Just joined this Vibe fever a couple weeks ago with the purchase of a one owner, 2006 silver Vibe with 122k miles. He was in sales and racked up 200 miles per day but religously took it in every 5 k for oil/filter and tire rotation.Anyway, snapped a few pics and did my first real mod - leather steering wheel.
Cleaned up and detailed. See how this slideshow works. Note the shots without flash and with flash - the reflective highlights show up.Link to slideshow - doesn't seem to play in the thread.
Got the new head unit installed: Jensen VM8023HD. Sounds great although it has a little pop between station changes and between tracks on the SD card or USB. Wiring was a breeze with the Metra harness, antenna adapter (got P/N from http://www.installers.com and then searched ebay for these parts: $4 and $3 each). I did NOT use the line converter as this stereo has line level outputs to go with my M&T system. I used an old stereo RCA cable, cut both ends off at about 4", stripped them back and soldered to the speaker conncections on the metra harness. Works perfect. I may still add my 6 dB attenuators (cut voltage in half to drop the 2V preamp out down to a more standard 1V) to see if it helps with the popping.Mounting was a little harder since I did not use Crutchfield and get their mounting kit but you can also get this from ebay. I basically held the stereo in the location I wanted it with the OEM mounts already bolted into their locations. I then took a permanent marker and marked the brackets onto the stereo to get their locations. I removed stereo and brackets, drilled holes in the OEM brackets to place them in the right location and screwed to the factory holes on the stereo.The bezel was another story. THe Jensen one is too narrow and too tall for the Vibe. I used the factory stereo to make a template outline and the bezel to make the inside of the template on rigid hardboard. I cut it out and painted matte black and put it all back in.VM8023HD:http://mobile.jensen.com/jense...D.png
next real easy mod: homelink mirror from a 2007 Maxima. I found the same company, Gentek, makes all of these auto-dimming mirrors and I wanted something with the programmable homelink. Found one on eBay. Anyway, mounts right on the OEM mount, figured out what wires power the homelink and the dimming and wired them into the sunroof power and ground - all of 30 minutes. It is a little wider too so you get a little better view into your right blind spot.
In Memory, taken too early in a rear end collision
Sunrise: June 2006, Sunset: Jan 2015
Miles 129,000
2006 Silver Mono, Base 4-Speed auto.
In Memory of Pontiac Motor Division 1926-2010
In Memory of the Pontiac Vibe 2002-2009
Now I did it - just picked up a 2004 Matrix with 190k miles on it. Well cared for, regular maintenance, some minor dings and scratches but couldn't pass up the deal - $2950. I'll fixer up and see about reselling and maybe make a quick $1500.