New to Vibe's and looking at an 05 soon

[nittanydoug]

I'm coming from a Protege 5 wagon. I put a ton of miles on so I'm looking at a used 2005 Vibe. It's an automatic. The guy says it's loaded. I hope to see it soon. Price is inline according to Edmunds. It has 80,000 miles. What should I look for? What should I do right away? I'm guessing oil change and probably trans fluid change. It's been a while since I'd have an auto tranny but the wife wants to be able to drive my next car.I'll probably pull a carfax.It looks like this is a great community just like the one that surrounded the P5 cars too. Strangley I'd be going smaller in motor size but gaining hp. Just wish the 05 had the 5 sp auto.I'd appreciate any input.

[ou.grizzly]

Welcome to the site! May I ask what the person is asking price is?

[nittanydoug]

As long as you don't try to steal it from me! I need a new to me car as the p5 is worrying me some. He's asking $7200.

[ou.grizzly]

Quote, originally posted by nittanydoug »As long as you don't try to steal it from me! I need a new to me car as the p5 is worrying me some. He's asking $7200.No worries, not looking to steal it from you! That seems to be a fair price. YOu should go over the basics:1. Engine Oil 2. Transmission Fluid3. Inspect Brakes / Tires4. Inspect Coolant5. Blower Motor - make sure it works on all settings as sometimes the resister's take a crap - it is an easy fixAs for all maintenance records and what has been performed. If the brakes have not been serviced @ that mileage, they are about due. So that is something to consider in the price also. If the coolant and trans fluid has not been changed, if you decide to buy, get that replaced ASAP as it makes a difference.

[lexicon]

OK, I guess variety is the spice of life....I assume you want to see what Toyota/now deceased Pontiac has to offer.I have an 05, I think Ive got around 90K miles....Get consisten 30 mpg.Have had one set of tires, one set of front brakes, cleaned the MAF and starting to get a CEL lean code. Done nothing else to the car other than synthetic oil changes, one complete PS flush.Now its time for changing all fluids and the serpentine belt.If the car you are looking for does not drive well, sound smooth, or has any suspicious sounds while driving. Evaluate them.If there were a particular common set of probs , youd read it here in our forum. I dont drive like an old man, (but I am). Some younger dudes here drive the stick shifts hard and I would be wary of who owned those cars for fear of an imminent clutch failure.Ok I know you want some variety, see my post about the Mazda3 that I will be posting in a few minutes. You "may " want to stay with Mazda....Just a point of reference...If you buy a Vibe/Matrix/Corolla.... its a Toyota and it is a solid vehicle.I would be more worried about who I bought the car from .... Good luckKeep us posted

[nittanydoug]

I'm not finding any 3's (in the wagon variety) in my price range. At least without a ton of miles. I'm semi familiar with the blower issue. Must be the same one my wife's old sunfire had. I think I replaced it 2x in 100k. More of a pain to get into the position than to really fix it. Did these have the green or the orange coolant?Doing brakes, oil changes, etc don't bother me as I did all of that on pretty much every car I've owned. I wish that was all the further into them I've had to have my hands. Keep the input coming I really appreciate it!

[Gandalf]

The oil changes are pretty easy....as long as you have a cap filter wrench. I just run my 05 Vibe onto a set of plastic ramps, to change the oil.ATF fluid change is extremely easy. Obvious drain plug, fill with a funnel into the ATF dipstick tube.Instead of paying the dealership to do a flush at 60K, (about $125 - $150) many people are just changing the drainable ATF at multiples of 10 to 15K miles. You are draining out 1/2 of the fluid, each time.It takes exactly 3 1/2 quarts of Toyota T4 ATF. About $6/qt. last time I bought it. There is no internal filter, so regular ATF changes are all you need to do.This is something most people just ignore, so I was really happy to learn didn't have to pay the dealer a lot of $$$ to flush the ATF at 60K.

[nittanydoug]

I plan to do an oil change today and probably plugs if i get to the store. As far as an ATF change I'll have to find the fluid. My F150 was something like 14 quarts so you were looking at a pretty pricey day to change that. It also had an filter to replace. To get the majority of it out, there was also a drain plug in the torque converter. You'd drain the pan (no plug, you had to unbolt and lower a corner and make a mess.) Then there was a rubber plug you'd take off and find the bolt/plug on the torque converter that would drain the converter. You'd get almost all of the ATF out. No real need for a flush. I thought we had a filter too though.

[808 Vibes]

Welcome! Ypsilanti...where Bonnevilles were made!!