Maybe buying a 09' GT any advise..

[Mxzoom2014]

Looking into buying a 09" GT with 77,000kms here Newfoundland , Canada, for about $9000.00. Any thing I should look for when I put it in the garage for a inspection before I buy , I have been reading some of the forums here about the 2.4 burning oil, are there any way of telling if the car is one of those ,eg. certain manufacturing date or can u see blue smoke actually come out of the exhaust. Any words of wisdom is appreciated.

[Rayven01]

So far the theory for oil consumption in '09s is early '08 manufacture date. We're not sure of the exact cutoff. My February car has the issue and Vibenvy's October car doesn't. That said it doesn't seem to be affecting the life of them so far, just adding a higher expense for oil. Mine is at 117k and still going strong.

[Mxzoom2014]

Thanks Rayven01, From what I was reading the consumption doesn't seem that bad .I have been following these cars for years, they seem to be very reliable, I am selling my 03' Mazda Miata for something a little more practical as a second car. Have two kids and don't use the Miata that much anymore, but want a little sporty family hauler, this seems to be the right choice

[Nasmfell]

Thanks Rayven01, From what I was reading the consumption doesn't seem that bad .I have been following these cars for years, they seem to be very reliable, I am selling my 03' Mazda Miata for something a little more practical as a second car. Have two kids and don't use the Miata that much anymore, but want a little sporty family hauler, this seems to be the right choice

Have you considered the Mazda 3?

It's a catch 22 with the Vibe year you're looking at. There is the possible oil consumption for the '09 and the spotty build quality for the '10 (since the car and Pontiac were being dropped, so why bother building them with a quality feel). Good luck

[09vGT]

My car seems to be burning around 3/4 of a quart in 1000 miles. Toyota says that burning a quart in 1200 miles is in their "normal" threshold. Mine never showed any oil burning and it just all happened at once. I found the Toyota TSB and posted it here: viewtopic.php?f=12&t=43046" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Other than that, my little car is going strong at 124,000 miles. If you don't mind the (possible) oil burning, go for it!

[tpollauf]

Have you considered the Mazda 3?

DON'T consider the Mazda 3! Two kids, cargo, etc. it just doesn't have the interior room that you'd need. Stick with the Vibe and don't let the minor oil consumption issue bother you. Just curious how the underbody looks seeing that it has gone through FIVE winters up there. Was it "Krown" protected (a Canadian asset that we DON'T have down here in the states). When you do get this car, you'll have overwhelming support from this community to assist you in fixing any problem you may encounter. Looking forward to seeing this "new to you" Vibe

[vibenvy]

As long as the Vibe looks clean and appears to be in good shape, I say go for it! We have 2 2009 Vibe GTs and neither of ours is consuming oil so far (build dates of 10.29.08 & 11.17.08). We haven't had any issues with ours in the 5+ years and 50,000+ miles we've had them. Great little vehicles for sure. We get tons of compliments on them, how they look, etc. Sporty and practical, can't beat that!

Definitely let us know if you do end up getting the Vibe and if you do, be sure and post some pictures when you get a chance !

EDIT
Forgot to mention this... have the dealer run the VIN and see whether all the recalls (accelerator pedal and window swtich) have been done. If they haven't, have the dealer do them for you or get them done if it's not a GM dealer that has the Vibe.

[Dairgo]

To echo others...

Make sure to check to see if the recalls have been done, if not, find a former pontiac dealer still around (prolly selling buick, gmc and chevys) and have them do the recalls asap. My local chevy dealer was unable to get the former pontiac place to send over the tools to get the work done, so had to go there... but it was a recall so it was free....

Mine had 79k miles on it, and I had complete logs on oil changes. Have the shop look for drips, and possibly leaky suspension, may or may not be time to change those, I'm not there yet, but soon. Have the tread wear looked at to see if it's riding straight. And as a side note... look at the bolts holding on the spoiler... some or all maybe loose / not even on. I had 3 loose and 2 not even on.

side note: My '09 GT built in 09, does not appear to be burning oil. I run full synthetic.

[jake75]

This is coming up 6 years (2009-2015) so I don't know if $9,000 is reasonable or not. In the US I sold my 2003 base 1.8L AT privately in Feb. 2009 with 33,000 miles for $9.500, Orig MSRP was $18,690. I suspect the CDN price on a 2009 GT was closer to $24,000 so $9,000 is probably not unreasonable.

[Dairgo]

This is coming up 6 years (2009-2015) so I don't know if $9,000 is reasonable or not. In the US I sold my 2003 base 1.8L AT privately in Feb. 2009 with 33,000 miles for $9.500, Orig MSRP was $18,690. I suspect the CDN price on a 2009 GT was closer to $24,000 so $9,000 is probably not unreasonable.

$9,000 is not a bad price if it's a clean car. My '09 with 79K miles was clean, no issues on it when I took it to a shop to get it looked at, I paid about 11K for it.