make sure their lives ones are safe!
- Orlando, FL, USA
While driving down the road with my girlfriend in the passenger seat my check airbag light came on and the oassanger air bag turned off. When I brought it to the shop they said the passenger air bag sensor in he seat broke.
- Winslow , ME, USA
The "service air bag" indicator in the driver information center came on during the normal course of driving and has remained on constantly since that time, approximately 12 months. This was not related to any accident. Diagnosis using on obd scan tool was completed by a reputable local mechanic, who indicated that the passenger side seat sensor is defective and needs to be replaced. This appears to be a major safety concern since, at a minimum, the passenger side air bag has been compromised and may not deploy in the event of a crash due to this faulty seat sensor. Further research completed by myself indicates this faulty passenger seat sensor may be a common problem in the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn sky. This is a relatively expensive repair ($800+) by an authorized dealer, and the associated repair costs should not be the responsibility of the consumer to correct this safety issue.
- Miami, FL, USA
Defective air bag sensor - causes passenger air bag to not function, even when there is a passenger in the seat.
- Waynesville, NC, USA
Passenger seat air bag sensor failed on vehicle out of nowhere. I do not carry passengers in my car yet the sensor failed on me. I am not the first to have this problem and it actually seems to be a very common problem in Pontiac Solstice's and it's simply disheartening to see it. www.solsticeforum.com/forum/F12/panssenger-airbag-sensor-75353/ look how far some of us have gone to attempt to fix this problem. From what we've discovered this is a problem that cannot be repaired and instead forces us to replace the entire seat cushion out of pocket. To make matters worst the point of failure seems to lie with GM. A defective sensor design has caused a very large amount of Solstice owners to have issues. I don't think it's acceptable to make us pay upwards of $800 for repairs on something that is a common failure on so many of these beautiful cars.
- Whittier, CA, USA
Passenger airbag sensors failed at 50,000 miles, outside of warranty time limit. As a safety issue, this is something that GM needs to acknowledge in good faith.
- Huntington Beach, CA, USA
- Houston, TX, USA