I got this car handed down to me from my Dad. It was the family car for several years, but they upgraded and I have a growing family and needed something that made more sense as a daily. My weekend ride is a 2014 Ford Fiesta ST that has been lowered and has a hybrid turbo on it. I drove it daily for over two years, but now its time for something a bit bigger and with a more comfortable ride.
So the idea for the Vibe was to clean it up, catch up the general maintenance (came to me with 138000 miles on it and just oil changes, air filters and tires done regularly), make it a comfortable daily for me to putt putt back and forth to work in (in all weather conditions including snow), and make it a safe and reliable family car to take on trips.
I have done a few things already, and those who are regularly on genvibe on FB have probably seen the pictures already, I will update this with pictures, dates, and info when I have the spare time.
March 16 2017: Installed a Kenwood DDX9703S DVD headunit. The stock radio screen was broken. I wanted something that could at least do what the radio in my fiesta ST could, meaning I at least needed bluetooth connectivity and HD Radio. I ended up with the Kenwood because it had those things plus Android Auto. Also replaced all of the wipers, they were slap worn out. Also did a serious deep clean on it.
March 17 2017: Installed a roof basket to put luggage and other stuff in for long trips. Also got OEM all weather floor mats for the front.
March 19 2017: Got the taller armrest for the center console from a 03 Matrix. Def a lot more comfortable and I really like the second storage compartment.
March 21 2017: This car has never had a full tune-up, so I replaced the plugs, PCV valve, air filter, and then cleaned the MAF and throttle body. Smoothed out the idle some. Feels almost like a new engine now, haha.
Also changed out the cabin filter....I think it's obvious it has never been changed before....
March 26 2017: Restored the headlights with the Turtle wax kit ($8 from walmart). It came with a clear coat to put on after you are done so I'm hoping it lasts a while.
April 6 2017 Installed Philips Extreme Vision +130% bulbs in the headlights, Alla Lighting Yellow LEDs in the fogs, Philips Vision LEDs in the brake lights, and JDMastar 6000k reverse LEDs. Sorry for the crap cell phone pics, but in the real world these are pretty bright.
^Left is the Philips LED, right is OEM
Almost as bright as the headlights lol.
April 9 2017 Put a dual USB charger in the compartment in the center console under the arm rest. Being an 05 this car did not come with the 12v socket, but just a rubber plug. I bought this one on amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HP ... UTF8&psc=1. It didn't fit in the existing hole so I had to file it some. I found the wiring for the 12v socket under the console, so I just removed the oem plug and extended the wires to reach the USB ports. The idea is to keep my flashlight and battery pack (which also doubles as a jump box) charged for whenever I need them.
April 26 2017 Installed Philips Vision 6000k plate lights, Alla Lighting LED turn signal bulbs, and the DiodeDynamics Smart Tap flasher unit. The turn signals are really really bright now and I really missed the "tap to pass" function that is in my fiesta ST. Now I have it in the vibe. The extra hazard light settings are neat but I don't really have any use for them, so I just have it set to standard. I also really like how it keeps the parking lights on after you lock the car for a short period of time. Helps a lot when it is dark out.
May 15 2017 New front rotors and pads, fixed all of the vibration issues coming from the front end. Got two new tires for the front and a front end alignment.
May 18 2017 All loaded up and ready for a beach trip. Had the car completely loaded down. Ended up getting about 28mpg...I feel like that should be a bit higher but I'm sure the extra drag from the roof rack and cargo didn't help.
June 4 2017
Modded the DRL relay board. Now the DRLs are the foglights, or can be turned off completely using the fog light switch. This mod retains the auto headlights. Instructions can be found at this post:viewtopic.php?t=31176 Credit to "Tribalman". I did my mod on a spare DRL relay unit so I have the option to go back to stock. The units can be hard to find cheap (they are $300+ from auto parts stores) so I suggest trying to find one in a junkyard or buy one from someone parting out. I got mine for $40 from a member parting out his vibe on the FB group.