Why does GM refuse to acknowledge the Vibe as it's mileage leader?

[tnpartsguy]

On onlygm.com/mpg they list the Cobalt, Aveo, and G6 as milage leaders, but the Vibe is their #1 fuel mileage car. Is it just because it's basically a Toyota, or it is just that much or a stepchild to GM??

[gargoyle]

I think you're right...We are the red-headed step children* of GM.Oh, well... maybe it's for the best... because if "everyone" knew how sweet these little Vibes are, then they'd all go and get one and dillute our uniqueness. (*disclaimer: no offense intended to actual red-headed step children)

[Pick]

Not true, they say there are 20 leaders, and here are JUST four of them, there are 16 other cars (including the Vibe) listed under the "See the rest"

[ragingfish]

I find it interesting the G6 is rated compact while the Maxx is rated large, yet they are both on the same exact freakin platform.

[northvibe]

yea but the vibe is probably their best one

[ragingfish]

Quote, originally posted by northvibe »yea but the vibe is probably their best one While the Vibe gets the highest city mileage (29, which for the record, I never get anywhere NEAR with mixed driving), it really isn't a shining star on the highway. Most of GM's subcompacts get 34, and crap, the G6, a car a heck of a lot heavier with a freakin V6, gets only 2mpg less on the highway.

[tnpartsguy]

Yeah, but wouldn't you list your mileage leader on the FRONT Page?

[ragingfish]

Quote, originally posted by tnpartsguy »Yeah, but wouldn't you list your mileage leader on the FRONT Page?Not really. I can see why they did it. They take large cars, which, for the most part, are stricken with the stereotype of being fuel inefficient. Stick 4 cars on the front page people would think are not economical, and then they'll see that and say "damn, a large car can be reasonable!"

[northvibe]

come on the freaking aveo?! god that car is ugly. and the cobalt is a 4 banger aswell. well the malibu v6 3500 (my mom drives a '04) gets fairly decent mileage too. I think they would of put the bigger, cooler vibe in front of the aveo, anywho i did see a HHR yesterday near my house, better looking in person i think.

[Toasted7]

Is the Aveo even a real car? The last one I saw you had to pedal it Flintstones-style.

[ColonelPanic]

Quote, originally posted by ragingfish »I find it interesting the G6 is rated compact while the Maxx is rated large, yet they are both on the same exact freakin platform.Interior volume, baby! You can have a car the length of an Excursion, but if it only had as much room as an Aveo inside, it would be considered a subcompact by government standards.Thus, the extra interior volume of the Maxx bumps it into a different category than the G6. Kinda like the Sonata I'm wanting - it's no bigger than a Camry/Accord/etc on the outside but it's classified as a full size car, whereas the others are mid size. The Vibe is actually considered a mid size car, despite its small size. As for the mileage, the Vibe has somewhat disappointed me up until yesterday! It did ok, but still didn't do as good as I thought it should have. My Malibu with the V6 did just as good, and sometimes better than the lil' ol Vibe. My sister with her Impala that has the normally aspirated 3800 has always got up into the 32 range on the highway. The folks with their Impala SS that has the supercharged 3800 consistently get into the 30's as well. Those are big cars with big engines, yet they often did better than my lil' ol 4-banger. My friend who dumped his Vibe in favor of a Cobalt is getting around 34 on the highway for his commute, whereas the Vibe only would get him 30-ish most of the time.

[GMJAP]

Quote, originally posted by ragingfish »Not really. I can see why they did it. They take large cars, which, for the most part, are stricken with the stereotype of being fuel inefficient. Stick 4 cars on the front page people would think are not economical, and then they'll see that and say "damn, a large car can be reasonable!"That makes sense, especially if they are trying to position themselves as the mileage leader. If they could actually do that (having the leading fleet mileage) that would be awesome.

[Pick]

Quote, originally posted by ColonelPanic »As for the mileage, the Vibe has somewhat disappointed me up until yesterday! It did ok, but still didn't do as good as I thought it should have. My Malibu with the V6 did just as good, and sometimes better than the lil' ol Vibe. Yeah, it's really irritating to get good gas mileage, as long as i keep it under 3k rpms at all times, i'm good, but otherwise it's not really very fuel efficient.

[jeffgtx]

the vibe (and a host of other cars) could certainly benefit from a 5 pseed automatic. it would make a lot of difference on teh HWY.

[skew]

When is GM going to learn? I just bought a used 03' vibe for my wife because her 01' aztek w/28,000 miles died!!! it stayed in the shop more than we drove it. While at the dealer we started looking at new cars because of the "employee discount sale anything that gets less than 15mpg gets $10,000 off crap" and noticed that the vibe got 29 city this is the main reason we bought it because 99% of our driving is city use. She would get around 18mpg in the aztek when it ran:(A funny thing happened we both stoped and filled up our cars the other day she had 260 miles on the odo and my Prius had 550 miles on the odo. Her Vibe held 9.5 gals and my Prius held 9.6 gals. She was jumping up and down with her calculator in hand I got 27mpg on this tank!The Vibe is a great car we love it don't regret buying it but the auto makers can do alot better. One of these days GM will open their eyes and see that not every one want's to spend $70 to fill up their SUV no matter what kinda of sales scam they come up with to show that SUV sales are up and we need to make more on their reports.

[joatmon]

Quote, originally posted by skew »The Vibe is a great car we love it don't regret buying it but the auto makers can do alot better. One of these days GM will open their eyes and see that not every one want's to spend $70 to fill up their SUV no matter what kinda of sales scam they come up with to show that SUV sales are up and we need to make more on their reports.My guess is that the because of all of the toyota parts in the Vibe, the profit margin on a Vibe is a lot less than other higher percentage true GM cars. Each Vibe sold is potentially one less higher profit vehicle that they could have sold to that customer instead. The Vibe is the best mpg in the GM line up, you would think that with rising gas prices GM would capialize on their mileage leader, but they have never really advertised the Vibe. I found out about the Vibe when I stopped in to a GM dealer, and they kept trying to get me into a Buick, or a trailblazer.Also, high mpg is not cool. People want more power, and are willing to pay the cost to feed that power. Car makers sell high powered vehicles because people buy them. There isn't enough public demand for high efficiency vehicles, most people aren't willing to accept the lower power that comes along with it, even with skyrocketing gas prices. Plenty of threads here about adding power to Vibes, one about increasing mpg.I did the math, and the payback for the additional cost of the prius over the vibe would have taken me over 200K miles. Still, there are more reasons to get the best mpg possible that go beyond the wallet, but I got the Vibe instead.And be careful. You wife is a lot more attractive now sitting in a Vibe than she was in an Aztek welcome to genvibe

[skew]

The Vibe is the best thing GM has on the lot. But there is not much price difference between it and a Prius. Mine stickered for 22k this included side airbags & curtain airbags, HID headlights and vehicle stabilty control, & smart entry and start all. As far as power alot of people need to drive a prius it will leave our vibe sitting not even a compairson it also has more room than the vibe. But for the purpose we bought it for and we had to have a car right now and not wait for another prius it will do just fine.

[drunkenmaxx]

prius, more room than a vibe?????

[kostby]

It's the old 'Not Invented Here' problem. GM marketing hacks barely admit that a quasi-GM/quasi-Toyota even exists, much less a versatile vehicle that is fuel-efficient.IMHO if gas prices weren't >= $2.50 a gallon, you wouldn't EVER hear the Vibe mentioned in national advertising!As someone else mentioned, PROFIT is always a motive. GM would MUCH RATHER build and sell high-profit $30,000 pickup trucks and $40,000 SUV's with big V8's. (Am I right, Sheldon?)ONLY when the truck and SUV sales slow because of high gas prices, does GM begin to look at the rest of the lineup for gas-mileage leaders.The fact that GenVibers in REAL WORLD driving conditions regularly report highway mileage results FAR BETTER than the EPA numbers (37 and even 41 mpg once in my '03 base automatic) seems lost on the marketing geniuses at GM. I would put actual owners and their cars in those commercials saying, "Here's proof: I regularly get (e.g.) 37 mpg on the highway in my Vibe."

[joatmon]

Quote, originally posted by drunkenvibe »prius, more room than a vibe?????I too am skeptical of that claim, but I haven't really looked at a prius interior. the toyota dealers are inflexible on prius pricing, high gas prices have given them an arrogance about their prius, and people are buying them so they don't need to deal. I drive highway, so I'm comparing 36 mpg vibe vs 51 mpg prius. at $3 per gallon (gas was only $1.34 when I bought my Vibe), the payback period is 40,750 miles for each $1000 difference in purchase price. I'll keep what I've got.

[GMJAP]

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »I too am skeptical of that claim, but I haven't really looked at a prius interior. the toyota dealers are inflexible on prius pricing, high gas prices have given them an arrogance about their prius, and people are buying them so they don't need to deal. I drive highway, so I'm comparing 36 mpg vibe vs 51 mpg prius. at $3 per gallon (gas was only $1.34 when I bought my Vibe), the payback period is 40,750 miles for each $1000 difference in purchase price. I'll keep what I've got.The Prius has more hip room and leg room in the back seat than the Vibe, though less headroom. Front seats are about the same, with about 1.5" more headroom in the Vibe front. The Prius also has less cargo capacity.I also can't agree that a Prius would leave a properly driven Vibe base sitting. The Vibe is about a second faster 0-60. (9.5 vs 10.5)I got a Vibe over a Prius for much the same reasons as Joatmon. Still, I respect people who choose the lower emissions of the Prius despite the price premium. We need early adopters to get hybrids more economical and practical. Some people are proud of their car's performance, which often they've paid for. If Prius owners are proud of the mileage and low emissions, that's cool with me. They paid for it.I'm proud of my Vibe's practicality, utility, and mileage.

[skew]

I own both and Im 6'3 trust me the prius does has more room. Either I have a sick vibe or a good prius because even one my friends the other day wanted to drive our vibe. He really liked it talked about how smooth and quiet it was. Then when we got back I said drive the prius he said right off the bat it has more room then he kicked it and said WOW! I never thought they ran like this. "You know the difference how much better the vibe is than a normal car the prius is that much better than the vibe smoother quieter faster" He owns a Silverado SS so he is use to fast cars. Obviously im not taking serious here any way until you really drive a prius you'll never know much by reading magazines.

[GMJAP]

Quote, originally posted by skew »I own both and Im 6'3 trust me the prius does has more room. Either I have a sick vibe or a good prius because even one my friends the other day wanted to drive our vibe. He really liked it talked about how smooth and quiet it was. Then when we got back I said drive the prius he said right off the bat it has more room then he kicked it and said WOW! I never thought they ran like this. "You know the difference how much better the vibe is than a normal car the prius is that much better than the vibe smoother quieter faster" He owns a Silverado SS so he is use to fast cars. Obviously im not taking serious here any way until you really drive a prius you'll never know much by reading magazines.I wonder if the pedal-steering wheel placement issue on the Vibe contributes to this feeling of less room.Also, because of the electric motor, the Prius will have more torque at lower RPMs. Thus it will feel zippier at typical driving RPMs, especially at around-town (not highway) speeds. Which is nothing to sneeze at. Low-end torque and zip are great and make a car feel much more responsive. If both are pushed to their limits however, the Vibe will beat a Prius on a drag. (Of course, how many times do you drag? For the vast majority of us, it's zero.)

[skew]

when I sit in the Vibe there is no shoulder room at all my elbow is jabbing my ribcage. In the prius my arm rest just fine on the door and I dont feel sqiushed up and more leg room. As far as running Im talking about running at 45mph kick it like passing a car my prius will jump right to 75-80 very easly in the same time the vibe only gets to 60-65. The Prius pulls the whole time there because of the cvt transmission "its always in the right gear so to speak" Don't get me wrong the Vibe runs great. All I originaly was saying that auto campanys can do alot better than they currently are. If they can almost double the gas mileage on a car the same size that gets 30mpg whats the problem.