GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

hey there, im going to be getting a base 2006 vibe. i think its a great car in a lot of ways but the seats are some of th worst ive ever seen. are there any seat swaps that people have done out of other toyotas or other cars that are known to work without re-engineering the floor of the car?

I saw one person put VW GTI seats in their Vibe. Good luck finding those at the junkyard.

I'd be happy to install saab seats. they are chap, feel great and are around. I was just wanting to see who has done what.

I have not swapped the seat(s). I added a lumbar support and I raised the front mounts with shims by about 10 mm. That last thing though compromises the safety in a crash. The locating rods will be exposed to significant larger forces in a crash. Remember the seat is a anchor point for the seat belt. Find details in the thread linked in my signature.

I appreciate the reply. I'm thinking lumbar support and raised seats aren't going to do it for me. I find them some of the worst seats I've ever sat in in an obviously great car. And in response to the first reply, I actually found a pair of 2010 GTI seats going cheap locally! Although I have been spoiled with saab seats. I'll have to see if a pair will fit.They are quite nice.

Thanks, bratboy, and welcome to the forum!

Please report how you accomplish the swap, in particular how you make the brackets fit.

I agree that the factory seats are a PITA grande. I also heard that the SAAB Aero seats are extremely good. They are just not that easy to come by here.

Any seat WILL physically fit into any car ..... with the correct modifications done to it! My older 1992 F150 has a power 60/40 seat out of a 1978 Eldorado and reupholstered it to match the Charcoal gray interior. Looks Factory and you'd never tell it was out of a Cadillac! Also mounted Chevette bucket seats (very comfortable) into GM F-body cars (Camaro/Firebird) back in my younger days. Yeah it required some cutting, grinding, welding, etc. but it can be done. The bigger issue today is the addition of air bags and other electronics that are now a part of seating that could hinder a successful swap!

I'd like to hear from someone who has done a seat swap...preferably one that isn't too messy to do! Anybody know who did the GTI swap?

If you search on YouTube. There is a gentleman who swapped the cloth seats in his first gen Vibe with the leather ones from a parts Vibe.

thanks for the reply. i was thinking of non vibe seats that are actually comfortable

petervivian wrote:If you search on YouTube. There is a gentleman who swapped the cloth seats in his first gen Vibe with the leather ones from a parts Vibe.

bratboy wrote:thanks for the reply. i was thinking of non vibe seats that are actually comfortable

There are plenty of aftermarket seats out there, if you have the money. This is only one example: http://corbeau.com/reclining-seats.html And most likely it will not be a simple bolt-in; you'll need to deal with adapter brackets to fit the custom seat in your vehicle.

If you have back problems and you expect to be driving long distances often, perhaps you should look at other vehicles with superior adjustable seats directly from the factory.

Depending on where you live, you can have them bolstered and reupholstered for a decent price. I've found these kinda places are generally more plentiful if you live in the SW.

If I owned a welder, I probably would've swapped mine long ago.

9the gen Corolla seats bolt in, but they sit maybe 3 to 4 inches lower. Here is my driver side Matrix seat compared to the Corolla XRS seat, and them installed. By extension the 10th and 11th gen Corolla seats will fit since it's the same base chassis, but this is only speculation. No one by record had done this before I did, at least from what I could find, so I took a big gamble.

Thanks for the update!
Q: are the Corolla seats actually more comfortable than the Vibe seats? What makes them more comfortable? Contour/firmness of the seat cushion and or back? Adjustability?

So, they were a direct swap? If nothing else, they look like they have more side bolstering and I like the idea of sitting a little lower in the car, as well. Those are XRS seats? I'd imagine they have more bolstering than regular 9th gen corolla seats.

They are a direct bolt in, all 4 corners fit. Yes, these are the 05/06 Corolla XRS seats so they are radically different than the regular Corolla seats. These feel like the foam is a bit better, and of course the more side and leg bolstering. Regular Corolla seats feel the same as the Vibe/Matrix seats.

So yeah this makes it a bit hard to find these same seats due to the limited production of this gen Corolla XRS. But if you can get them cheap I think trying out the regular Corolla seats may be worth it if you want to sit lower. You could also try swapping the rails but it never took both seats apart to see if it's possible, but something to look into.

wow very cool. im glad i brought this up. i was talking to my friend about saab seats for the front but man what a hassle. outside of looks...is the foam worth the swap? do you find the lower height is an issue?

Slybee wrote:They are a direct bolt in, all 4 corners fit. Yes, these are the 05/06 Corolla XRS seats so they are radically different than the regular Corolla seats. These feel like the foam is a bit better, and of course the more side and leg bolstering. Regular Corolla seats feel the same as the Vibe/Matrix seats.

So yeah this makes it a bit hard to find these same seats due to the limited production of this gen Corolla XRS. But if you can get them cheap I think trying out the regular Corolla seats may be worth it if you want to sit lower. You could also try swapping the rails but it never took both seats apart to see if it's possible, but something to look into.

Thanks. It's something to keep in mind for sure. Hell, I'd be tempted to swap regular seats just to sit a bit lower. And if nothing else, when I do decide to search for direct swap seats, OEM or aftermarket, this will hopefully increase my options.

Can someone confirm what years these nicer seats are from and if the bases are swappsble to keep the seat height?