GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Hey all! I've owned my Vibe for a couple years now. I'm a Toyota guy, so here I am haha! My dad's a technician and a customer brought this gem into their shop and he offered to buy it for $800 and they took it. Ha! All it needed was a new windshield, tires, and new wiper blades. The previous owner took really good care of it (mechanically), but failed to keep the interior clean.

I stripped all the interior out and started from the bottom. Even the headliner was gross...

It has almost 160K miles on it and I plan on driving it till the wheels fall off (looking to hit at least 300K miles). My wife and I own this and an ES330 and have no car payment, so THAT'S nice... So far, I haven't had any issues at all (I mean, it's a Toyota, right).

Keeping up with maintenance and changing the oil with Pennzoil Platinum every 5K miles will keep this 1ZZ running forever. Enjoy the photos! There's a bonus photo of my old Celica on the bottom, showing what kind of Toyota's I've owned in the past.

20160710_160136 by Joe Rish, on Flickr

20160710_160646 by Joe Rish, on Flickr

20160710_181509 by Joe Rish, on Flickr

20160717_155508 by Joe Rish, on Flickr

20160717_155512 by Joe Rish, on Flickr

20160717_155512 by Joe Rish, on Flickr

20160712_203111 by Joe Rish, on Flickr

20160717_143326 by Joe Rish, on Flickr

20160717_144022 by Joe Rish, on Flickr

20160918_164706 by Joe Rish, on Flickr

20160918_164739 by Joe Rish, on Flickr

20160918_164645 by Joe Rish, on Flickr

DSCF1482 by Joe Rish, on Flickr

Welcome to GenVibe Chuck Best $800 you ever spent ! Nice introduction and great pics for your first post. Car looks practically new now, and YES you should easily reach the 300k mile club

Welcome, Narly!

Fantastic job. I've done similar cleaning on my Vibe which was not even half as filthy as yours. My son's Sonata was worse than your Vibe and needed the carpet replaced, my wife's Ford Contour got a very thorough carpet cleaning too. It was very rewarding with every car.

Click on the link in my signature for the Vibe. and here is the story of the Sonata: http://www.curbsideclassic.com/cars-of- ... anding-in/

Nice job. Looking good!

Welcome to GenVibe! Man, you definitely did a great job on that interior, it looks brand new! I see you're in Illinois, where at (I'm in Sandwich, ~65 miles Southwest of Chicago)?

Welcome to genvibe! What a great testament to elbow grease and the power of clean!

Love the clear coat on the intake manifold- makes them look like enameled pipes!

Unfortunately, you'll never see 300k on the odo...




...it stops at 299,999

Enjoy your new to you ride!

vibenvy wrote:Welcome to GenVibe! Man, you definitely did a great job on that interior, it looks brand new! I see you're in Illinois, where at (I'm in Sandwich, ~65 miles Southwest of Chicago)?

Thank you all!

vibenvy: I'm from Marengo. I'm about 45 minutes east of Rockford. If you're a Toyota guy, I have a Celica group of people that meet at Starved Rock state park about twice a year. You should totally come out.

narlycharley wrote:vibenvy: I'm from Marengo. I'm about 45 minutes east of Rockford. If you're a Toyota guy, I have a Celica group of people that meet at Starved Rock state park about twice a year. You should totally come out.

I know exactly where Marengo is! We're practically neighbors ! I'm actually more of a Toyota chick ! I'll definitely keep that in mind. It's always nice to cruise around Starved Rock!

Recently replaced the loud/worn belt tensioner, spark plugs, and the rubber o ring on the timing chain tensioner that's notorious for leaking on the 1ZZ's.

I'd say it was time (pun intended) for that timing chain tensioner to be taken care of!

That's a very close/clear pic of the tensioner leak! I seriously have to address my oil leak soon. My driveway and parts of the street are starting to look bad due to the leak and where I park. Unlike the 1ZZ, the 2zz engines have had bad gasket connections where the head (Yamaha), block, and timing cover all meet. That's where my oil leak is. I really need to put it back up on the lift and clean it again and verify for certain and get it fixed before cooler weather returns.

tpollauf wrote: ↑Sun Aug 11, 2019 6:17 amThat's a very close/clear pic of the tensioner leak! I seriously have to address my oil leak soon. My driveway and parts of the street are starting to look bad due to the leak and where I park. Unlike the 1ZZ, the 2zz engines have had bad gasket connections where the head (Yamaha), block, and timing cover all meet. That's where my oil leak is. I really need to put it back up on the lift and clean it again and verify for certain and get it fixed before cooler weather returns.

That drip you have looks pretty simliar to mine.. I have all of the parts to do the valve cover and timing chain tensioner o-ring, I just ran out of time this weekend. We ended up replacing the gas tank on mom's AWD. What a PITA that is!!!