New Vibe Owner

[dinopiratedavid]

Hello everyone. Just picked up my first Vibe today, its an 03 auto :/ but the only one they had in the area. Couldn't afford to keep the gas in my RX-7 so I had to sell her and buy something better on gas but still fun to drive. One of my buddies mentioned the Matrix/Vibe and I fell in love. Hope to have a lot of fun with her and will get pictures up tomorrow. First question though is how bad is a auto-5spd swap? lol

[BlueCrush]

Congrats on getting a vibe! Welcome to GenVibe! You're gonna love it here. Lots of info and awesome people!!

[trb]

Welcome! Yes, manuals are a bit harder to find, and I wish I had one too. One thing, I'm not sure how or if the auto trans is integrated with the computer, so that might be a potential issue in a manual swap. But if you did embark on the swap, skip the 5 speed transmissions as they are prone to failure. Get a 6 speed trans from a GT Vibe. Several people on here have swapped broken 5 speeds for the 6 speeds and it is basically a direct swap.

[mkowdley]

welcome to genvibe

[zaxellord]

Hi and Welcome

[vibenvy]

Welcome to GenVibe! Looking forward to seeing pictures of your "new" Vibe !

[journeyforce]

As much as an auto is not as fun as a manual trans, you did the right thing by not getting the 5spd manual as the trans in the 2003-2004 (and some say all the way to 2006) were crap. In fact the 2003-2004 Vibe/ Matrix is the only car that the auto trans is more reliable then the manualCongrats on your new Vibe and welcome to Genvibe

[tpollauf]

Welcome I'll be thinking of you every time I drive my 09 Vibe GT manual down the road Oh ... that was cruel and unjust But seriously, you've joined the best community for Vibe owners & enthusiasts. Visit often & get involved

[w00tastic]

Welcome!

[CAVADA75]

Welcome I am sure you will have a lot of fun with her.

[dinopiratedavid]

Spent some time last night and plasti-dipped all the emblems, tinted the tail lights and threw in some HID and I love it even more now, just needs some window tint lol

[vibenvy]

I'm personally not a fan of tinted taillights from a safety standpoint, but the Vibe is looking good! Keep it up!

[dinopiratedavid]

Looks dark but it's not that bad in day light.

[Vaggeto]

Very nice!

Is that with just the lights on or the actual brake depressed?

Personally from what I've seen, the brake lights look more obvious when going from black to red instead of red to a lit up red.

I think hazardous conditions like snow/fog are the real tests though.
What did you use to tint and how was the process? What about for the badges? I'm wanting to do both of these things.

Any concerns with legality of the brake tinting?

Thanks!

[dinopiratedavid]

That's with the running lights on, brakes are much brighter. As for tinting em, go to autozone and pick up a can of lens tint and clear coat and sand and paint. The emblems are plasti dipped, I can do a write up if need be. As for the legality of the tail lights I have heard they are illegal but had the tail lights on all 3 of my cars tinted and been pulled over in multiple states multiple times and never had them brought up.

[CAMOGIRL]

I actually asked our Sheriff one day while discussing my plans for my car. He says yeah, they are illegal, but he wouldn't pull me or anyone over just for that. On the safety standpoint? In the fog one morning I almost rear-ended a kid with tinted tails..with my school bus, he had the things that are tinted and snap on over the tails. that's the only thing stuck in my head and why I havent done it yet.

[dinopiratedavid]

I've had a few close calls with people who make them completely black but as long as you don't do it too dark it looks good and still is visible. Another option is upgrading the regular bulbs for high output LEDs if youre willing to drop 20 bucks a bulb.

[NascarXprt]

Lookin Good! needs to be more low!!! lookin forward to how she will look with the tint!


the real dark tinted tails are the worse kind to come across or have, yea they look good for show, but how functional are they really.

on my old Vibe, i had tinted tails, but with three light coats and still looked good and still a decent dark shade.

Light Normal.


Brake Light Depressed


Lights On

[dinopiratedavid]

Actually dropped her about a week ago just never got around to getting pictures up so here we go lol

[OmniDimensional]

Looks good, love the side profile it has. The tinted lights look great too!

[dinopiratedavid]

Thanks! I have to say most of my friends kinda cringed and ask what I was thinking when they found out I bought a vibe and now almost halfway what I want to get done to it they are all loving it.