GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Tell this to your insurance agent next time you renew your policy:Two carjackers in Florida eventually fled when they discovered the intended vehicle had a manual transmission neither of them knew how to drive. Same thing a few weeks ago in California.Full article from LA Times:http://latimesblogs.latimes.co....html

Good 1/lol My 78 L82 is a 4spd.Hurst Competion Plus install,lot better than the org sloppy 1

Nice ALL my personal vehicles have been manual trannys for the past 35 years And YES it is a nice feature when somebody wants to borrow your vehicle and you tell them it's a stick, which they don't know how to drive, then they go bug somebody else!

Well, I don't know about most cars w/a std trans? I figure if they want the car bad enough they will take it anyway, perhaps destroy the tranny or clutch in the process, but what do they care?However, I too have owned nothing but std shift cars for the last 38yrs (3-sps, 4-sps & 5-sps) and have enjoyed having them. But this Vibe has such a weird feeling, short throw clutch and plasticy feel in the shift mechanism that I cringe just a bit when I have to drive it. I almost always stall it out at least once during a short trip. It should be considered an anti-theft device when a well seasoned stick driver has this much trouble driving it.

45 year old guy and his 23 year old girlfriend..... Sooo many comments could follow that!

Quote, originally posted by star_deceiver »45 year old guy and his 23 year old girlfriend..... Sooo many comments could follow that!Leaving the workplace - might that have been the Platinum Fox?

Some years back my Nissan 300ZX was stolen. It was found three days later sitting in the middle of an intersection with the clutch gone.Insurance paid for the clutch, cigarette burns to interior, and some minor body damage.

Never understood what is so hard about the manual transmission. I learned when I purchased my VW Beetle, and jumped in and drove it home. However I had some time to take it easy, I was not in the middle of a felony.

My 05 Vibe is my first car with an automatic transmission, ( 7 prior cars with MT) and I'm glad I bought an automatic.

I have to drive in rush hour traffic on the freeway, frequently, and I'm sure not getting any younger.

I still have a 5 speed '88 Toyota Celica, (that I bought new...) but I drive it fairly seldom, these days. I like sitting up higher in the Vibe. I like that is has ABS brakes, and air bags.

I read somewhere that only 5% of the cars sold in the USA have manual transmissions, and this was probably 3 or 4 years ago.

There are quite a few cars that get better mileage with an auto transmission, than the manual transmission, according to the EPA.

Gandalf wrote:
There are quite a few cars that get better mileage with an auto transmission, than the manual transmission, according to the EPA.

You are correct about the better mpgs with certain automatics. Cautious driving & smart shifting still make the manual more efficient than the auto when it comes to our Vibes. Even though the EPA has both auto & manual (at least with the bigger 2.4l engine) listed as the same mpg numbers BUT my manual clearly is a notch better than the auto. Primarily due to smart driving