Question on automatic trans.

[Brules]

I have base Vibe with the automatic. What is the small hole approximately 2" to the right of the gearshift?

[Sputnik]

The hole should have a cover. Using the search feature I found the following for you. http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=2792Its also on page 2-32 of the Vibe manual.

[Vibe]

I had heard somewhere that Pontiac had started deleting that hole cover........ If anyone knows for sure---please set the record straight. James

[KSNeptune]

The only reason the hole is there is because the car has to be in PARK to be started. Putting it in park presses on a switch that "turns on" the starting curcuit. Sometimes, however, the switch fails. That would leave you with a car you couldn't start, even to drive it down to the service center for repair. So they give you a way to bypass that broken switch. That's what the hole is there for.Why would they delete the hole? Perhaps they re-engineer the starting sequence, and eliminate the potential of the auto/park switch ever failing. Perhaps they move the location of the bypass switch just so people will stop asking "what's that hole for?". I suspect there could be dozens of reasons to delete the hole. But we'll just have to wait to see if newer Vibes actually don't have one. Then we can simply ask GM/Pontiac/toyota why they deleted it.OpalBlue

[Vibe Rater]

If they do delete it, it likely won't be until the new model year (2004).

[Susky]

FWIW, I just picked up my new Vibe yesterday, and it does indeed have the hole (and the cover). And the saleman even explained what it was for!