Pontiac Vibe

scottc454

Canada, Norway, Sweden - I think it's more of an issue for those countries because frankly they experience more than a fair share of gray & snowy days.

shadow03

Hello everybody. I am the proud owner of a Satellite Vibe FWD with automatic and the Power Package. There were three on the lot down here in Central Virginia, and my wife & I negotiated $18,250 out the door, including tax, tag & title (about $800 below MSRP).

I do have one question for dlh3 about the recall -on the NHTSA website, you are currently not able to pull up the Vibe by model, only by campaign ID# and by date. Is there an easier way, or another site, that I can track recall information without weeding through all recall notices until the Vibe is entered by model? I see that I can't pull up the Vibe on Alldata either.

Thanks for your help.

petl

Never mind studies, logic and common sense tells you that DRLs will help you be seen in any type weather... including sunny, cloudy, rainy and snowy conditions "you can even throw in dusk and dawn". Manufacturers are not installing them for the heck of it. I find it hard to believe that this additional safety item has become such a big issue. However, I admire your tenacity (valid or not), no one is going to tell you guys what's good for you.

scottc454

I don't doubt DRL's help you to be seen better, but there are some drawbacks.
1) DRL's become annoying when someone is behind you glaring headlights into your rear view mirror.
2) DRL's cause blinkers to stand out less.
3) DRL's cause pedestrians, bicyclists, etc. to stand out less. If you become overly focussed on headlights, you may start paying less attention to other important things.
4) Maybe the fact that we need things like this points to a larger issue in that we need to start paying more attention when driving.

Some of these are just theories, but when I drive I don't want a bunch of headlights standing out. I want to see everything equally. It isn't more complex than that.
I suppose we could go on forever and it would be about as productive as discussing whether God exists or not. I discovered that there are tons of web sites out there debating this topic and this is apparently a huge issue for some people. For me, I really don't care that much either way (but I guess I like arguing about it).

petl

You are a stubborn little devil.

1) Only brights are annoying in the rear view mirror (DRL,s are not even as bright as regular headlights).

2) Anyone that can't tell when a light a flashing should not be driving (in addition many signal lights are yellow in colour).

3) Drivers should be focussing on everything. Because DRLs assist you in seeing oncoming vehicles, drivers can concentrate more on other distractions i.e. pedestrians, bicyclists, etc.

4) You bring up a good point. There are many more vehicles on the road today than there were just 10 years ago. We should accept any feature that can prevent accidents from occurring. DRLs are an additional safety feature that some refuse to accept.

I've read some of the arguments against DRLs on the Internet. Most are not well founded. It sort of reminds me of when laws were passed making wearing seatbelts mandatory. The classic response was and to a lesser degree still is "Big brother is not going to tell me what to do". Many features assist in keeping people safe. DRLs are a feature that is available to help drivers avoid accidents. People can choose to accept the obvious or have them disconnected.

Tup

Put my voice with the other Canadians who wasn't sure about DRL but who now thinks they are a good idea. I do not find them annoying at all. During the day they are not bothersome because your eyes are adjusted to brighter light. Think how many times you've been driving along during say fog or snow or twilight and seen a vehicle driving with no headlights on and thought how dangerous that was. Also, on a long stretch of road, people notice DRL coming the other way and won't pull out to pass. They are definitely not distracting...they are just there like the car is just there...it's just an aid to noticing them.

Doesn't it seem odd that all the Canadians seem to be in favour of DRL now that they are manditory in Canada....hmmm.

revka

I think it's time to get back to the subject of the Pontiac Vibe. Thanks! ;-)

Revka
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scott31

For those of you who bought a Vibe, which one got the best price? And, from which dealer? Thanks.

shadowsurfer

FYI,

This is a recent review from Orlando Sentinel at Auto.com. The writer prefers the styling of the VIbe over the Matrix. The rest of the review tells you nothing new. I just hope the future vibes will improve in terms of putting more power into the engine. Maybe a V-6 as one of the options.

http://www.auto.com/reviews/vibe6_20020406.htm

shadow03

Posting again....the original got lost in the DRL debate........hate to be a pest :-)

Hello everybody. I am the proud owner of a Satellite Vibe FWD with automatic and the Power Package. There were three on the lot down here in Central Virginia, and my wife & I negotiated $18,250 out the door, including tax, tag & title (about $800 below MSRP).

I do have one question for dlh3 (or anyone else who knows the answer) about the recall. On the NHTSA website, you are currently not able to pull up the Vibe by model, only by campaign ID# and by date. Is there an easier way, or another site, that I can track recall information without
weeding through all recall notices until the Vibe is entered by model? I see that I can't pull up the Vibe on Alldata either.

Thanks for your help.

revka

and congrats on your new Pontiac Vibe!

You'll find (nhtsa) recall information for the 2003 Pontiac Vibe in Edmunds' Maintenance Guide. Hit the "GO" on that page and a smaller browser will open up where you submit the year, make, and model information. Also, be sure not to close the main page (behind the small browser) that takes you to the vehicle information. Let me know now if you need any further help. Good luck.

Revka
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shadow03

Thanks Revka! I did go to the maintenance guide, and got the message "Information is not available at this time for this vehicle. Please check back again." I guess that's one of the drawbacks of having the latest and greatest. You can't even register at the Pontiac owners site, since it doesn't recognize the VIN or have the Vibe as one of the options on the menu.

I know my Vibe was made in February, but I'm assuming that the recall, since only about 2000 Vibes were affected, were made in January and early February. Is there any way to find out when in February my car was made?

Thanks again.

dindak

Congrats on the new car! How do you like it so far?

You got $800 of list which is decent. Have you taken it on the highway yet?

shadow03

We love it! We drove it around town for a couple of days, then drove it out to Charleston, WV (about 4 hours away) to donate the Vibe's great great grandfather, my 1986 Nova, another wonderful product of NUMMI, to the Good News Mountaineer Garage. We then continued on to Cincinnati, OH for opening weekend at Kings Island. We now have almost 1300 miles on the Vibe after one week.

Because it's a tall wagon with a roof rack, there's a lot of wind noise, and the ride is a bit harsher than our 1994 Nissan Sentra, and even the slightest grades seemed to cause a downshift to maintain speed. As far as I'm concerned, it's a small price to pay for the style, all that wonderful cargo room with the tie downs and hooks, and the good has mileage to boot (averaged in the low 30s). The driving position is comfortable and all of the controls are well laid out.

All in all, with Pontiac style and Toyota engineering, how can you go wrong?

montanafan

Great name selection. In the event of a recall Pontiac will mail notices to the effected owners. If you want, post your vin#, and I will call my Dealer's service department and get the info on when your car was built and if it was covered by the recall.

scottc454

Anyone own a GT? What's the gas mileage like? I've seen it listed as 21/28. I don't understand why it's so much poorer than the base version. It would seem like if you drove it conservatively and didn't get into the upper end of the powerband, it woudn't be too much worse. It's by no means horrible but just think, the Vibe GT gets the same highway gas mileage as the Corvette Z06.

shadow03

Thanks Montanafan. I've got my salesman looking into whehter mine was covered by the recall or not, but didn't ask him specifically to find out when in February the car was built. I'll just bug him for the information when he calls back - especially since he made a few more dollars on the deal than on your average Pontiac :-) I was just curious if there was any more build information somewhere on the car or documentation (than just the driver's door).

revka

Although the manufacturer TSB/Service information is not yet available in our Maintenance Guide, you should still be able to access the Pontiac Vibe NHTSA recall information there. To make it easy for you, here's a direct link to the one recall (number: 02V074002) that's currently listed there. Is this what you were looking for?

For future reference, when you get to the main vehicle page, in our Maintenance Guide, look for the Recall information/link on the left side. Hope this is helpful.

Revka
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shadow03

Oops - gave up too soon. When I got the "no information" message, I didn't bother filling in the rest of the fields and hitting "GO". That's exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for your help, Revka.

revka

You're welcome. ;-)

Revka
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edchen

I had a problem starting my Vibe. It was fine for the first week or so but then it would not start. It did start the first time the roadside assistance guy tried but then failed after that. He started it in neutral after which my Vibe has started fine. So there seems to be an intermittent neutral start switch problem. I did try the neutral start myself but couldn't figure out how to get the transmission from park to neutral. Now if the manual said turn the ignition to on and then shift to neutral I could have figured it out. Maybe it does say in the transmission section but shouldn't it be in the starting section too? Oh well, just letting you all know.

edchen

Has anyone noticed the battery in the Vibe is labeled in English and Japanese? Guess they're ready to call it a Voltz hehe.

johnclineii

Shadow03:

I was at Paramount's Kings Island opening day. Didn't see your Vibe, though!

How about that Tomb Raider?

dindak

Sounds good. I really like the looks of the VIBE. Unfortunately my wife does not share my view.

shadow03

edchen - I haven't had any starting problems at all, but I'll let you know if it happens.

johnclineii - The line at Tomb Raider didn't appeal to us, and we were quite annoyed that the Beast was closed. We did, however, have loads of fun on the Racer (first time riding it in 22 years) and Son of Beast. BTW, there were only a couple of hundred cars in the parking lot - how could you miss the Vibe ;-)

dindak - I was pretty lucky; the Vibe is one of the few cars my wife does like (which is probaby why she is the primary driver). I get it for the next 3 weeks, however, since she doesn't have anywhere to park it on her Pediatrics rotation in Northern Virginia. It's a tough life.

coakleysd

Check out www.matrixvibe.net.
Great resource for matrix/vibe owners.

Tup

Some of you Vibe fans better check out that website as right now the poll has the Matrix way in front of the Vibe.

johnclineii

http://www.detnews.com/2002/autosconsumer/0204/11/g01-460981.htm

dlh3

I've called my dealer's service department twice over the past week. They cannot tell whether the information on the recall has been entered into their system yet or not. My Vibe was manufactured in February 2002 and purchased on March 12th (the day that the owner notification process started). The service people tell me that there are no service campaigns listed for it yet.

dindak

There are way more Matrix owners as there is still a limited number of Vibes available. I've still only seen two Vibes and the dealer has 1 on the lot. I wonder if the California plant is shipping to Japan (hence no supply here)?

lopers

After calling my dealer about the recall and having them tell me there were no open recalls on the Vibe, I called Pontiac and gave them my VIN Number. They told me the recall service was completed by the dealer prior to my purchase on 3/16. This was news to me since no paperwork was supplied when I purchased the vehicle saying the problem was fixed. Oh well, if I can't maintain control of my vehicle and wipe out due to the rear bolts not being tight, I will sue the crap out of Pontiac for saying the car was fixed. Bottom line, call Pontiac customer service if you are worried about it.

montanafan

I made a call after Shadow03 posted and the info could help dlh3 and lopers, or others. The NUMMI cars (Vibe & Corolla) have had a recall to check rear bearing/hub bolt tightness. It is only for FWD (AWD uses a different style) with vin numbers lower then 405557. Any car in dealer stock or delivered after March 1st should have been done before delivery. So the cars most likely to need the check would be those delivered in February. I do not know if dealers have to give you any paperwork at delivery if a recall was done while still in their inventory. But I think when a recall has been completed, sticker is put under the hood somewhere to say so. Hope this helps.

cfilkins

Just picked up my Vibe base last night. Options were Moons & Tunes, Power package, and automatic, stickered at $18,800 and sold for $18,300. I went from a '99 Grand Am into the Vibe, and what a difference. The inside of the car feels HUGE - lots of glass, great forward/side visibility, lots of open space, yet maneuvering the car is cake given it's rather compact size. Seats are very comfortable, both front and back, controls work beautifully, and a blast to drive. I'm somewhat tentative about long trips given the rather lively feel that the car has for the road - might get old kinda fast. Yeah, it's a little noisy given the roof rack and the 4 banger, but with the sunroof open and the windows down, who cares!

The only big thing that irks me is the display. It can be really hard to see unless the lighting is just right. Also, the automatic headlight sensor seems really touchy - at 5pm last night it was cycling the headlamps on and off quite regularly. Other than that, it's got miles of get-up-and-go, and handles beautifully considering how tall it is. The dual trip odometers are really handy as well.

How have people's gas mileages have been? I never trust the first fillup as a good gauge (my Grand Am somehow managed 40mpg on it's first tank of gas). I'm hoping that it's as good as the numbers posted.

dlh3

I just filled my Vibe (FWD, automatic transmission) for the 2nd time. I got about 32 mpg (65% highway/35% city driving) on this tankful.

shadow03

Thanks Montanafan. My VIN falls in that range, but it was delivered to the dealer in mid-March and I bought it on April 1st. Until I hear otherwise, or until I start hearing strange noises from the back of the Vibe, I'm not going to worry about it.

To cfilkins - congratulations on your new Vibe. Satellite is a great color for it, isn't it? I know what you mean about that first tank of gas. I almost thought the gauge was broken because we'd driven nearly 100 miles before the needle even moved. I guess when the dealer tells you they're going to top off the tank, they're not kidding. The second tankful was not nearly as miserly, but our mileage has been about on par with dlh3's.

For the owners out there: What are you using to keep packages, like groceries, from rolling all over the place back there? The plastic trim really amplifies a rolling can. I'm currently using a laundry basket and a couple of bungee cords, but I'm open to suggestions. I don't want to buy accessories from the dealer because they're overpriced.

dlh3

shadow3 - one suggestion for storage in the cargo area would be the Trunk Organizer from LL Bean (product number LH39194 $49). It has a nonskid bottom. I have one and it has worked well for me. You could also check some of the other car catalogs for mats for the cargo area, get some rubber backed carpet samples or buy some of the non-slip rug cushion and cut it to fit.

revka

Does anyone have an answer to joelis' question (post 17) in our new Matrix & Vibe comparison discussion? Thank for your participation. ;-)

Revka
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dindak

Well, we will definitely not be getting a Vibe as my wife just doesn't want a hatch back/wagon type vehicle. Unfortunately she just can't get past it and see the greatness of the car. Oh well. Anyway, we will likely be buying a 02 Alero GX this week. Definitely not as handy, but a very nice car just the same with a peppy 140hp Ecotec.

Still look forward to hearing more stories as our friend's may be getting a Vibe. They have 2 kids and are pretty keen on it.

millspd

Hey all,

I was wondering if Pontiac dealers are discounting on Vibe, or if they are able to ask for sticker and get it. my local dealer is discounting a bit in the paper.

Tup

Isn't your wife worried about buying a soon to be orphan Oldsmobile? I know there are heavy incentives but once the Olds name is gone...what will happen with depreciation?

dindak

The Alero is an identical twin to the Grand Am under the skin much like Matrix and Vibe. It's the only Oldsmobile that is not unique in some way. Not worried really and even if it is a little worse than the Grand Am at selling time, we know we got an extra $750 in loyalty credits when we bought. Resale on Aleros is pretty decent right now and they are everywhere, it's not like it's unknown.

I would have rather had the Vibe for the space and the kool look factor, but my wife would not be happy and I would never hear the end of it.

artdecho

I know how you feel, Dindak. My wife's also not crazy about the Vibe/Matrix and is pushing for a CR-V. I tried to tell her we could save about 10 grand over 5 years by going with either the Vibe or Matrix but she wouldn't go for it. The CR-V actually is a pretty good fit for us, just more than I wanted to spend at this point. What can you do........!

dindak

Luckily, the Alero is going to work out cheaper for us as there are some decent incentives on it. CR-V is really nice, but it's not cheap and there is no dealing (at least around the Toronto area).

magnetophone

I think there's too much grey on the new CR-V, and the wheels look a bit anemic.

Sorry that your wife doesn't like wagons. It makes no sense to me why she'd prefer a car that nobody would disagree that is less reliable, not as well built and not as utilitarian.

Just this sunday in the paper, they advertised a program 2002 Alero with lots of uplevels (I want to say GLX or GLS model), for 10K with 20K on the clock. That is 50% depreciation in 1 year or less. hyundais do a lot better than that!

cfilkins

shadow - I like the silver...would have LOVED to have gotten the Neptune, but the dealerships aroun here have literally been selling them as they roll off the trucks, so I didn't have much choice.

Just had a friend of mine checking mine out - he's 6'3" and goes probably 240-250lbs. Had him sitting very comfortably in the front seats (no huge surprise) but then got him comfortable in the back seats as well...even with the driver seat ALL the way back, it was just touching his knees, but not to the point of being uncomfortable...not too bad for being a compact car

About to go fill up the tank for the first time and see what kinda mileage I've been getting.

With regards to the stereo question, I'm not sure about how the matrix/vibe stereos match up. The Vibe stereo is definitely a Delco/GM product...I love it because it has the tweeters mounted in the corner of the door for much improved clarity. Dunno of the Toyota does that or not.

howardpm

Just purchase a Pontiac Vibe, came with power package, moons and toons and 6 disc cd changer. Every was great, but I just realized it doesn't say anywhere it has antilock breaks on it. Did I miss this or is this bad.

howardpm

Thought I posted this but guess it didn't work. Just bought a vibe and I just realized it doesn't say anywhere anything about AntiLock breaks, does this car come with some if not thats bad.

scott31

The Vibe (non-GT) does NOT come standard with ABS. If the window sticker doesn't say it, you don't have it.

Oops!

clyde2000

GM is removing ABS as a standard feature in most of their models. Although GM was one of the first manufacturers to make ABS a standard feature (even the Cavalier has it!), it's removing it to make their cars more price competitive. Which to me means lower base price, higher actual price. Thanks GM!

dindak

magnetophone : No idea what you saw, but that's not reality.

clide : GM reversed/ clarified that decision and they are only dropping ABS from about 8% of models, mostly the cheaper ones. 80%+ will still have standard ABS. Vibe GT comes with ABS standard in Canada I believe.