Vibester has arrived!

General discussions about the Pontiac Vibe & Toyota Matrix. New members, introduce yourself here!
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Vibester04
Posts: 16
Joined: Thu Feb 15, 2018 8:56 am

Vibester has arrived!

Post by Vibester04 »

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Hello all,

New to the forum, and you'll likely see me here a bunch for Q & A and showing off my planned mods ;)

Anyways, Vibester is a 2004 Vibe Base 5speed. Bought from National Car & Truck Sales in Nanaimo BC. I'm the second official owner. She's a high-miler, at 240k km's, but she runs strong as of right now... I've owned it for about four months, and in that time I've brought it back from a "sitting on the lot" condition.

Deep Blue, no sunroof (I know... :( ) 5 speed manual. Upgraded stereo to 2din touchscreen with single 12" sub, optional cross-racks and hidden-hitch. Mods so far are minimal, but lots to come. I've done royal purple synthetic oil every 5000km's, which I log in 3-4 weeks with commuting. I just purchased a set of Konig Z-IN 17x7" rims with Pirelli Cinturato P7 tires for when the weather gets nice. The photo is when I test-fit them on a nice day last weekend. Soon to come is a Tein S-Tech drop, and a few odds & ends under the hood, T/B spacer, CAI, engine cover etc.

Proud to own a vibe, and have a significant other with a vibe as well!
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runningslow
Posts: 294
Joined: Sun Sep 01, 2013 5:16 pm
Location: Dallas, TX

Re: Vibester has arrived!

Post by runningslow »

Welcome. Nice looking Vibe and it sounds like you're doing what you can to take care of it.

That being said, is there a reason you're only running your Royal Purple Synthetic for 5,000 km? The owners manual specifies a 8,000 km oil change interval for old fashioned dino oil. From what I see online, Royal Purple should be good for at *least* a 12,000 mile (~20,0000 km) oil change interval for just their basic stuff. I assume your driving is primarily highway which is pretty easy on the car. Even if you're doing mostly stop and go driving, I think you could easily cut your oil changes in half or more.

I can't imagine paying for a Royal Purple oil change every month. You drive about twice the miles that I do in a month, but I'm generally doing a 7,500 to 10,000 mile interval on my cars with Mobil 1 or Castrol Edge every 4 months or so.
Josh
2005 Vibe GT ~ Platinum
2006 Vibe ~ Lava, Base, Auto
2005 Corolla S ~ Silver Streak Mica, Manual (Wife's)
A common mistake that people make when trying to design something
completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.
Vibester04
Posts: 16
Joined: Thu Feb 15, 2018 8:56 am

Re: Vibester has arrived!

Post by Vibester04 »

Thanks for the warm welcome! I'm mainly just trying to flush the engine as I'm unsure of the maintenance history while it was on National's lot... Also, the engine is getting a little tired and is starting to use oil (ever so slight, maybe 3/4qt every 5000k.) so I try to keep it fresh... I am driving mostly highway, but my gutless little hundred-horse motor struggles in hilly areas... :(

I'll probably drive it as is for the next year or so, and either over the winter or in the spring I'll dive into an engine swap or rebuild. There are lots of fairly low-mile 2ZZ/6spd's out of XRS Matrixes that would go right in... After some mods of course ;) The body on Vibester is immaculate, so it seems fitting to justify a 2ZZswap/build on the car. I figure with how much these cars are worth, I'm better of to build a GT myself than buy and build a different car...

Cheers,

Vibester04
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runningslow
Posts: 294
Joined: Sun Sep 01, 2013 5:16 pm
Location: Dallas, TX

Re: Vibester has arrived!

Post by runningslow »

Building a GT is always a good option. Many will tell you that you're probably better off just buying a GT instead of trying the swap a 2ZZ into a base, but its pretty straight forward swap as I understand it. Probably best to at least have a complete donor car so you'd have everything you need.
Josh
2005 Vibe GT ~ Platinum
2006 Vibe ~ Lava, Base, Auto
2005 Corolla S ~ Silver Streak Mica, Manual (Wife's)
A common mistake that people make when trying to design something
completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.
Vibester04
Posts: 16
Joined: Thu Feb 15, 2018 8:56 am

Re: Vibester has arrived!

Post by Vibester04 »

Hundred percent agreed.

I'll probably see if I can just take a whole car home from wrecker, take what I need from it then bring it back with a list of parts taken... either way it'll still be a blast to build, especially if I dissect the engine and build it up before installing it. You can be certain you'll see posts of that whole thing when the time comes ;)
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vibenvy
Posts: 7121
Joined: Wed Apr 15, 2009 5:38 am
Location: Sandwich, IL

Re: Vibester has arrived!

Post by vibenvy »

Welcome to GenVibe! Props on posting a picture right away ;)! I look forward to seeing your Vibe's progression!
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2009 Liquid Platinum Metallic Vibe GT - 5-Speed Auto – Garage
2009 Steel Blue Metallic Vibe GT - 5-Speed Auto – Garage
ehoff121
Posts: 756
Joined: Mon Feb 26, 2007 12:19 am
Location: Conn.

Re: Vibester has arrived!

Post by ehoff121 »

Welcome to genvibe!

Nice ride! :D
2005 Pontiac Vibe AWD - Platinum
tpollauf
Posts: 4025
Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2010 11:37 am
Location: Toledo/Oregon, Port Clinton Ohio
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Re: Vibester has arrived!

Post by tpollauf »

Welcome to GenVibe :D I take it your from that country up north (update location for us)? Nice color and love the summer wheels. Hopefully your 5-speed tranny keeps running strong until you upgrade it to a six speed later down the road. Keep us posted here on all progress.
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2009 Vibe GT (manual), 2009 G8Gt, 2009 Vibe GT (auto)
2014 Silverado, 2004 Vibe GT

"everything is modifiable"
Vibester04
Posts: 16
Joined: Thu Feb 15, 2018 8:56 am

Re: Vibester has arrived!

Post by Vibester04 »

Thanks to everyone for the warm welcomes! She's my commuter right now, doing 200km's a day... I feel so terrible racking up crazy miles on such a great little car, but I haven't a choice... The work will come in spurts, that's for sure, but it'll slowly progress into a wicked little beast. ;) I am from Beautiful British Columbia, more specifically Vancouver Island, and work at Vancouver Island Mack Trucks.

I still think "Why don't I buy a GT and build that up." but I always remember, I have a 1-owner, religiously maintained car with no issues, getting into another unknown car would be a risk I don't want to take, and I'll have more possibilities for customization and mods ;) The wheels are now on the car for the season, and the lowering kit will be put on in the next couple weeks... I miss the strut compressor I had in college... I'll post that project as soon as I get on it!
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