No more Lava...Traded it in

PHXLavaVibe · Post by **PHXLavaVibe** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 12:38 am

I know it's blasphemy but, I traded in the Vibe on Saturday. I loved my Vibe but had to leave her for a better family vehicle. As long as the financing goes through, (I should know within a couple days) I will be the proud owner of a White Toyota Certified Used 2006 Toyota Highlander. I highly enjoyed the Vibe but I had the worst luck with it. As I noted here before, the day I got the approval for it's financing someone side-swiped her while pulling out of the parking spot next to me. Then several months later someone stole the cladding above the Drivers Side Rear Wheel. On top of that someone dented the front passenger fender while playing around it. Not to mention the cheap excuse for a factory paint job. Then of course there is the issue I had with the speedometer not working properly. Hopefully my streak of bad luck has ended and I can enjoy the new Highlander. If anyone here has ever owned one or test driven one then you know how nice they are. There is a lot more room in it, If I remember right it has 215 HP. It has a V6 VVT-I, CD/Cassette player, Traction Control, Stability Control, Stow and Go 3rd row seats, atleast 8 different storage compartments, enough room in the back (with the 3rd row seats down) to keep my huge stroller and other misc junk in and still have room to change diapers. It sits a lot higher than the stock Vibe. The suspension is the best I have ever noticed in any car I previously owned. It handles great, has Nitrogen in the tires, and it feels like I am driving a 3/4 ton truck. Overall, I am absolutley in love with it. I just hope I don't have to return it to the dealership and get my Vibe back due to failure of financing approval.Ohh, and the price...Original sticker price was 26,995. I got it at a Huge Tent Sale where they dropped the price to 19,995. My wife and I talked them down to 19,595 with zero down and 9.35% APR. We had horrible credit when we bought the Vibe and originally got it financed at around 23% APR. A year after we bought the Vibe we refinanced it at 17% APR. We added all kinds of extra warranties to the Highlander which covers Damage to the exterior paint and Interior apohlstery, Free tire/wheel repair/replacement in the event of road hazard damage, GAP Insurance, and on top of the Usual Toyota 10 year/100,000 mile power train warranty and the 3 year 35,000 mile bumber to bumber warranty we have a wrap waranty wich covers everything the aboved 10 year/3 year warranty doesn't cover including normal wear and tare items. Also we have a theft coverage that will actually pay us over $5,000 in the event of theft for our hardships like rental cars and lodging and a whole bunch of other stuff.The overall cost of the Highlander is only $30.00 more a month than we were paying for the Vibe. So, as you can see here it was a deal I just couldn't pass up. Not to mention the gave me a full tank of gas free of charge.I will post pictures as soon as I get the finance approval.

northvibe · Post by **northvibe** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 12:46 am

well sorry to hear about the vibe, but congrats and good luck with the highlander! post some pics when you get it.

ramenboy... · Post by **ramenboy...** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 12:47 am

sorry to see the vibe go! and sorry you never were able to replace that freakin cladding! i knew you were hunting for that for a long time!!!!definitely post pics of the highlander!and stick around! you're still family

BlueCrush · Post by **BlueCrush** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 12:48 am

Boooo! J/K. Congrats on the Highlander. :crossing fingers: (for approval)

kevera · Post by **kevera** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 3:21 am

Good luck with the new Toyota.I hope you don't have problems like you did with the Vibe.Don't be a stranger.

PHXLavaVibe · Post by **PHXLavaVibe** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 3:29 am

Thanks guys. After some online searching I found some actual pics of my new ride from the dealerships on-line ad. The first two are from other sites but they are better looking angles.

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PHXLavaVibe · Post by **PHXLavaVibe** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 3:29 am

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PHXLavaVibe · Post by **PHXLavaVibe** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 3:31 am

These pics are of the actual one I am buying

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PHXLavaVibe · Post by **PHXLavaVibe** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 3:32 am

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PHXLavaVibe · Post by **PHXLavaVibe** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 3:33 am

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coldmm803 · Post by **coldmm803** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 6:41 am

Quote, originally posted by PHXLavaVibe Â»The overall cost of the Highlander is only $30.00 more a month than we were paying for the Vibe.but you'll be spending much more filling the gas tankenjoy

keithvibe · Post by **keithvibe** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 7:25 am

also your insurance will go up as well. 9.35% Hate to say it but GM is running 60month 0% if you qualify..

AzFusionGT · Post by **AzFusionGT** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 9:20 am

Although you probably don't remember, we met at a Vibe/Matrix gathering in Phoenix several years ago. I really admired your Vibe, and am sad to hear that you traded it in. However, I think you made a wise choice in replacement. In June 2006, I traded my Vibe for a Saturn Vue Red Line which I am really enjoying. The amount of extra space has been nice, as well as the V6. I don't like filling the tank, but the Vibe GT took premium while the Vue takes regular, so although it costs more to fill, I am getting more. (at least in my mind I am )Best of luck to you!

Kamikaze · Post by **Kamikaze** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 9:24 pm

Quote, originally posted by coldmm803 Â» Quote, originally posted by PHXLavaVibe Ã‚Â» The overall cost of the Highlander is only $30.00 more a month than we were paying for the Vibe. but you'll be spending much more filling the gas tankenjoyI was thinking the same thing... nice ride though, the white looks nice on the hghlndr.

joatmon · Post by **joatmon** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 10:18 pm

be sure to tell the new Vibe owner about us here at genvibe

Whelan · Post by **Whelan** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 10:41 pm

Highlanders are nice, I looked at them when I bought the Trix but they were just out of the price range beind in the 20's I was looking for 20 max. You have just essentially bought a Lexus RX just without the plate and wood trim. Congrats!

PHXLavaVibe · Post by **PHXLavaVibe** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 2:19 am

Well, It is official. I now own the Highlander! My Vibe is gone for good! I'm not too sure I will miss it though. This Highlander is everything I have been looking for in a family vehicle.Quote, originally posted by keithvibe Â»also your insurance will go up as well. 9.35% Hate to say it but GM is running 60month 0% if you qualify..Actually my Insurance dropped a whole $7.00 per month. It's not much, but it helps. yeah, the 9.35% is horrible but so is my credit score. This is actually the best rate I have had in years!I don't think I would ever buy GM again. I'm not a big fan of domestic cars. The vibe was a different story because it was basically a Toyota. Quote, originally posted by coldmm803 Â»but you'll be spending much more filling the gas tankenjoyVERY TRUE! The Highlander has a 19 gallon tank and averages about 20 miles to the gallon. It's worth it though for the 100 HP gain. I believe the base Vibe was about 125 HP and if I remember right, the manual to my Highlander says it is either 215 or 225 HP. Quote, originally posted by joatmon Â»be sure to tell the new Vibe owner about us here at genvibeThe dealer will probably remove my genvibe stickers, but I doubt they will find all the genvibe fliers I hid throughout the interior.Quote, originally posted by Whelan Â» You have just essentially bought a Lexus RX just without the plate and wood trim. Congrats!That's what I've been hearing on the Highlander forums...I'll have to take a look and compare. I believe the Highlander actually had better ratings than the Lexus.

Kamikaze · Post by **Kamikaze** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 2:35 am

Bye bye vibe.... but glad you're happy with the new ride

AzFusionGT · Post by **AzFusionGT** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 8:49 am

Yes I know this is an older thread, but look what I found today when cruising our favorite auction site...I thought I recognized this Vibe, and after digging a bit here and there, I knew for sure.http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...image

Sputnik · Post by **Sputnik** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 8:56 am

Thats cool! I wonder where my Vibe went.

kevera · Post by **kevera** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 8:56 am

Looks like his one alright.

AzFusionGT · Post by **AzFusionGT** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 9:02 am

Quote, originally posted by Sputnik Â»Thats cool! I wonder where my Vibe went.After I traded mine in, I watched it on the dealer's website for about 1/2 weeks before it sold. Hopefully yours (and mine!) both went to good homes.

Sputnik · Post by **Sputnik** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 9:09 am

They told me mine would likely go to auction as they only sell "imports." Blah. Yeah I hope he's still loved like I loved him.

Mavrik · Post by **Mavrik** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 9:10 am

nice colour. and the Vibe is a toyota lol... so you didn't completely leave the family lol

waveresponder · Post by **waveresponder** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 11:28 am

white looks great when its clean!...but so do other colors...lol...looks nice! good luck with it!

MRCN RCE · Post by **MRCN RCE** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 12:07 pm

haha, the GV vinyl is still on the rails that dealer is right up the street from my old apartment(4 blocks). i miss PHX =/phxlava, how's the new baby treatin ya?? i'm talkin bout the baby with wheels

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 10:36 pm

I always have to notice this stuff, I dunno why. Was the speedometer broken in the Vibe? I see the needle was pointing way back to the right where it should have been straight down at the zero position. And some of the radio lights are burned out.

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PHXLavaVibe · Post by **PHXLavaVibe** » Thu Jan 03, 2008 12:31 am

Oh my God!!! This is awesome! I thought they would send it to another state or at least another dealership for the sale. I see they replaced the missing cladding above the left rear wheel well. I can't tell if they repainted the whole car or not. With as crapy of a job as I did removing the badges (scratched it all to hell), and all the clear coat peeling/chipping off the rear panels and bumber I seriously hope they did. Yes, the spedo is all screwed up. It is missing the lense cover that protects the needles. After getting it detailed a few months back I noticed that the needles had been accidentally pushed past the regular stopping point. It got to where everytime I started the car I had to set the speedo back to zero. You caught the radio lights as well. Those had been out for quite some time. I used to have to beat the hell out of the unit just to get them to come on...after a while they just wouldn't come on any more.Over all she looks good! I may just have to go over there durring my lunch break and take a look at her. I'm curious to see what all they fixed/missed. This is just hilarious. I can't believe they didn't look at the dashboard before trying to resale it. I sure as hell hope they don't try to sell it as a "Certified Used". I have it on my watched list...I wonder how much it will actually sell for.As for my new baby...Frigg'n Awesome! Absolutely no complaints!!! Best damn vehicle I have ever owned. My other baby is doing great as well. She just hit the 4 month mark yesterday.

PHXLavaVibe · Post by **PHXLavaVibe** » Thu Jan 03, 2008 12:35 am

Also, I just noticed they took off the Vinyl "Decepticon" logos I had on the smaller rear windows. I wonder why they left the genvibe.com stickers on.

ramenboy... · Post by **ramenboy...** » Thu Jan 03, 2008 1:38 am

congrats on the highlander. my brother has one of the 'hi-hys' and he loves it. i was gonna ask if you'd ever gotten that cladding replaced! you were looking for it about as long as you had the car!!!!!

PHXLavaVibe · Post by **PHXLavaVibe** » Thu Jan 03, 2008 3:17 am

Well, I just got back from the dealership. I don't believe it but they have the sticker price set at $14,595. I think that is more than I originally bought it for in Dec of '05. Back then it only had about 18k miles.Suprisingly no one approached me so I was able to look it over realy good. Overall I must say they did a horable job on the repairs. The molding that they replaced will probably fall off within a couple months. As it was, I noticed that one of the body clips wasn't engaged. I pushed the pannel back into place but it popped out a little again. It's as if the clip is not lined up just right. They did repaint the rear bumper, but they didn't do it properly. From what I could tell, they just painted over the old paint. I could see the lines where the original paint/clear coat was peeling off. The paint they used is just a shade off of the original. They also did a lot of spot painting to cover up the chips and etc on the hood and doors. It looks like someone took a bottle of nail polish to it. They popped out the small dent that was on the passenger side front 1/4 pannel. If you look closely you can still see where it was. It looks like they found most of the genvibe fliers but there is still the one that I taped inside the drivers door storage thingy. Also, they left the carpet in the cargo area that I put in.If they do sell it, I hope the person that buys it looks it over really good and doesn't get ripped off. There is nothing wrong with the car as a whole and I really loved it, but there is still some work that needs to be done. They aparently never noticed the gage cluster being all jacked up. To help them spot it I set the speedo to 100mph and red-lined the tach. It's also showing a really high temp.I do hope whoever buys it really enjoys it. It was deffinately a fun little waggon. I was suprised to see that they didn't list the eyelids, fog light protectors, or the fact that it has been lowered on the "features" part of the sticker.Oh well, If the person who buys it comes to this website then they will be able to see what all I customized.

MRCN RCE · Post by **MRCN RCE** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 12:41 am

Quote, originally posted by PHXLavaVibe Â»They aparently never noticed the gage cluster being all jacked up. To help them spot it I set the speedo to 100mph and red-lined the tach. It's also showing a really high temp.i LOL'edthey probably didn't wanna take the GV vinyl off because they were afraid they'd scratch em up

No more Lava...Traded it in

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