Steering. Review the 295 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
Exterior Lighting. Review the 190 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
Electrical System. Review the 178 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

25 crash reports20 fire reports17 injury reports

Air Bags complaints

40 reports

Clear category filter

120,000 miles · Sep 8, 2021

Air BagsCrash

Read full complaint

The contact owned a 2009 Pontiac G6. The contact stated while driving at 30-35 mph, the contact was in the right turn lane when making a turn a vehicle in front of them was making a left turn but did not see the contact which caused the contact to crash into the front passenger side of the vehicle. The contact did not have time to stop. The contact was concerned that no air bags deployed. There was no medical treatment at the scene. No one was injured. A police report was filed. There was damage on the contact front bumper and grill and pushed metal into the radiator. The contact had the vehicle towed to a local dealer where the contact insurance inspected the vehicle and deemed the vehicle a total loss. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximate 120,000.

NHTSA ODI #11432121

65,500 miles · Oct 14, 2020

Air Bags

Read full complaint

I WAS PARKED IN A MOSTLY VACANT PARKING LOT ABOUT 8PM. I GOT INTO THE VEHICLE AFTER COMING OUT OF THE GROCERY STORE. I PUT KEY INTO IGNITION BUT DID NOT SHIFT OUT OF PARK OR MOVE THE CAR. I TURNED ON THE DOME LIGHT TO LOOK FOR SOMETHING ON THE PASSENGER SEAT. AS I WAS LEANING TOWARD PASSENGER DOOR, THE HEAD CURTAIN AND SEAT SIDE AIR BAGS DEPLOYED LITERALLY IN MY FACE. ONLY THE AIR BAGS ON THE PASSENGER SIDE. IT WAS VERY LOUD AND SOME POWDERY TYPE SUBSTANCE HAD BEEN DISPENSED INTO THE AIR. IT MADE INTERIOR SURFACES FEEL A BIT SLIPPERY , HAD A STRONG ODOR AND MADE MY EYES BURN. HAVING NEVER EXPERIENCED AIR BAGS DEPLOYING ,IT SEEMED LIKE MY CAR HAD JUST EXPLODED.FOR A MOMENT I COULD NOT SEE OR HEAR. I THEN REMOVED THE KEY AND OPENED DRIVERS DOOR. I SAW SOMETHING DUSTY FLOAT OUT ON THE AIR. I HAD NO IDEA WHAT HAD HAPPENED. AT THAT POINT I LOOKED OVER THE CAR ,SAW THAT THE AIRBAGS HAD DEPLOYED.THERE WERE NO OTHER CARS ANYWHERE NEAR ME NOR WAS THERE ANY EVIDENCE THAT ANYTHING HAD HIT THE CAR. IT WAS QUITE A SHOCK TO HAVE THIS RANDOMLY HAPPEN. I DID NOT KNOW HOW TO DEAL WITH IT . AFTER STARTING THE CAR TO SEE HOW IT RAN ,I DROVE IT HOME. I REPORTED IT TO MY INSURANCE COMPANY.AFTER MANY QUESTIONS AND SEVERAL DAYS OF REVIEW I WAS TOLD IT WAS NOT COVERED BECAUSE THERE WAS NO IMPACT AND AIR BAGS INADVERTENTLY DEPLOYING WOULD BE CONSIDERED A MECHANICAL FAILURE.

NHTSA ODI #11364354

195,000 miles · Dec 26, 2019

Air BagsSteering

POWER STEERING LOSS WHILE DRIVING HAD TO SHUT THE CAR OFF AND RESTART HAS HAPPENED TO ME 3 TIMES THIS WEEK AND SRS PPS PROBLEM

NHTSA ODI #11291413

140,000 miles · Jul 19, 2019

Air Bags

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 PONTIAC G6. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE AIR BAG INDICATOR FLASHED AND REMAINED ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE DEALER WAS NOT CONTACTED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 140,000.

NHTSA ODI #11233290

Mileage unknown · Jul 3, 2019

Air Bags

PASSENGER AIR BAG WARNING COMES ON.. HAD IT REPALCE NOW IT HAS TO GO TO A GM DEALER THE HAVE CLEARED... VERY EXPENSIVE.. I THOUGH AIRBAG ISSUES WERE WARRANTIED FOR LIFE OF CAR... G8 HAS 99K ON IT... GM SHOULD HELP PART # 92231137

NHTSA ODI #11229295

100,000 miles · Jun 20, 2019

Air Bags

Read full complaint

"AIR BAG FAULT" MESSAGE IS DISPLAYED IN THE INFO CENTER ON THE DASH AND AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT IS ILLUMINATED ON MY 2009 PONTIAC G8 GT. CODES U0170 AND B0081 WERE READ AT DEALERSHIP. PARTS #92225595 (MODULE) AND #92220398 (SENSOR) ARE REQUIRED AT AN INSTALLED COST OF APPROXIMATELY $1100. ENTIRE AIR BAG SYSTEM IS DISABLED DUE TO THIS MALFUNCTION. RESEARCH OF NHTSA COMPLAINTS INDICATES THIS IS A VERY COMMON MALFUNCTION ON THE PONTIAC G8 AND THERE HAVE BEEN SOME ACCIDENTS. I AM EXTREMELY CONCERNED ABOUT THIS WARNING MESSAGE AND THE USE OF THE CAR HAS BEEN LIMITED KNOWING THAT THE AIRBAG WILL NOT BE DEPLOYED IN AN ACCIDENT. I NOTICED THAT THE PART NUMBER HAS CHANGED TO A HIGHER/DIFFERENT NUMBER THAN THE ORIGINAL MODULE PART NUMBER. THIS INDICATES THAT NOT ONLY DOES GM KNOW WHICH PART TO REPLACE TO SOLVE THE ISSUE, BUT THEY CREATED A NEW AND UPDATED MODULE TO SOLVE THE ISSUE; WHICH MEANS THAT GM DID ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE ORIGINAL MODULE WAS A FAULTY PART. WHY WASN'T A RECALL ISSUED? AIR BAG NOT FUNCTIONING AS DESIGNED IS A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE. I SEE ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE NHTSA COMPLAINTS FOR THE PONTIAC G8 AIR BAG MODULE, SURELY THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF COMPLAINTS FOR OTHER GM VEHICLES WHICH USE THE SAME PART AND HUNDREDS MORE CASES THAT WERE NEVER REPORTED. MANY OF THE PONTIAC G8 MODELS HAVE PASSED ON TO YOUNGER DRIVERS NOW, MAYBE YOUR SON OR DAUGHTER. THESE YOUNGER DRIVERS MAY NOT HAVE THE RESOURCES ($1K) TO FIX THE PROBLEM, THERE WILL BE MORE ACCIDENTS AND PEOPLE WILL DIE, HOW MANY DOES IT TAKE TO GET GM TO ISSUE A RECALL?

NHTSA ODI #11221611

98,567 miles · Apr 2, 2019

Air BagsSteering

Read full complaint

MY VEHICLES AIR BAGS CODE SHOWING ON DISPLAY. IT STAYS ON WHETHER CAR IS PARKED AND RUNNING OR WHILE DRIVING. I'M AFRAID I'LL HAVE AN ACCIDENT AND THE AIR BAGS WON'T WORK. I QUESTION WHETHER THEY EVER WORKED. I HAD A DOG RUN OUT IN FRONT OF MY VEHICLE AND COULDN'T STOP IN TIME TO AVOID HITTING DOG. DAMAGED FRONT ON PASSENGER SIDE OF CAR AND AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. NOW I'M DRIVING ON INTERSTATE HIGHWAYS, MAJOR METRO STREETS, AND I'M CONCERNED FOR SAFETY. I'VE FOUND NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS ABOUT AIR BAGS NOT DEPLOYING AND MAJOR HARM TO DRIVERS AND PASSENGERS. I DON'T WANT TO BECOME A STATISTIC. REPORTS HAVE BEEN FILED OVER A LONG RANGE OF YEARS AND I FEEL THERE'S ENOUGH INFORMATION TO MAKE THE CALL FOR GM TO RECALL THESE VEHICLES AND EITHER REPLACE THE PROBLEM PART(S) OR BUY BACK THE VEHICLES. THERE ARE MULTIPLY PROBLEMS WITH MY CAR THAT I'VE HAD TO HAVE REPAIRS MADE TO MAKE THE VEHICLE FUNCTIONAL. AS AN OWNER OF THIS VEHICLE, I'M ASKING FOR HELP.

NHTSA ODI #11193366

77,000 miles · Feb 21, 2019

Air Bags

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 PONTIAC G6. WHILE DRIVING AT AN UNKNOWN SPEED, THE AIR BAG INDICATOR ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO HENDRICK BUICK GMC (115 TEAM HENDRICK WAY, CARY, NC 27511, (919) 439-0249) WHERE IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THERE WAS NO RECALL. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE AND STATED THAT THERE W…

Read full complaint

NHTSA ODI #11181560

180,000 miles · Jan 23, 2019

Air BagsFuel/propulsion System

THE AIR BAGS LIKE SAY SERVICE BUT NO ONE SEE WHAT'S WRONG, THE FUEL CAR WILL NOT CRANK AFTER GAS IS PUT IN. IT ASK TO CHECK GAS CAP EVEN PUT NEW CAP ON AND STI NOT WORKING

NHTSA ODI #11171599

100,000 miles · Jan 5, 2019

Air BagsSteeringWheels

Read full complaint

TAKATA RECALL SHORTLY AFTER I BOUGHT MY 2009 PONTIAC G6 THE WORDS POWER STEERING IN MY CAR POPS UP ON MY DASH WHICH LOCKS UP MY STEERING WHEEL AS I'M DRIVING THERE HAS BEEN MULTIPLE TIMES I'VE ALMOST GOT IN TO ACCIDENT LUCKILY I NEW A LITTLE BIT ABOUT COMPUTERS AND I FOUND A WAY TO DRIVE IT EVEN WITH THAT BAD MALFUNCTION WHICH I'LL HAVE TO TURN MY ENGINE OFF REPOSITION MY STEERING WHEEL AND TURN IT BACK ON I CALL IT RESET BASICALLY THIS KINDA TELLS THE COMPUTER IN THE CAR THAT IT'S NOTHING WRONG WITH THE POWER STEERING AND ONCE I TOOK IT TO GET CHECK OUT THEY SAID THAT IT WAS FINE THAT I SHOULD BE OK WELL THAT WAS A LIE I KNOW I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE HAVING THIS PROBLEM WITH MY PONTIAC G6 2009 I AM VERY CONCERNED ABOUT MY SAFETY AND MY CHILDREN SAFETY I FEEL LIKE THIS IS A HUGE PROBLEM AND IF THIS DOESN'T GET LOOKED INTO SOMEBODY IS GOING TO GET HURT REAL BAD ESPECIALLY ON THE HIGHWAY I STOP DRIVING MY VEHICLE ON THE HIGHWAY BECAUSE I NEVER KNOW WHEN THE WORD POWER STEERING WILL POP UP ON MY DASH AND I CANT TURN MY STEERING WHEEL BARELY

NHTSA ODI #11165348

Official recalls

14V252000 · Electrical System:wiring; Electronic Stability Control (esc); Exterior Lighting:brake Lights; Exterior Lighting:brake Lights:switch; Vehicle Speed Control:cruise Control

May 14, 2014

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2004-2012 Chevrolet Malibu vehicles manufactured May 16, 2003, through October 11, 2012, 2004-2007 Malibu Maxx vehicles manufactured June 25, 2003, through April 5, 2007, 2005-2010 Pontiac G6 vehicles manufactured May 26, 2004, through January 4, 2010, and 2007-2010 Saturn Aura vehicles manufactured April 24, 2006, through May 26, 2009. In the affected vehicles, increased resistance in the Body Control Module (BCM) connection may result in voltage fluctuations in the Brake Apply Sensor (BAS) circuit. These fluctuations can cause one or more of these conditions: the brake lights to illuminate without the brake pedal being pushed; the brake lights to not illuminate when the pedal is pushed; difficulty disengaging the cruise control; moving the gear shifter out of the 'PARK' position without pushing the brake; and disablement of crash avoidance features such as traction control, electronic stability control, and panic braking assist features.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: Any of the above failure conditions increases the risk of a crash.

Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will attach the wiring harness to the BCM with a spacer, apply dielectric lubricant to both the BCM and harness connector and the BAS and harness connector, and will relearn the brake pedal home position, free of charge. The manufacturer distributed an Interim letter to customers on July 14, 2014. The recall began on August 18, 2014. Owners may contact General Motors customer service at 1-800-222-1020 (Chevrolet), 1-800-762-2737 (Pontiac), 1-800-553-6000 (Saturn). GM's number for this recall is 13036.

Additional source detail variants (5)

Electronic Stability Control (esc)