Pulls my 18 foot Boat

[Danielstiel]

I have a 2006 Vibe 5 spd. Love it! I attached my tow hitch, and use it to pull my 18 foot bayliner to the lake. Live in the mountains and still does ok, I try to avoid as many hills as possible. I originally hated the vibe, the seats seemed hard at first to get used to, and I was actually talked into the car by my Wife of course and the Dealer. But now I am always driving it. It has great features. Flood lights arent very bright. And sluggish up large hills. I need to put a light plug on my car for my boat. I have found my car to be a great investment, at 2% interest, and GM Employee rate. And I love the Idea with the Toyota Engine. If anyone has any suggestions for me as far as things to make my car better. I would greatly appreciate it.

[SeattleJeremy]

I've got a 2006 5 speed too. Welcome to the forum! You pull an 18 foot bayliner with your Vibe? Any Pictures?The tow rating on these cars is only 1000 or 1500lbs. Have you tried to launch the boat with your vibe? If you do please be very careful.

[Danielstiel]

Oh ya, Pulls just fine, even launches the boat great. Only sags about 1" when attached. Its well balanced, but no worries, I dont plan on my Vibe being the tow vehicle for this boat. It will be docked soon Seasonal use.

[Danielstiel]

I will down load some pics this weekend, had to have the carb rebuilt, is in the marina, Yeah, it actually looks cool on this car! Not bad at all.

[Raven]

I have an 18FT. Bayliner also and never would have thought the Vibe could pull it. I think my boat and trailer combo is in the 4-5,000LB range and about 400LB tongue weight. I'm impressed. If you want to improve the hill climbing ability the biggest difference I saw on mine was a DC Sports header. I also have a CAI and Magnaflow exhaust but the header made the most difference on long uphill grades. It's very hilly around here.

[808 Vibes]

Welcome!!!

[MRCN RCE]

the first thing you could do to help your car is get an K&N drop-in air filter. they're around $50, but never have to be replaced, and help your mileage and throttle response. i'm about to get a hitch on my GT in the next couple weeks for work. knowin someone is towin an 18 foot boat and is doin fine has removed any doubts i had. and yeah i wanna see pics of the vibe w/ the boat attached

[Danielstiel]

It is quite impressive, although like I said, I dont plan on using it consistantly towing my boat. But it does get it to the lake. And doesnt drag. I will be docking the boat. I will say this. It does do a splendid job towing small to medium trailers for runs to the dump as well LOL. I originally put the hitch on for my bikes. But it was a choise from my vibe or my celica to tow the baot. And well, Lets just say the vibe doesnt draw as much attention than would a celica. I can say the only thing that makes me mad about the vibe, is the fact that you have to pay extra for the Luggage rack cross bars.

[northvibe]

yea im not sure why pontiac stopped including the cross bars in 05 and up. 03 and 04 got them included.

[Danielstiel]

Love my car, But love my boat. Kind of like kids, have to take them everywhere I go. Always following me around! LOL!

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[Mavrik]

nice more pics of that boat please

[JustinVGT]

Looks good, but I was going to say the same as Mavrik... more photos of the boat please I love boats.

[Danielstiel]

More Pics

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[Danielstiel]

And again more pics

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[djb383]

That's an I/O right? It's got to be heavy. Hope your brakes are top notch.

[Danielstiel]

It doesnt even push, To top it off, I live in the mountains, and yet, no problem. 5 speed helps tremendously. The boat is well balanced. I can pick up the tongue and move it around with one hand. No problem braking. I mean yes, you can tell there is a little weight, but not enough to really lengthen my stopping distance. I was more worried with our bike rack on it rather than this boat. Taking it out of the water, still no problem. Of course people look at me, and I hope I dont set false hopes to perspective buyers. But hey I love both my Vibe and my boat. As I was pulling my boat out of the water. An 80 year old man cocked his head and commented on how impressed he was. I commented back to him (Jokingly of course) Well sir if the car breaks, at least my boat will still run. He laughed and said "At least your priorities are in the right place" Again jokingly.

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[kevera]

Looks good.Now hit the lake and catch some fish.

[JustinVGT]

Looks good, glad you can tow yours. I can't tow mine even though it was designed for possible towing with its keel that retracts from 5' to less than 3'. Mine weighs close to 5,000 lbs, maybe even more once loaded and on a trailer so there is no way the Vibe could tow it. I just keep mine in a slip.

[slvrvibes]

Seeing pics of your boat, makes me miss my 21 ft. center console Larson. Used our SUV to pull it.That is great that the Vibe can handle pulling your boat.

[prathman]

Those of us with smaller boats can make do with smaller tow vehicles.

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[WaveAction]

lol thats an awesome pic