KnownCarProblems2009 Pontiac G8 Problems and Recalls
Owners filed 144 complaints with NHTSA about the 2009 Pontiac G8, most often about the air bags (48% of complaints, typically around 56,000 miles). It is the most complained-about G8 model year since 2000 and has 4 recalls.
Most common 2009 Pontiac G8 problems
Air bags
69 complaints · 48%Half of these problems showed up before 56,000 miles. Parts named most often: frontal, sensor.
While driving around a curve, a deer ran out in front of the car and we swerved to miss it and ran off the road down into a deep ditch and hitting a drain tile. The entire front nose of the car is destroyed, the hood, and driver side front fender and door. None of the air bags deployed, causing my husband to hit the…
The airbag warning light turned on at approximately 55,000 miles in mid-december 2014. My mechanic has determined the problem to be the airbag clock spring, but cannot acquire the part from general motors or local dealerships because of a nationwide parts shortage. My airbag is still malfunctioning, and after two…
Suspension
20 complaints · 14%Half of these problems showed up before 27,500 miles. Parts named most often: front.
My Pontiac G8 gt has experienced premature and potentially dangerous wear and failure from all four of the front ball joints -- upper and lower control arms. Gm has stated that this wear is from a bad "boot design", but there are numerous vehicles with multiple boot replacements and control arm replacements that have…
Above about 40 MPH the steering wheel has a shake and the dealer keeps telling me that they do not feel it, seems like they want nothing to do with it. This is a widespread problem that seems like gm wants nothing to do with. This is a link to a 30 page thread of people complaining about the problem and almost every…
Electrical
20 complaints · 14%Half of these problems showed up before 35,500 miles. Parts named most often: instrument cluster/panel, ignition.
Air bag fault occurred and displayed in two places on my dash when I started my car to go to work. I had not driven this car in a month and just a few weeks prior to the last time it was driven I had another airbag recall performed. Took car to the dealership to find out the passenger sensor module had a short circuit…
The contact owns a 2009 Pontiac G8. The contact stated that while driving approximately 55 MPH attempting to engage the brakes, the vehicle jerked and veered to the left without warning. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The technician diagnosed that the rotors and calipers needed to be replaced. The vehicle was…
Transmission
9 complaints · 6%Half of these problems showed up before 17,000 miles. Parts named most often: automatic transmission, manual transmission.
Also occurred again on 1/26/2010/ on the interstate it loses all power, engine shuts down, ignition stops, power steering stops, brakes fail - complete vehicle stoppage and full operating systems shut down without warning at 70 MPH, twice!
First occurred n 11/23/2009. On the interstate it loses all power, engine shuts down, ignition stops, power steering stops, brakes fail - complete vehicle stoppage and full operating systems shut down without warning at 70 MPH, twice! Second occurrence was 1/26/2010.
Brakes
9 complaints · 6%Half of these problems showed up before 68,000 miles. Parts named most often: foundation components, supply.
The contact owns a 2009 Pontiac G8. The contact stated that the brake lights erroneously illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was found that the brake light switch needed to be replaced. The dealer also informed the contact that the vehicle was not included in NHTSA campaign number 09v172000…
The contact owns a 2009 Pontiac G8. While driving 65 MPH, the contact noticed that the brake light remained illuminated. The stability control warning light also illuminated. The failures occurred frequently. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer stated that the VIN was not included in NHTSA…
Wheels and tires
7 complaints · 5%Half of these problems showed up before 8,500 miles. Parts named most often: pressure monitoring and regulating systems.
Tl contact owns a 2009 Pontiac G8. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for recall # 09v172000 (tires: pressure monitoring and regulating systems) on june 12, 2009. Since the recall repair, the tire pressure monitor light illuminated constantly. She asked the dealer to reset the tire pressure monitor system for the…
2009 Pontiac G8/gt. Tire pressure sticker on the door is different from pressures listed in manual which is the reverse of the visual dashboard display. There are considerable differences which could well impact the safety of high performance driving. I have photos available electronically.
Lights
7 complaints · 5%Half of these problems showed up before 51,000 miles. Parts named most often: brake lights, headlights.
The contact owns a 2009 Pontiac G8. While driving 55 MPH, the brake lights remained illuminated without the brake pedal being depressed. When the brake pedal was depressed, the brake lights failed to illuminate. When the vehicle was started, an abnormal clicking sound was heard indicating that the brake lights were…
The contact owns a 2009 Pontiac G8. The contact stated that the rear brake lights remained illuminated. Buick, gmc, cadillac donovan auto & truck center (5800 w kellogg dr, wichita, ks 67209, ([phone]) was notified of the failure, but had not diagnosed the vehicle. The vehicle was excluded from NHTSA campaign number…
Steering
6 complaints · 4%Half of these problems showed up before 14,000 miles.
My 2009 Pontiac g8gt with 14,000 miles has had a front end shake in it since new. Have had it back to the dealer 8 times to have it fixed to no avail. He car has started to wander back and forth while driving on the highway so I decided today I was inspecting it to see if I could find anything. The last time I had it…
":alignment pull" Pontiac G8 2009. When making a sharp turn to the left, steering does not come back to center, pulls to left. When making a sharp right, steering does not center, pulls to the right. Tire air pressure has been checked, tire have been balanced and check for out of round.
Complaints are owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects. One complaint can name several components, so shares add up to more than 100%.
2009 Pontiac G8 recalls
Seat belts
Risk: If the cable breaks, the seat occupant may not be properly restrained in the event of a crash, increasing their risk of injury.
Fix: Gm will notify owners, and dealers will replace the seat belt tensioner assembly which includes the steel cable, free of charge. These replacement parts reposition the tensioner cable out of the path of entry into the vehicle and uses a more flexible cable, set at a more upright angle. The recall began on july 5, 2016. Owners may contact chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020 or pontiac customer service at 1-800-762-2737. Gm's number for this recall is 15206.
Full defect summary
General motors llc (gm) is recalling certain model year 2011-2013 chevrolet caprice vehicles manufactured october 15, 2010, to october 22, 2013, and 2008-2009 pontiac g8 vehicles manufactured july 25, 2007, to february 18, 2009. In the affected vehicles, the flexible steel cables that connect the seat belts to the vehicle at the outside of the driver seat and the front passenger seat may be bent from being sat on while entering the vehicle. This repeated bending may result in the cable breaking.
Electrical: ignition
Risk: If the key is not in the run position, the air bags may not deploy if the vehicle is involved in a crash, increasing the risk of injury. Additionally, a key knocked out of the run position could cause loss of engine power, power steering, and power braking, increasing the risk of a vehicle crash.
Fix: Gm will notify owners, and dealers will remove the key blade from the original flip key/rke transmitter assemblies, and cut and fit a revised key blade and housing assembly, in which the blade has been indexed by 90 degrees, to the original rke transmitter assembly. Gm issued an interim notification to owners on december 31, 2014. The recall began on february 4, 2015. Owners may contact chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020 and pontiac customer service at 1-800-762-2737. Gm's number for this recall is 14445. Note: until the recall has been performed, it is very important that drivers ad
Full defect summary
General motors llc (gm) is recalling certain model year 2011-2013 chevrolet caprice vehicles manufactured october 15, 2010, to december 6, 2013, and 2008-2009 pontiac g8 vehicles manufactured july 25, 2007, to february 18, 2009. In the affected vehicles, the driver may accidentally hit the ignition key with their knee, unintentionally knocking the key out of the run position, turning off the engine.
Air bags: sensor/control module-inactive
Risk: In the event of a crash, this delay may result in increased head injury to certain front seat occupants.
Fix: Gm dealers will reprogram the sensing and diagnostic module free of charge. The safety recall began on november 30, 2011. Owners may contact pontiac at 1-800-620-7668.
Full defect summary
General motors (gm) is recalling certain model year 2008-2009 pontiac g8 vehicles manufactured from november 2, 2007 through january 22, 2009. A 5th percentile female anthropomorphic test device (atd) in a 30 MPH frontal barrier test exceeded the head injury criteria (hic) requirements of the standard. With the front passenger seat positioned full forward, the seat position sensor will cause a 30 milliseconds deployment delay between the first and second stages of the dual-stage frontal passenger air bag.
Wheels and tires: pressure monitoring and regulating systems
Risk: Inappropriate, non-standard lights could increase the risk of a crash or driving on a significantly under-inflated tire causes the tire to overheat and can lead to tire failure.
Fix: Dealers will reprogram the brake position sensor and the remote control door lock receiver with the correct values free of charge. The recall is expected to begin on or before june 5, 2009. Owners may contact gm pontiac at 1-800-620-7668.
Full defect summary
Gm is recalling 35,038 my 2008-2009 pontiac g8 vehicles for failing to comply with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 108, "lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment" and federal motor vehicles safety standard no. 138, "tire pressure monitoring systems". The brake pedal position switch may have been incorrectly programmed. With this condition, the brake lamps may be continually illuminated and fail to warn a following driver when the vehicle is braking. Also certain vehicles may have incorrect values programmed into the tire pressure monitoring system that will not illuminate the low tire pressure telltale until tire pressure falls below values required by the standard.
Recall repairs are free at any franchised dealer. Enter your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which recalls are still open on your car.
Questions about the 2009 Pontiac G8
- What are the most common problems with the 2009 Pontiac G8?
- By NHTSA owner complaints: air bags (69 complaints, typically around 56,000 miles); suspension (20 complaints, typically around 27,500 miles); electrical (20 complaints, typically around 35,500 miles).
- How many recalls does the 2009 Pontiac G8 have?
- 4 recalls listed by NHTSA, the latest from June 23, 2015 (seat belts). Check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which ones are still open on your car.
- Is the 2009 a bad year for the Pontiac G8?
- It is the most complained-about G8 model year since 2000, with 144 complaints. Complaint counts are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, so popular years collect more of them, and the newest years have had less time to.
Other Pontiac G8 years
- 2008
- 2009