New member and need advice on a few vibes i'm looking at

[MrManager]

Hey all, new guy from New Jersey.

after lugging around in my GMC Jimmy I decided I wanted something newer, good gas mileage, a manual, and could still fit my bike in the back, and kayak on the top. This brought me to the Vibes naturally, and I love them.

I'm honing in on 09/10 GTs and need some advice about what to go for.

I found one at a decent price, but it has about 104k miles. From what I read it would last well over another 100k if well taken care of. I saw the carfax and there were no issues, has had service done, and the car looks REALLY clean.

Should I hold out for something with a bit less mileage (and probably more expensive), or go forth with it?

[Salsa Guy]

Welcome to Genvibe. Don't know much about the 2nd Gen Vibes/Matrix but them seem to hold up well also. Any mileage on a car is relative to what kind of miles.

Good Luck

[MrManager]

Yeah I figured so, it was a one owner car from what the carfax says.

I found 2 nice ones at a dealership, decent price, decent miles, but it's close to 4 hours away.

[lobi]

Great little buggies. I'm passing on my current 269k mile '03 to my niece and moving up to an '03 with only 204k miles. Not afraid to pass on old one even to a close relative. Said hi, nice vibe to a guy last night in parking lot. He grinned and said 300,000 and going strong.

Something as new as you are looking at with that high of miles wouldn't make me bat an eye. I'd jump on it for the lower price it will bring. High miles on newer car means lots of miles per day, not as many cold starts, less starter wear, less brake wear, etc. A long time ago I bought a quite new Celica Supra that had 200k and looked like it could have been on showroom floor at new car dealer. Had original brakes and exhaust. Was driven almost 200 miles round trip daily on freeway.

Good luck in your purchase and welcome to the vibe world.

[MrManager]

Hm that's very good to know, thanks!

All of them are in PA, there is the one that has 104k and is $8k in price, one that has 88k and is $9,500, and one that is just listed, 85k for about $10k.

Hopefully in the next few days I can go see the other two and come home with one. Too bad none of these places are open on sundays!

[Salsa Guy]

You can't go wrong with a Matrix either although them seem to hold the value better. Vibe is great though Toyota quality GM deprecation.

[tpollauf]

I decided I wanted something newer, good gas mileage, a manual, and could still fit my bike in the back, and kayak on the top. This brought me to the Vibes naturally, and I love them.

I'm honing in on 09/10 GTs and need some advice about what to go for.

Why not fit a couple bikes in the back !!! And plenty of room for luggage and other stuff. These two Raleigh mountain bikes (19" & 22" frames) easily fit into the 2009-10 Vibe.





Let us know what you end up getting

[vibenvy]

Welcome to GenVibe! You've certainly come to the right place to research Vibes ! My mom and I both have 2009 Vibe GTs (shown in my signature below) and we absolutely love them! We don't ever haul anything like kayaks or bikes, so I can't really comment on that aspect, but we do get pretty decent gas mileage. In the warm months, we average 27-28 MPG with 50% city / 50% highway. I've gotten as high as 34 MPG with 100% highway. Both our Vibes are 5-speed autos.

As tpollauf said, be sure to let us know what you end up with and assuming it is indeed a Vibe, definitely post some pictures for us to enjoy !

[MrManager]

Why not fit a couple bikes in the back !!! And plenty of room for luggage and other stuff. These two Raleigh mountain bikes (19" & 22" frames) easily fit into the 2009-10 Vibe.

Let us know what you end up getting

Oh I definitely will be lugging some stuff around, I'm already excited for some beach trips in it. One thing I will definitely do is add seat heaters ( I saw your thread/posts about it)

Welcome to GenVibe! You've certainly come to the right place to research Vibes ! My mom and I both have 2009 Vibe GTs (shown in my signature below) and we absolutely love them! We don't ever haul anything like kayaks or bikes, so I can't really comment on that aspect, but we do get pretty decent gas mileage. In the warm months, we average 27-28 MPG with 50% city / 50% highway. I've gotten as high as 34 MPG with 100% highway. Both our Vibes are 5-speed autos.

As tpollauf said, be sure to let us know what you end up with and assuming it is indeed a Vibe, definitely post some pictures for us to enjoy !

I'm pretty excited about the good gas mileage. I know gas is cheap now but I'm sure it'll go back up eventually, and if not, then I'll be paying very little for few fill ups!

I sure will post pictures, Actually here are the listings for the three I have my sights set on

09 GT Black, 5 Speed 104k Miles
http://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detai ... /overview/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

09 GT Red, 5 speed 85k miles
(http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale ... 3402&Log=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)

09 GT Gray, 5 speed, 88k miles
http://www.cargurus.com/Cars/inventoryl ... =105489126" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[trb]

Oooohhhh! I want the red one!

Welcome to Genvibe and hopefully you can get a nice one to bring home. I can say my 2010 GT had about 72K on it when it was crunched, and the only things it needed was replacement radio knobs, and I changed the front brake pads at about 65K and drained the AT fluid because I didn't know how the prior owner (teenager) drove it.

One thing I've noticed that is common on the 09-10 cars is issues with the ABS sensors. Several people on here have had to clean or replace them, and on mine it would cause the ABS and Stabilitrack to disable for a short time, and then it would mysteriously work again. I took one of the sensors apart and cleaned it, but could not get the other one off easily, so that one was probably the bad one. I didn't get a chance to try it again while up on a lift so I could remove it easier.

Oh, and you can get a factory Matrix roof rack to fit the Vibe that looks really good if you don't already have a universal one. I've seen them on ebay for around $250.

Also, if you don't get the rear cargo cover, I have one I can make you a deal on, along with an owner's manual.

Good luck on it!

[gogreen]

2nd gens don't have nearly the same cargo space as the 1st gen! arggh!