Family of 4 with new Vibe

[polly's dad]

Hello everyone,I just discovered your site today -- very cool to see a group of people so enthusiastic about their cars. Makes me feel even better about our recent purchase.Speaking of which ... we picked it up this past Saturday. A Salsa red, Base FWD Vibe with 5-speed, power group, and side airbags. We have been shopping for cars for 2 months now, basically ever since our primary car (a Dodge Caravan) went over 100k. Our other car (which we traded in) was a Ford Taurus SW with 140k, so we needed a reliable car. And we wanted something more fuel-efficient this time around. My wife and I bought a Ford Escort SW a year after we got married, and we loved that car -- small, but with good space (because of the SW), and good gas mileage. And it went strong for us for 160,000 miles with only the odometer failing. We moved up in size to the Taurus when our first daughter was born, and traded the Escort for the Caravan when the Escort (after 160k) started puffing blue smoke and our second daughter was born. But my wife and I both really missed the Escort SW. The Vibe seemed like the perfect car for us. Smaller and more fuel-efficient, but good interior space for a family of four and good cargo space for trips and such. The hold-up was apparently the side air bags -- we had to place a special order to get these in conjunction with a 5-speed. But that was a must for us, especially considering the fact that there have been several side-impact accidents in our area (including some friends who were hit from the side). It also occured to me that when my 11-year-old learns to drive in 5 or 6 years, she will be driving this car, so I wanted her to have this protection.I feel like we've been an advertisement for the Vibe this past weekend. The girls were both very excited about the new car -- at services on Saturday morning, when asked what they were thankful about, they both said that they were thankful that we were getting a new car. We loaded up the kids and took them to an amusement park to give the car a work-out (no fighting in the car -- hopefully a good sign). And on Sunday, my wife and I went to Lowe's, bought some extra-long light fixtures, and flipped down the 2/3 side of the back seat to bring them home. (They fit with plenty of room to spare, and we didn't even have to flip down the front passenger seat.) Today, I filled up the car for the first time and found it to have achieved almost exactly 30 mpg from a combination of city and highway driving.We are still getting used to the technology of this car. My wife called me today complaining that the car was beeping loudly at her. It turned out that she had loaded the passenger seat with several very heavy floor-tile samples, and the car was angry at her for not having buckled her front-seat passenger. (Or at least that's what she thinks happened.) Love the RDS on the radio -- it's great to know what song is being played. And this is the first car that we have had with power windows and keyless entry.I have some questions for y'all, but I'll save them for another post.Thanks for setting up this site -- I have already read many of the posts and learned a few things that I didn't know about our new car.

[ragingfish]

Welcome aboard.If you think the site is great, you should hit up the Ohio meet in August. Only about a 6 hour drive from you, it's a great time to meet the people on the site, and see all the cool stuff people do to their cars.

[Mr. Poopypants]

Welcome!! Glad to hear you decided to go with the Vibe.

[iinan]

welcome, glad to see you like your new vibe Mine functions as a family car (when the wife and son are with me)and my lil hotrod when its just me

[jeffgtx]

welcome to the board and congrats on a smart purchase.its a great car and this is a great community.

[ToolGuy]

Welcome! You said the "F" word... FORD!

[jwalcik]

welcome to the site. i'm sure you'll enjoy the many faces of your new vibe.my vibe gets angry with me whenever i forget about the weight sensor in the passenger seat and toss my bag over there in the morning on the way to work. it weighs less than 30 pounds, but it's enough to make it beep.

[Luna]

The 2005s beep at you? And I thought the blinking light was annoying enough when I've got cargo sitting on the passenger seat. It doesn't take much for the car to decide there is a "passenger".

[GMJAP]

Welcome to the site, and enjoy the Vibe! I had the same dilemma on the side air bags. In fact, I started looking at Matrixes, but there weren't any in the entire 5 gulf States with 5 speed manual and side airbags. (And Toyota's can't be ordered). then I started looking at Vibes and found mine in Illinois (I'm in Dallas TX area). Much happier with the Vibe!

[jwalcik]

Quote, originally posted by Luna »The 2005s beep at you? And I thought the blinking light was annoying enough when I've got cargo sitting on the passenger seat. It doesn't take much for the car to decide there is a "passenger".mine beeps at me when i'm in reverse (6-speed) or when it thinks there's a passenger in the passenger seat. i'd actually love to know how to increase the weight required to trigger the alarm up to about 50 or 60lbs, as that would cover any real passenger i'd ever expect to have in my front seat, but wouldn't punish me with the beeping when i set a bag over there that barely weighs 25lbs.