Interior Dash display colour

[Mavrik]

When Vibe came out for 2003, the interior display was red in colour I believe but my 2004 has red and white instead. Anyone fine either one better, same or anything like that? Personally I was slightly disapointed to see my 2004 had white instead of the all red but since driving the car I've adjusted to it and find it very eye friendly.The change could be from eye irritation from the red? lol any rate, your opinions?

[Jahntassa]

The red doesn't bother me anymore.. I was worried it would, but i've had no problems with it. I'll tell ya...the VW color scheme is more annoying...especially when you have the purple instruments and the BRIGHT RED info center...

[joatmon]

There are a lot of people who have the 2003 red gauge cluster that think the 2004 is a lot better looking. I bet you'd get several takers if you wanted to swap. (Tough to match mileage though)I believe the change was a reaction to customer complaints about the the all red gauges being hard to read in direct sunlight, or with sunglasses on. There are a number of formal complaints about that on the US nhtsa site for the Vibe and Matrix. I haven't had enough troubles to worry about it, but I do like the new look better.

[Mavrik]

Well I'm not interested in changing/trading my instrument cluster hehe. I did think the red was a little hard to read in direct sunlight but only if the windows were not tinted. Personally I kinda liked that red glow at night from the dash but I must admit I really like the new style and will always be happy with it.

[AKLGT]

i like my red guages. i just wish the face plates were white or something and not black. red on black is tough to read. but the red glo is very cool. it goes with my color scheme.

[renik]

Personally I love the 2004 dash lights. I've been use to driving my parents 1994 Bonneville which had the red lights and going to the Vibe is very refreshing. It does make the guages much easier to read at night.

[Stang2Vibe]

I did some dissection of the gauge cluster and we discussed it a few months ago in another thread. I found that the LED's in the gauges are colored and the gauge faces are the reddish orange color in the places where the light shines through them. There is a very thin film on the back of the gauge faces that give it the reddish orange color. I think that if you tried scraping it off with an exacto knife or a razor or something like that, you could then change the LED's to whatever color you'd like and make the gauges any colors that you can find LED's for. The LED's are soldered onto a PC board inside the gauge cluster, but are not very hard to get to. They are just small and the board is pretty crowded.

[Stang2Vibe]

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »I bet you'd get several takers if you wanted to swap. (Tough to match mileage though)I'm sure that many here would like to swap, that's true. To change the face of the gauges to the '04 style doen't require changing the whole gauge pod, just the plastic sheet that is the gauge faces.

[ragingfish]

I'd be intersted for sure, but it's canadian gauges...

[joatmon]

Quote, originally posted by ragingfish »I'd be intersted for sure, but it's canadian gauges...But you'll want canadian gauges for when you move there For me, the improvement provided by the 2004 gauges is not worth the effort or risk required to upgrade mine. If the Vibe has a really long production run, then my all red '03 gauges will be rarer and highly desirable.

[Merzbow]

I love the red...I matched my red underbody kit and red dome lights and interior neons to the gauges=) It doesn't bother my eyes at all. Plus, if it does you can simply turn the brightness down.

[Stang2Vibe]

It doesn't bother my eyes, either, I just wanted something different. Pontiac has been using the red-orange gauges on their cars since about 1982. We've had several Pontiacs since then and I'd like a change.

[joatmon]

for what it's worth, there is a 2004 matrix cluster on ebay, looks like US base gauges, Ends Mar-09-05 16:06:33 PSThttp://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...489333

[ragingfish]

ebay removed the listing for some reason.

[joatmon]

Quote, originally posted by ragingfish »ebay removed the listing for some reason.looks like I lost a digit at the end of the URL. I fixed it, should be :http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...89333Just re-read the listing, and although the picture clearly shows the '04 gauges (white numbers, not red cover) , the listing says "THIS AUCTION IS FOR AN INSTRUMENT CLUSTER THAT FITS: MATRIX 03" so if you want 04 gauges, be sure to clarify this discrepancy with the seller before you bid

[MichaelCArens]

I like the all red on our 01 corolla S...but the white and red on my 04 vibe in my opion looks alot more appealing

[micheles_bad_vibe]

.

[redlava]

This is kind of off topic, but how do they get the red in the gauges. Is it a piece of red plastic attached to the back of the guage cluster or is it built into the guages themselves or is it simply red lights? I have never cracked the dashboard open to find out. And I was just wondering if you could just do a real easy mod to change the color.

[Kari]

As far as I know, it's part of the lens that it shines through, not the bulb. I'm pretty sure they're just plain incandescent bulbs.

[Mavrik]

Quote, originally posted by Kari »As far as I know, it's part of the lens that it shines through, not the bulb. I'm pretty sure they're just plain incandescent bulbs.its in the lense though it may be called something else. For example Pontiac uses a red light interior theme while Chev uses a blue... so in cases were the radio is the same and such, its not the bulb but what it shines through that changes the colour. Unfortunatly for anyone wanting to change the colour of their dash on the Vibe either an 03 to an 04 or the other way around, involves a new cluster. While I can't prove its possible, I "think" it might be... but it would be a lot of work.

[Celtic_Curse]

I personally love the solid red color of the gauges. Still would like some aftermarket gauge faces to spice things up. If your looking for matching aftermarket gauges for boost, wtc. check out the Delphi gauges they almost match the 03 gauges perfectly.

[Mavrik]

It was one of the selling features for me when the Vibe came out, I loved the red dash, thought it was the cooliest thing ever. Ordered my 04 Vibe in the summer of 03... of course since I worked at the dealership, the other 04 Vibes I drove around made me realise the dash was different so I was well over my disapointment by the time my car came in.

[joatmon]

one of the problems associated with a cluster swap is it will cost some bucks to have the odometer adjusted to match. One place in Richmond VA wants $300, which is ridiculous. So far the cheapest I have found is SPECMO, in Madison Heights MI, they only want $100. For that much money, if I do a swap, I may just go with the invalid odometer reading and get the (required by law) odometer difference sticker for the door jamb. Seems like it can't be that hard to bump the odometer, that's a lot of cash for such an intangible benefit.Still, I do like the newer cluster. If I go for a cluster swap, anybody want to buy my 03 base US cluster (with 75K miles on it ) ?