Mktrat's 2008 Vibe base

Park your vehicle in a thread here - list your vehicle info, pics, etc. all in one place.
Post Reply
mktrat
Posts: 62
Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2015 7:10 am

Mktrat's 2008 Vibe base

Post by mktrat »

Image

2008 Vibe base
Bought NEW on November 10, 2007!!

As of 9-10-15 107k miles

Black Mica?
Aluminum Rims
Moon and Tunes
Monochrome option?

I think that's all we got for options.

Added a remote start so I could keep the bride happy (it was her daily driver for the last 6 years).

It's now my main squeeze so it got "fixed" a bit.

Blacked out the flaking rims (and the lugs too.)
Plastidip black hood "bra" (first attempt probably can do better but it works for now)
Grilles are all dipped White


When I get around to washing and waxing I'll take some better pics.



SOOOOOOOO..........


Here is the interesting part of the story. To this day the bride HATES this car. Let me explain.

When we first got it, she washed it at least once a week without fail. Until we realized every time it got washed water was pouring down the B pillar after getting past the very ill fitting weatherstripping on the passenger rear door. She was trying to take better care of this car than the last and was actually destroying it!!

I called the dealer and told them what was going on and they were polite and said bring it in and they will pinpoint the leak and fix it. (The car was about 2 months old at this point)

Bride drops the car off and they tell her to have a nice day. She asks for a loaner, they say no (politely). She doesn't flinch she asks to speak to the service manager and asks why? He gives her a car. Cool, no worries right? We get a call later that day, they need it for "a few days". What they neglected to mention as of yet was they had completely gutted the interior of the car to make sure it was completely dried out. I found out later there were puddles involved. :shock:
Any way, we get it back and they found one leak but there was another, ok, I'll take it back. The bride ends up having an afternoon off so she dropped it off instead. This time no loaner again, no manager available (busy?), so what does she do? She starts singing the "Think Ford first" jingle in the middle of the sales floor!! Grand Prix GTP sitting in my driveway when I got home. Go figure. She CAN be persuasive. ;)

This is getting long huh?

New dealership, same vibe.

Blower motor goes out. I take it up to drop it off (no loaner needed this time) and tell the service manager it needs a blower motor.

SM: "Well, what is it doing?"
Me: "Sir, it needs a new blower motor."
SM: "Ok, but what is it doing?"
Me: "Not working?"
SM: "So its not working? What is it DOING?"
Me: "Ummm, nothing?"
Then he told me he couldn't fill out the form unless I could describe the problem. REALLY?!?!?!?!?!?
This was where the bride stepped in, deciding if this went on much longer I was going to get "shown out" of the dealership. That's why I love her!

K, that's fixed, moving on.

ABS. Anybody else have trouble with it? When it kicks in it sounds like the firewall is ripping apart!! Took it in twice. Second time I scared the cr@p out of the service manager when I showed him how the ABS was functioning. He said "make it do the thing that I brought it in for", he never said I had to drive it straight or sane for that matter. I thought sliding sideways through a parking lot was the easiest way for the ABS to engage. It's not?
Service decision: They said it's normal. Really? The second time I took it in for the ABS the mechanic replaced a REAR BALL JOINT!! :shock: :shock: :shock: WHAT?

Finally after the Vibe was out of warranty I took the front brakes apart and found out that the wrong brake pads/hardware were on the car so they were rattling and thumping around when the ABS engaged. Replaced pads/rotors greased EVERYTHING and now the problem has been gone for around five years? GM certified 0 Shadetree mechanic 1 :lol:

You know that recirculate button? I got a new one the old one got stuck. Thankfully that took them about 15 minutes and was without incident.

Oh yeah, and the original dealer got upset when I refused their free oil changes. They wanted to put conventional in it. No thanks. I prefer Full Synthetic (My opinion, don't want to start anything ;) ). I am glad that that dealer got taken over and retrained; my Mom had better luck w/ her Buick at that dealer when Pontiac was no more and it was switched. :cry:

And the bride wonders why I hate dealerships!! I just prefer to fix it myself. Is that so much to ask? :P

So now you know the history of my Vibe. For a long time I was just waiting till it was paid off and I could replace it. Now that it's mine, I want to see how long it will be in service. I have really come to appreciate the MPG/cargo ratio in comparison to my Dodge Ram. Four doors make for easy loading and unloading of the munchkins too.

So even though we had a rough start I think we're good now. Just trying to decide on what mods need to be done next........
User avatar
vibrologist
Posts: 1598
Joined: Sat May 10, 2014 8:24 am
Location: Iowa

Re: Mktrat's 2008 Vibe base

Post by vibrologist »

Dealers can have an effect on your respiratory function.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stOjeylx4Fw
Vibrologist
'05 Vibe

"It is important to know the difference between 'accurate' and 'precise' even if you are neither!"

viewtopic.php?f=30&t=43476
User avatar
trb
Posts: 1670
Joined: Thu May 08, 2008 4:06 am
Location: Houston, TX

Re: Mktrat's 2008 Vibe base

Post by trb »

Welcome! Good looking Vibe! Nice long story too, but too bad you had so many issues. Most of us haven't had much done to our cars over the years. My son's Vibe was 18 mo old with 7K miles when we got it, and we had the rear window motors replaced, the PCM replaced - before it was recalled, and since the warranty was out, I've replaced the blower motor, but that is just about it. I'm glad our local dealer was one of the top Pontiac dealers in the nation and they always took good care of us. Only had to leave it once (dead PCM and it was towed in at 5:00 PM) and they provided a rental for me.

Hopefully you can get a lot more miles and several more years of trouble free operation from it!
Thomas
the "Mustang Guy"
1987 5.0 LX Mustang
2016 Mustang GT - current daily
2004 Satellite Vibe &
2009 Red Vibe GT -twin's cars
2003 Neptune Vibe GT - prior daily
2010 Red Vibe GT - RIP 6/16/14
2006 Platinum Vibe - son's car
User avatar
vibenvy
Posts: 7121
Joined: Wed Apr 15, 2009 5:38 am
Location: Sandwich, IL

Re: Mktrat's 2008 Vibe base

Post by vibenvy »

Welcome to GenVibe! That's one heck of an introduction post :P! Thanks for posting a picture of your Vibe too. It looks good ;)! I look forward to seeing it progress.
Image
2009 Liquid Platinum Metallic Vibe GT - 5-Speed Auto – Garage
2009 Steel Blue Metallic Vibe GT - 5-Speed Auto – Garage
User avatar
Melissa18L
Posts: 63
Joined: Thu Aug 20, 2015 8:53 pm
Location: Western PA

Re: Mktrat's 2008 Vibe base

Post by Melissa18L »

Do you think the plastidip will come off the lugs when you have to remove tires? Not sure If i want to do mine. Did you remove the pontiac centers or are they just blacked out? I'm surprised you went with white grills? Nice contrast though. I still can't decide, I bought white and black!
It's more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow!
Melissa 1.8L - 2005 Fusion Orange Metallic Moon and Tunes Gen1 AWD 1.8L "TANGERINE"
tpollauf
Posts: 4025
Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2010 11:37 am
Location: Toledo/Oregon, Port Clinton Ohio
Contact:

Re: Mktrat's 2008 Vibe base

Post by tpollauf »

Welcome to GenVibe :D You lucky man to have a bride with strong backbone (was gonna say a set of balls) to stand up to the shady dealerships that so many of us have to deal with. Hang onto her for a LONG time. Oh ... also hang onto the Vibe for a long time :lol: Welcome!
Image
2009 Vibe GT (manual), 2009 G8Gt, 2009 Vibe GT (auto)
2014 Silverado, 2004 Vibe GT

"everything is modifiable"
User avatar
vibenvy
Posts: 7121
Joined: Wed Apr 15, 2009 5:38 am
Location: Sandwich, IL

Re: Mktrat's 2008 Vibe base

Post by vibenvy »

Melissa18L wrote:Do you think the plastidip will come off the lugs when you have to remove tires?

I still can't decide, I bought white and black!
Yes, it will come off the lug nuts as soon as you put a lug wrench on them.

On your Fusion Vibe, I'd go with black. I think white would look weird. Just my $0.02 though ;).
Image
2009 Liquid Platinum Metallic Vibe GT - 5-Speed Auto – Garage
2009 Steel Blue Metallic Vibe GT - 5-Speed Auto – Garage
User avatar
Melissa18L
Posts: 63
Joined: Thu Aug 20, 2015 8:53 pm
Location: Western PA

Re: Mktrat's 2008 Vibe base

Post by Melissa18L »

vibenvy wrote:
Melissa18L wrote:Do you think the plastidip will come off the lugs when you have to remove tires?

I still can't decide, I bought white and black!
Yes, it will come off the lug nuts as soon as you put a lug wrench on them.

On your Fusion Vibe, I'd go with black. I think white would look weird. Just my $0.02 though ;).
i was worried black and orange would look too halloweeny. which i love so i guess that's not really a problem. i had it re-pinned last year, black and silver glitter instead of black and white. and i have dark gray anthracite? to do the wheels.
It's more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow!
Melissa 1.8L - 2005 Fusion Orange Metallic Moon and Tunes Gen1 AWD 1.8L "TANGERINE"
mktrat
Posts: 62
Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2015 7:10 am

Re: Mktrat's 2008 Vibe base

Post by mktrat »

Melissa18L wrote:Do you think the plastidip will come off the lugs when you have to remove tires? Not sure If i want to do mine. Did you remove the pontiac centers or are they just blacked out? I'm surprised you went with white grills? Nice contrast though. I still can't decide, I bought white and black!

That's not plastidip on the rims. I painted them. It probably will come off the lugs but I wanted a new set anyway.

I pulled the center caps before I painted the rims so they still sport the logos. I figured with the white grills maybe the front end will stop getting bumped. A guy can dream right?
mktrat
Posts: 62
Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2015 7:10 am

Re: Mktrat's 2008 Vibe base

Post by mktrat »

tpollauf wrote:Welcome to GenVibe :D You lucky man to have a bride with strong backbone (was gonna say a set of balls) to stand up to the shady dealerships that so many of us have to deal with. Hang onto her for a LONG time. Oh ... also hang onto the Vibe for a long time :lol: Welcome!

She's like my own pitbull when it comes to this kind of stuff. We had some furniture that got delivered damaged TWICE, I felt bad for the poor salesmen she got on the phone. She doesn't play around when it comes to that kind of stuff. The only problem is when it comes back on me!!
User avatar
Melissa18L
Posts: 63
Joined: Thu Aug 20, 2015 8:53 pm
Location: Western PA

Re: Mktrat's 2008 Vibe base

Post by Melissa18L »

mktrat wrote:
Melissa18L wrote:Do you think the plastidip will come off the lugs when you have to remove tires? Not sure If i want to do mine. Did you remove the pontiac centers or are they just blacked out? I'm surprised you went with white grills? Nice contrast though. I still can't decide, I bought white and black!

That's not plastidip on the rims. I painted them. It probably will come off the lugs but I wanted a new set anyway.

I pulled the center caps before I painted the rims so they still sport the logos. I figured with the white grills maybe the front end will stop getting bumped. A guy can dream right?
did you just paint the grills, too?
i painted the rims on our f-150. they were flat black with chrome centers. painted them all gloss black. it hasn't come off yet, but its not a daily driver either.
It's more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow!
Melissa 1.8L - 2005 Fusion Orange Metallic Moon and Tunes Gen1 AWD 1.8L "TANGERINE"
mktrat
Posts: 62
Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2015 7:10 am

Re: Mktrat's 2008 Vibe base

Post by mktrat »

Melissa18L wrote:
mktrat wrote:
Melissa18L wrote:Do you think the plastidip will come off the lugs when you have to remove tires? Not sure If i want to do mine. Did you remove the pontiac centers or are they just blacked out? I'm surprised you went with white grills? Nice contrast though. I still can't decide, I bought white and black!

That's not plastidip on the rims. I painted them. It probably will come off the lugs but I wanted a new set anyway.

I pulled the center caps before I painted the rims so they still sport the logos. I figured with the white grills maybe the front end will stop getting bumped. A guy can dream right?
did you just paint the grills, too?
i painted the rims on our f-150. they were flat black with chrome centers. painted them all gloss black. it hasn't come off yet, but its not a daily driver either.

The grills are plastidip....

Image


I figured the rims needed some permanent protection anyway after most of the original paint flaked off. I may dip them a different color next spring, I figured I would wait until after the salt is off the roads and maybe change it up then, gives me time to decide what color too. What I did on the rims I really shouldn't share purely to save face. but what the heck, I'll confess. (just don't tell anybody) :oops: I literally wire brushed them, washed them, and sprayed them with krylon. :roll: :o :shock: :? :lol:

I know I have not lived up to the caliber of fellow genvibers, and for that I apologize. It was a quick fix until I have the time to do it correctly. Sorry, I have let you all down. :oops:

Can you find it in your hearts to forgive me? :D

BTW Does anyone make honeycomb lower grill sections? I think that would be soooooooo much better!!
User avatar
Melissa18L
Posts: 63
Joined: Thu Aug 20, 2015 8:53 pm
Location: Western PA

Re: Mktrat's 2008 Vibe base

Post by Melissa18L »

The grills are plastidip....

Image


I figured the rims needed some permanent protection anyway after most of the original paint flaked off. I may dip them a different color next spring, I figured I would wait until after the salt is off the roads and maybe change it up then, gives me time to decide what color too. What I did on the rims I really shouldn't share purely to save face. but what the heck, I'll confess. (just don't tell anybody) :oops: I literally wire brushed them, washed them, and sprayed them with krylon. :roll: :o :shock: :? :lol:

I know I have not lived up to the caliber of fellow genvibers, and for that I apologize. It was a quick fix until I have the time to do it correctly. Sorry, I have let you all down. :oops:

Can you find it in your hearts to forgive me? :D

BTW Does anyone make honeycomb lower grill sections? I think that would be soooooooo much better!![/quote]

aw whatever it takes! i don't think any less of you! i LOVE the grills i think you sold me on the white for mine. i ran out of time to dip my wheels this weekend. i just took on of those wire cone wheels you attach to a cordless drill to them and popped out the centers maybe next weekend.
It's more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow!
Melissa 1.8L - 2005 Fusion Orange Metallic Moon and Tunes Gen1 AWD 1.8L "TANGERINE"
mktrat
Posts: 62
Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2015 7:10 am

Re: Mktrat's 2008 Vibe base

Post by mktrat »

Melissa18L wrote:
aw whatever it takes! i don't think any less of you! i LOVE the grills i think you sold me on the white for mine. i ran out of time to dip my wheels this weekend. i just took on of those wire cone wheels you attach to a cordless drill to them and popped out the centers maybe next weekend.


I think they look good during the day, but at night?!?!?!?!!? O M G!!! Love my decision to go with WHITE!

Plus the original grills were REALLY faded and washed out looking.
User avatar
Melissa18L
Posts: 63
Joined: Thu Aug 20, 2015 8:53 pm
Location: Western PA

Re: Mktrat's 2008 Vibe base

Post by Melissa18L »

mktrat wrote:
Melissa18L wrote:
aw whatever it takes! i don't think any less of you! i LOVE the grills i think you sold me on the white for mine. i ran out of time to dip my wheels this weekend. i just took on of those wire cone wheels you attach to a cordless drill to them and popped out the centers maybe next weekend.


I think they look good during the day, but at night?!?!?!?!!? O M G!!! Love my decision to go with WHITE!

Plus the original grills were REALLY faded and washed out looking.
lol hey maybe we should put some LEDs behind them...you know for when you're not actually driving.
OK OK WHITE it is. yeah mine are currently a nasty shade of light grey. oh just saw about the lower honeycomb grills...not sure. wonder if you could make them? I bought a honeycomb grill for the f-150, too, so thats one huge piece of honeycomb if you don't need the whole thing. if you could cut it and attach? i don't know that i'm that crafty :)
It's more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow!
Melissa 1.8L - 2005 Fusion Orange Metallic Moon and Tunes Gen1 AWD 1.8L "TANGERINE"
Post Reply