Junkyard Find: 2005 Pontiac Sunfire – How to Buy a Used Car

GM began producing cars on its J Platform beginning in 1981, and the J-Body proved to be a tremendous global sales success for The General. Nearly a quarter-century later, the final new J-based cars were sold in the United States. Here’s one of those last-year cars, found in a car graveyard in Charlotte, South Carolina.

The end came in 2005, when there were just two J-Cars remaining in production: the Chevrolet Cavalier and Pontiac Sunfire. We saw a 2005 Cavalier in this series four years ago, and now it’s the turn of its Pontiac-badged sibling.

In its heyday, the J-Car was assembled in factories on five continents. Outside of North America, there were Isuzu Askas, Opel Asconas, Holden Camiras, Chevrolet Monzas… and so many Cavaliers! Chevrolet Cavaliers, of course, but also Vauxhall Cavaliers for Britain and Toyota Cavaliers for Japan.

In the United States, the introductory J Family models for the 1982 model year were the Chevrolet Cavalier, Pontiac J2000, Oldsmobile Firenza, Buick Skyhawk and Cadillac Cimarron.

Over the years, U.S.-market Js were available as two- and four-door sedans, coupes, three-door hatchbacks, convertibles and station wagons.

For 1982, the Pontiac J-Car was called the J2000. Then the “J” got dropped and it became the 2000 for just the 1983 model year. Because nothing stayed the same for long in the Pontiac J-Body world, the 1984 model was called the 2000 Sunbird (because the Monza-based Sunbird had been so good that the name deserved a revival, apparently). Then the Pontiac Sunbird name stayed in place from the 1985 through 1994 model years.

Because there had been Firebirds and SunBirds and Sunbursts (in Canada) for so long (plus Redbirds, Yellowbirds and Sky Birds), it made sense to kill the Sunbird name for 1995. The replacement was the Sunfire. By that time, all the GM divisions other than Chevrolet and Pontiac had stopped selling J-Bodies in the United States, with the Saturn S-Series taking their place.

The very last Cavaliers and Sunfires were built in the state of Coahuila, in the Estados Unidos Mexicanos. This one rolled off the line in September of 2004.

It’s a top-trim-level car with the Sport option package, so its original MSRP was $15,650 plus whatever the options cost. My extensive reference library isn’t much help here, because nobody cared about the Sunfire by 2005 and therefore option prices aren’t generally listed.

That’s about $25,732 in 2024 dollars, although the cheapest possible 2005 Sunfire started at just $10,895 ($17,914 after inflation). Those prices are likely meaningless, anyway, because dealers were motivated to get these antiquated heaps off their lots in order to make room for the new G5s.

In the end, it didn’t matter much. Pontiac itself was gone after 2010.

Pontiac-badged J-Bodies were powered by various straight-fours ( the GM 122, Family II and Quad 4) and 60° V6s at first. Starting with the 2003 model year, the only engine available in the Cavalier and Sunfire was the more modern 2.2-liter Ecotec. This one was rated at 140 horsepower and 150 pound-feet.

A five-speed manual transmission was available through the end, but this car has the four-speed automatic that just about every late Sunfire buyer wanted.

Remember when the ability to play data CDs with MP3 files was leading-edge audio technology? Sure, that was a late-1990s thing, but at least Pontiac had it in 2005.

2005 Pontiac Sunfire coupe in North Carolina wrecking yard.

[Images: The Author]

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