GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Planning on taking a road trip to Boston from Cleveland. Its 640 miles away. My vibe os 2003 with 151000 miles. No leaks. Tires are fine. Should I be fine or should I throw down money on a rental? Let me know if youve taken your vibe on a long road trip and if anything happened.

Thanks,
Greg

I've gone coast to coast and soon....to coast in mine. As long as you have replaced the serpentine belt in the car and made sure you have 60 psi in your spare tire, I say, crank up the Sniff 'n The Tears' "Driver's Seat" and bon voyage.

I bought my '07 (1.8L automatic) with 150K miles on it for the express reason of road trips. Drove 1000 miles across Utah and Arizona the first month I had it. Another 1000 from Arizona to Colorado soon after. 1000 miles to California. I changed the AT fluid/filter, did a brake job when I bought it, nothing other than an oil change in the 6000 miles since.

I even got 45 mpg on one tank last trip, with a hellacious tailwind. Been averaging around 36, better than I expected.

If you have no concerns with the car, then I'm sure it'll be fine.

I've taken my Vibes on long roadtrips without any worries. In less than a year of ownership, the '05 GT has taken us from Texas to Michigan and from Texas to Florida without incident. In just a couple weeks, I'll be taking the GT on a 1200 mile trip from Texas to Virginia, too.

The '06 Base before it took many similar trips. I bought it with 110K miles on the odometer and gave the keys to my dad at ~230K after only owning it for about 4 years (roughly 30,000 miles per year). A couple of those trips were heavy loaded, too, including one where I pulled a lightly loaded Uhaul trailer from Florida to Texas when we moved. Other trips had a cargo box or bikes on the roof.

I've never gotten particularly great mileage with either of my Vibes. With both cars, my daily 50/50 mix is around 24mpg and my typical road trip mileage was 27-28 loaded down. The trip with the Uhaul was abysmal and not worth discussing. The trip with the bikes on the roof was pretty bad, too, so I'm not going to make that mistake again. I did get close to 30 in the Base on one trip to Missouri, when I didn't have the cargo box and I only had enough clothes for my daughter and I for a weekend.

Pics of various road trip configs over the years:

Good to know. Id rather not waste money on a rental.

How do you know when its time for a new serpentine belt?

thatvibeguy89 wrote:How do you know when its time for a new serpentine belt?

I've really only changed mine if I start to get a squeal in the morning at startup that quickly goes away. I'll probably put one on my GT before the upcoming trip.

If it hasn't been changed in 151K miles, or if you don't know the last time it was changed, then now is probably a good time. They're pretty cheap, so it's not a bad idea for a little peace of mind. A new belt should be good for 60-100K miles.

Look for cracks on the ribbing of the serpentine belt. If there aren't any or very few you are good.

https://youtu.be/jrYXpBPSMhI

No problem. I've done 2600 miles trips several times. Keep a cooler with ice and your favorite beverage on the passenger seat.
Even if anything breaks down remember it's a 9th gen corolla. You can get it fixed anywhere and be back on the road in hours.

petervivian wrote:No problem. I've done 2600 miles trips several times. Keep a cooler with ice and your favorite beverage on the passenger seat.

X2 Three trips to Florida & back over the past six years. Loved every minute of it. The Sirius radio is a MUST when traveling very long distances and really made the trip more enjoyable!

tpollauf wrote:

petervivian wrote:No problem. I've done 2600 miles trips several times. Keep a cooler with ice and your favorite beverage on the passenger seat.

X2 Three trips to Florida & back over the past six years. Loved every minute of it. The Sirius radio is a MUST when traveling very long distances and really made the trip more enjoyable!

Amen on the Sirius/XM radio. Outlaw Country, Deep Cuts, Bluesville, plus the Bluegrass station make the 12 hour trip to Memphis pass quickly.

I've had my high mileage Vibe on trips that long or longer. Only problem I remember was I riding in the back when with other people driving, the ratcheting seat belt of doom will get you sooner or later

Last summer I took a nearly 8k mile trip from PA, to Mount Rushmore, Rocky Mountain National Park, Grand Canyon, White Sands, and back to PA with our Bethany Coralette Camper behind the Vibe. She ran flawlessly, even at 40 degrees at 12k feet in the mountains, and 125 degrees in Arizona. Take care of your vibe, and the vibe will take care of you.

As others have already said, I wouldn't sweat it. I just took my 03 Matrix Xrs from Ks to Az last month for a couple of weeks. 1000 miles each way. She purred the whole way there, except when I got stopped for doing 39/30 in Ks on my way back. Cop was cool and let me go but sat and talked to me for a good 30-45 minutes. Small town, probably not a lot of action so he was bored.

I could use an alignment or maybe new tires though. She starts to get a little wobbly at about 80mph.

Drove my 09 GT to Nashville and back for the 2016 GenVibe meet. It was approximately 1100 miles round trip. No issues. I had a drain and fill of the coolant and transmission fluid done beforehand because it had never been done and I figured it was as good a time as any. Other than that, I just checked all the fluids and tires before leaving. I even managed to squeeze an impressive 40.311 MPG out of the 2.4L on the way to Nashville with the cruise control set at 60 MPH.