service summary, 2003 Vibe

[bikeman1]

my wife and I are the original owner of a 2003 base model, and we just sold it at 71,000 miles (we purchased a new Vibe). Here is a service summary. I just wanted to put this out there and see if any of the experiences we had were common to othersFrom 0-60,000 miles, there was not a spot of trouble anywhere. Performance was flawless. Only factory tires got replaced.Between 60,000-66,000 miles, troubles surfaced, all in the drive train. We had to replace first 1 wheel bearing, then 2 more (two front, one rear left). On all the seals had failed. At about 67,000 miles, the left front strut failed; again a seal failure in the shock. They were KYB's. We replaced the front with two Monroes. Rear struts seemed OK. The top bearings were also not in great shape, and the boots were shot -- its pretty routine to replace these together anyway.So the first 70K were pretty much maintenance-free except for the wheels and suspension. I was surprised by the amount of corrosion on the non-stainless components. It is possible that the bearings were from a "bad batch". We do get some (not a lot) salt on our roads, and also the pH of rain here is low (Anyway, we were happy with the maintenance rquirements except for bearing and strut life...seems like 65K is a little short for these. But it may be conditions too. Hope the next Vibe does a little betterWe also have a 2007 which shows no maintenance issues after 20K ......

[northvibe]

wow...must be the the batch.My 2004 base vibe I bought with 25k miles, only did recommended maintenance and tires. My sister now owns the car with 9x,xxx miles on it with no parts replaced and its on lowering springs. Man what a great car. Im looking for a winter beater but the awd vibe/trix are just over my price range and hard to find.

[star_deceiver]

That's why it's nice to live where they don't use salt on the roads! Steel (non-stainless) rots well in the winter, especially if you live near the ocean.