New Owner of an Old Vibe

[psiu]

Well, I have already scoured this forum top to bottom on many topics, but haven't introduced myself (or my new car!) yet.Bought a 2003 Neptune Blue Vibe in November. 80,000+ miles on it, paid under 9K from a dealer for it--we bought it in a hurry as our 1990 Maxima got totalled by some arsehole the day before.Ex-smokers car, little hints of ciggy burns in the headliner fabric on the drivers side, possibly some smell but Febreze has mostly eliminated any traces of that (to be honest I never really smelt it, but my wife says she could).Back seat looks unused, and the front passenger side is pretty clean looking too, seems like a 1 person vehicle. Paint chips on the front, I've ordered some touch up paint to clean that (and the nice scratch I put on it trying to pry the luggage rack crossbars off) up.Carfax had a clean report, though there is a little buckled spot on the rear bumper--I'm almost positive it WASN'T there when we bought it but not 100% sure. Though it implies that some jacknut hit us within a couple of days of purchase. I bet this was a GenViber's old car Vibe 3rd brake light overlay, some add-on carbon fibre thingys on the back window. Front strut tower brace. No rear sway bar, haven't gone under to take a real good look at anything else.Already fixed that annoying storage bin, adding the bumper protector when that comes in, and overall really happy with it. Oh, picked up some Barum Bravuris tires (siped) and hope they don't suck too bad in the snow.Taking care of it cleaning wise, just picked up some Armorall wipes (cleaner and the protectant ones) and then some RainX outside and antifog wipes. Will be getting the underbody washes done this winter to keep salt off--thinking of getting over to Canuckistan next summer to get it Krowned. Probably try to get a bug deflector and the fog lamp shields.Pretty strongly banned from dismantling it, for some reason my wife doesn't trust my elite mechanical and electrical skillZ Will toss up some pics tomorrow hopefully--though basically just imagine a mono 2003 Neptune.Pertinent stats on it:2003 Neptune MonoMoon & Tunes, Power Packages

[WaveAction]

congrates man

[damronjr]

Quote, originally posted by RedFire2K »congrates man^ Yep! And welcome to the site.

[Lancer]

Welcome to the forum of all things Vibe.I still have my '03 vibe, bought it March of '02. It was the first of 5 sold in the state, so it's one of the oldest Vibes out there.I don't know if a small car with 89k miles would be worth $9 grand though. Although I just got a 04 Vue (power nuthin!) with 50k miles for $12 grand. And I understand the NEED of a car after you lost one. My old car ('90 Geo Storm GSi) blew the engine and we had a baby due ANY DAY. So I bought my Vibe off the show room floor with out any test drive and at the time no rebates, $18grand.Anyway, welcome aboard.

[tnpartsguy]

Neptune.......80k......could it be CP's old Vibe back to haunt us?????

[psiu]

Quote, originally posted by Lancer »Welcome to the forum of all things Vibe.I still have my '03 vibe, bought it March of '02. It was the first of 5 sold in the state, so it's one of the oldest Vibes out there.I don't know if a small car with 89k miles would be worth $9 grand though. Although I just got a 04 Vue (power nuthin!) with 50k miles for $12 grand. And I understand the NEED of a car after you lost one. My old car ('90 Geo Storm GSi) blew the engine and we had a baby due ANY DAY. So I bought my Vibe off the show room floor with out any test drive and at the time no rebates, $18grand.Anyway, welcome aboard.Yeah, the mileage was high but the price was in line for the market around here as far as I could tell. I went through Autotrader.com, Cars.com, Autos.com and checked on KBB.com. Also, something I thought was good--the Vibe was hard to find used! So apparently people are holding onto to them. My wife and I both work and are going to school (again...), so yeah, it was a desperate time for a vehicle.Had the Vibe as candidate, was looking at any number of small vehicles--Focus, Elantra, Spectra. Ran a couple dozen vehicles through Carfax, a lot got eliminated on the basis of accident reports (no matter how supposedly minor), or simply by being sold already (the websites seem to be one of the last priorities for the dealers to update).Did a test drive, stopped at a Home Depot to start dissecting the little beast (never been in a Vibe before). Was able to sit behind myself, not hid my head on the ceiling, and then the seats folded--well, we were in love!So far it hasn't developed ominous rattles or hiccups...just seems like hopefully a lot of highway miles.According to the VIN its around #70K made in 2003.Here's some non-Vibe pics...of the Maxima after my wife got rear-ended at a stoplight (she got pushed 5 ft into the truck in front of her and then pushed him another 5 ft--both vehicles with brakes on!):Got hit by someone with a suspended license and no insurance in a vehicle with temporary plates. Grrrr...

[mcgusto82]

that doesn't look so bad. i'm sure it can be buffed out.. lolwell, the vibe is definately a great family car. good luck with your new car.

[mspalmer]

Oh, picked up some Barum Bravuris tires (siped) and hope they don't suck too bad in the snow.If this SE Michigan weather continues like it is you won't have any worry about those tires on the snow. I think it was mid-40's on my way to work this a.m.

[BlueCrush]

Welcome to GenVibe!

[808 Vibes]

Quote, originally posted by psiu »the Vibe was hard to find used! So apparently people are holding onto to themWelcome and congrats on the Neptune!

[ColonelPanic]

Quote, originally posted by tnpartsguy »Neptune.......80k......could it be CP's old Vibe back to haunt us????? Dear lord, for the new guy's sake, I hope not! The mileage is just about right, mine had 74K on it when I traded in May. I did buy the car when I smoked, but smoking in the car was off limits for me and any passengers. If it were on its third owner now, I guess the second owner could have done that damage. As for the cleanliness of the interior... Most of the time, although I was the only one in the car, the interior was pretty rough all over. Lots of stuff spilled all over the seats, and the back seat ended up with a lot of garbage piled up back there. The interior was far from mint condition, once the car started falling apart, I didn't bother to keep it looking good. And while I had some grafxwerks on it, I never was a fan of carbon fiber so I didn't have that stuff on there, when it got traded it just had reflective red overlays on the front and back emblems. Definitely didn't ever feel the need to add some strut tower brace either. But psiu, worry not... You don't have my old car. Yours was built some 20,000 units after mine. Enjoy the new ride!

[jwalcik]

welcome aboard!

[ArcsVibe]

Welcome to the family Just to let you know you've picked the best color!

[ashleymc_38]

Woo-Hoo! Another person from MI. Welcome

[4X4CHICHI]

He said it wasa mono neptune, so it couldn''t have been your's Colonel. I had the Barum Bravarus'. They started out okay but wore out very quickly. I didn't buy them again. I tried the General Exclaim UHP. So far, Great, Awesome wet traction. If I was worried about snow I would get some Nokian's

[4X4CHICHI]

Oh, and I apologise, Welcome to Genvibe.com.

[ColonelPanic]

I knew it wasn't my car by the VIN... I didn't see the monotone part at first either...

[ToolGuy]

Welcome to the site! I would:Change the trans fluidSpark plugsPCVRun a bottle or two of Chevron Techron fuel system cleaner in itCheck the air filter and cabin filter, it probably needs a new cabin filter and may have never had one!Check the drive beltConsider a new thermostat and coolant unless you get proof it was done before. Might change out all the fuilds as well...

[psiu]

Quote, originally posted by MiVibe-ToolGuy »Welcome to the site! I would:Change the trans fluidSpark plugsPCVRun a bottle or two of Chevron Techron fuel system cleaner in itCheck the air filter and cabin filter, it probably needs a new cabin filter and may have never had one!Check the drive beltConsider a new thermostat and coolant unless you get proof it was done before. Might change out all the fuilds as well...Roger that.Just got a cabin air filter in the mail today, and will check the air filter myself. Belt looks okay from my cursory inspection though I need to take a better look at it and check on accessing the spark plugs. I do like how much room is available in the engine compartment, the Maxima was jampacked with stuff and required removing 3 things to get to any other one item.Anyone have any good mechanics to recommend over near Livonia/Redford area? Fast & good are two main priorities...as long as pricing is reasonable I don't mind paying more than rock bottom pricing (since the first 2 usually suffer then).Will grab some fuel system cleaner whenever I remember one of these days.Thanks for the tips! It's so nice to have a "newer vehicle" finally...before the 90 Maxima was an 87 Corsica!

[ramenboy...]

Quote, originally posted by psiu »..I do like how much room is available in the engine compartment... accept for that freakin driver's side headlight!!!!!!!welcome to the family!