Say, what are these rubber grommets for?

[BanditWS6]

I have a quick question for you other Vibe owners out there.My wife and I brought our new Vibe home on Saturday. I'd reserved the car since before it arrived at the dealer, and it looked like the dealer had barely even touched it. I believe that they actually neglected to do at least one thing that should have been done -- whilst poking through the glove box, I found a set of two oval-shaped rubber grommets or plugs in a plastic bag. Some text on the bag said something to the effect of:TO VEHICLE PRE-INSPECTOR: INSTALL THESE RUBBER PLUGS IN THE CENTER FLOOR MEMBERS...which I know is not word-for-word, but it's the best I can remember at the moment. I figure the car has a couple of ports on the bottom of the chassis that these things need to go into....does anyone know how I can install them? If not, I'll just call the dealer back up and see if they can tell me. I'd just drive it back over there and have them do it, but they're 80 miles away. Thanks in advance!

[JustinVGT]

I know exactly what you are talking about. My dealer left the same plugs in the glove box also. I took it back and they installed them. They plug into the chassis somewhere near the middle on each side, so roughly between each door, under the car. Mentioning the driver side mat clip, mine was missing one so the dealer swapped one out of another Vibe.

[BanditWS6]

Justin, thanks a ton. I'll look under the car tonight and see if I can spot these holes...if it comes to it I'll take it to a local dealer and have them install the plugs, but all the dealers around here have screwed me real bad in the past and I'm hesitant to even let them look at my brand new car. To put it in perspective, one of the dealers somehow managed to ruin four brake rotors on my WS6 when they were supposed to be simply rotating the tires. It was under warranty so I didn't pay for the new ones, but that's all right for them because they still got paid by GM. I think they're scamming General Motors for extra profit, but obviously I can prove nothing.Anyway, thanks again for the tip!

[BanditWS6]

Just for anyone following along, I took care of this problem myself. Drove the Vibe up on a set of ramps and got underneath there...it was real easy to spot the holes where these plugs go. There's one on each side just forward of the rear wheelwells. Popped the plugs in there and was done in about a minute and a half.

[Lori19]

If it was that easy, they should have done it at the plant and avoided this little annoyance.

[BanditWS6]

quote:If it was that easy, they should have done it at the plant and avoided this little annoyance.That's what I was thinking too... It's possible they don't do it at the factory because of the way the paint treatment is applied...the vehicle bodies are submerged in this special coating and there needs to be holes in the chassis so that the liquid can get inside the body frame. Otherwise, they would want to float and detatch from the conveyor track.On a similar note, I truly do not get why the cosmetic cover on the brake-transmission interlock button is a dealer-installable item. My dealer must've tossed mine, because I can't find it anywhere.

[AYGold]

I finally got an answer to this mystery from my dealer. When the vehicle is transported on the trailer, it is attached to via these holes on the underbody. The grommets cover these holes and I guess prevents the collection of dirt and other gunk. Of course, I had to bring it to the attention of the dealer that the grommets hadn't been put in.