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Vibe Maintenance & Repair Concerns
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I don't think your mileage point is as powerful as you think it is. With today's cars so much depends on that little computer that controls everything. They could check for error codes, reflash the firmware, and run tests without having to take the car on the road. Since the emissions system is all about electronic sensors and fuel mixtures it seems likely to me that this is what they did. They could have run the engine to see if they could reproduce the symptoms, without having to move the car.
Their records should detail what tasks they performed.
"Inform the customer that condtions such as extended idling, hard braking, aggressive acceleration and long wide open throttle maneuvers may intensify the odor"
Service Information, Document ID# 1356980, entitled "Info - Sulfur (Rotten Egg) odor from exhaust system #03-06-05-006-(07/17/2003)"
Respectfully,
Larry
Note that it states "intensify the odor." To me that indicates that they have no hope of fixing the odor problem, only minimizing it by changing gas and driving styles. If you got you got it. If you don't you don't.
I wonder if anyone has encountered the smell on a test drive.
Cabin smell. The corolla I was riding in had the smell when we stopped. For all I know it could have been stinking the whole way from Fort Dix to DC on I95. I didn't smell it until we came to a stop and our tail caught up to us. We could smell it in the cabin.
I think we had the outside air coming in. A/C on recirc might make it go away.
-larry
I have heard about people winning settlements from dealers because they stage protests outside the dealership. Usually those seem to be framed against the dealership and not the manufacturer. It could all be urban legend though.
I called another dealer who charges $199.99 for the the 2 year service. While I understand that there will be some price variation, this is WAY beyond acceptable. From what I can see in the book, all that is called for is changing the coolant, oil and air filters; a few lube points and general inspection. One hour for a mechanic at MOST.
This kind of stuff makes me want to go to Honda for my next vehicle. Though if I checked their board I'm liable to find a post similar to mine.
Here in Miami, they don't do that. They have oil and filter change as one service and then tire rotation and balance as another. Together it's over $90. But they also try to sell an alignment and premature change of the air conditioning filter. I look in the book and it talks about that A/C filter at 20,000 miles. Service rep is like "well, if you wanna go by the book..." as he shrugs his shoulders. You know, that "oh, well. don't blame me" look.
In your example the one dealer has likely included its own "recommended" services in the price, whereas the second may be doing only what toyota specifies. Gotta get in the weeds and see exactly what they are doing and the costs.
Service has become a bigger profit center for dealers than new car sales. Pitching unneeded services is part of the game. I shudder to think about what they do to the average customer.
The 2 year, four year, 60,000 mile, 30,000 mile, etc. maintanance packages are dealer rip-offs. Just look in your manual to see what needs to be changed and ask for only those items to be done. For the Matrix/Corolla at two years or 30,000 miles, I would change the coolant, change the air filter, change cabin air filter, and change the oil and filter. If you had them do all this, I can't see paying more than $150 out the door, tops. Of course, it is REALLY easy to change the air filter and cabin air filters on Toyotas. It takes all of 5 minutes or less to do both. In fact, all these items are really easy on Toyotas. That's another reason, besides the reliability, that I like Toyota - very easy to work on. If you want to change your own oil and coolant, also both very easy, you could eliminate the dealer altogether! Use Toyota parts and your labor, and the total would be about $60 for the two year service.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Thanks
The Contour sounds like a Cadillac while the Vibe roars like a jet engine. Is it the difference in the lower profile tires? Are the Continental Tires just plain noisy??? Is the cabin not well insulated? Now that I'm back to the Vibe the road noise really haunts me! Any suggestions???
I also noised a wind whistle...
Is the wind noise most likely from the sunroof? The channel molding at the top of the windshield? Maybe the wipers? Any suggestions???
Really sad that a 1995 Contour with 100,000 miles put the Vibe to shame!
By the way I've had to do 2 alignments in 15,000 miles because of tire wear. Is this a Vibe trait?
Crappy tires ? ContinentalTires were okay the first winter, but horrible this past winter... no traction, you feel like you are floating on the snow!
My Vibe is a 2003 GT used only in the summer so far, 13800 km, still smells new inside.
I found the source of my Vibe's smell when rotating the tires this spring. Turns out the transmission was leaking at the right half shaft. The small protection cover on the shaft was spinning the oil onto two heat shields on the exhaust. I was smelling cooked transmission oil.
The leak was actually active since new. At the end of the first season, I noticed that the power steering actuator assembly was coated with dirt because of oil, but no drips. Could not understand it because the power steering fluid was not dropping. The transmission was also very clean, no dust like on the steering actuator. After this second season of winter storage, there was a very small oil puddle when I lowered the car down (25% weight left on wheels when up).
Dealer confirmed the leak, and the seal required 4 to 10 days to be delivered - must have came from Japan.
Thanks,
RJR
Can't comment on the base engine at idle since I have the XRS/GT engine.
My AC works great. My wife is bugging me to get hers serviced since it no longer cools as well as it once did.
In order to do the AC adjustment you'll need to first remove the cable from the clip and the cable connection to the door (white piece). Then set the temperature knob to full cold and rotate the door fully clockwise (looking at it from the passenger side). Reinstall the cable onto the door and into the clip making sure that when the temperature is set to full cold the door also moves completely clockwise. In the picture, you can see how far the white lever should travel when it is as far as it can go. Us the picture as a guide to determine if your lever is travelling far enough when your AC is dialed to the coldest position on your dashboard.
http://forums.genvibe.com/zerofile/932/VibeDuctCable.jpg
melissa
Hey that is whenever we drive our cars. Funny huh. So basically when ever we drive our car we should just expect to smell the fart smell and learn to enjoy it. RIGHT? Well not this girlie girl. I filed a suit and arbitration is coming up. Wish me luck.
I had an early-model Matrix which I sold earlier this year, and except for some rattles and the early-on twilight sensor TSB, I had no problems with it, certainly none of the ones you listed. While many of the parts suppliers for the Matrix and Vibe are different, I don't think much can be attributed to different factories as far as quality differences between them. The only one thatmight be attributable to different factories is the rusting door panel issue, which is probably because of the difference between the two in painting.
Having said that, both Vibe and Matrix carry rust-through warranties from their manufacturers. Perhaps you could pursue that with dealers?
Lastly, we are lucky to have already had low-sulfur gas in California, so that Vibes and 'Trixes here do not have the sulfur problem, but it is related to the gas, believe me, not the specific car. Many cars are having or have had this problem outside California. Many brands, especially imports, are engineering their cars now to use the low-sulfur gas that the rest of the world and California has. If it is any consolation, the rest of the U.S. will have it within a couple of years, and a few places already do.
You should be able to enjoy a new car without feeling it is fatally flawed, that is for sure, so again I am sorry to hear of your woes. :-(
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
kcram
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I had my hearing with the BBB a couple of months ago and my complaint was denied. On a conference call with a representative of GM the arbitrator in Chicago acted throughout the meeting in a very sympathetic manner. GM does acknowledge the "condition" (they won't call it a problem) but puts the blame on the gas. On the test drive with the arbitrator, I couldn't duplicate the condition within the ten minutes I was aloted. In the end, the complaint was dismissed by the BBB.
Bottom line, in my opinion, the BBB is just a shill for all of the companies that contribute to them (GM is a major contributor). Rather than initiate a costly law suit I have decided to wait until the Vibe is 2 years old and then dump it.
Don't expect any help from the BBB. The're worthless.
Oh, and to the Californians that keep talking about their low sulfur gas, we have the same thing in Illinois from April to October, a special blend to reduce summer emissions, and the result is the same.
cttguy
C6 would not smell groovy if it belched rotten egg odor into the cabin every time your turned on the engine.
Kevin
I'm no GM fan myself, but just b/c they aren't my kind of car doesn't mean I should be going around saying they are no good at all.
BTW, my Matrix XRS beats my Civic EX (both 04's) hands down in terms of comfort, fit and finish and refinement. It is noisier, but I'll take the power anytime.
'04 XR Matrix.
I owned a '94 Buick Century with the exact same problem - in my case the smell coincided with "summer" gas, barometric pressure and humidity.
FYI: While it is true that the rest of the country will eventually be forced to buy the low sulfur gas year round - ratios will vary from state to state, and in some cases, from county to county with CA having the most potent low sulfur gas. A recent city meeting in Vegas acknowledged this ratio difference between CA and NV and what is allowed from the refinery per state. Vegas will have low sulfur gas, but not as low as the CA gas mixture.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Sorry to hear all these problems and good luck...
I am relatively happy with its performance - the pep in the passing lane could be more powerful but with the rear seats folded, it holds lots of cargo. We bought a grey rubber-backed mat from Wal-mart to keep things in the back from sliding around...
To get to my point, we traded a Jeep Grand Cherokee in on it only because of the price of gas being so high and the Jeep's efficiency so low - right now, gas here is 98 cents a litre CDN (nearly $4/gallon CDN!!). Anyway, the AWD Vibe is supposed to get 31/41 mpg city/highway...I'm only getting about 16-18 mpg...anyone else finding this?? I've reached the 10,000 km break-in period that my dealer says it takes before the efficiency level is reached and have had two oil changes done at the dealership. Actually, it's getting worse mpg now than when I first bought it....
I plan to talk to the mechanics again really soon...I could've kept my Jeep if I wanted that mpg number!!!
I checked and it's actually rated 26/31 for the 2005 model. Still, your mileage is clearly too low.
Has your dealer checked the ECU? Off the top of my head it sounds like you're running too rich and wasting fuel.