Test drove an '09 today!

[IBx1]

It was base except for the 2.4L, A/C, and Auto tranny. Not a GT, and it was FWD. Plain, bland-looking Black, by the way.It's a very solid riding car, first off. Big bumps aren't its best friend because of the stiff suspension. The bolstered seats are very nice, and the front seats have plenty of travel. My dad's a tall man, 6'1" or so, and the seat goes farther back than he needs it to. The telescoping steering wheel is new to our family of cars, so that helped him get the perfect position. With the seats the way we have them, the rear seat still has plenty of room. I like the backseat a little more because the bottom cusion is angled back and feels more enclosing. The back cushions are very comfortable too, and feel like they'd hold up to a roadtrip very nicely. The gas pedal is very light, so it's hard not to take off. Brakes are very responsive. When you let off the gas it immediately starts decelerating a little, so it doesn't feel like it'll cruise very long. The trunk is nice, the seats fold maybe 5 or 6 degrees away from flat, and have plenty of room behind them while they're up. Handles to hold onto for all four doors, a great relief for my grandmother and anyone who just likes to hold onto them during cornering. The armrests on the doors are very naturally placed, and good to hold onto. Better in the front than the back though. Glove compartment is huge, and has a neat little cubby on top for stuff like owner's manuals, a complete road map, insurance/registration, a good book, and a few other things. The glove box itself is very large, and is like a bucket, so everything's easy to get to. Controls are intuitive, gagues sweep on startup(I love the look of a gague sweep!), power's available to close windows and finish up a song after you turn the engine off, and overall it's a great car. There's a MASSIVE blind spot in the rear, since there's no usable window space and a very thick D-pillar. I think that with a little getting used to, however, one can overcome this. All cars have blindspots anyway, and I'm still getting used to how long my Riviera is behind the rear window.Overall, I'm very impressed with the Vibe. It has a lot of room inside, plenty of trunkspace, and a good, solid feel to everything. I'm worried that the 1.8 may not have a lot of power, since the 2.4 felt lacking, but this is the future and we may as well get used to it.Built by Toyota, styled, warranted and protected(OnStar) by GM. How can you go wrong?

[808 Vibes]

So......are you and/or Dad gonna buy it?

[IBx1]

Most likely yes, but regardless it'll be sometime next year.

[808 Vibes]

Yay!! Now's a good time to pinch those pennies so you don't have to deal with the financing sharks!

[IBx1]

That's the plan. We're gonna catch up on everything else, moneywise, for now. By the time we have those things covered, the '10s will be coming out and either a major defect will be found and avoided in the '09, or the '10 will be much more efficient, or it'll be a great time to get some good clearance money off an '09.Here's some pictures I took:I'm a sucker for canister-style lights, so I love the little shapes and details in the tails.

[woodlands1]

They really messed up on the hubcaps. They look awful with the steel wheels.

[Bikerscum]

[QUOTE=IBx1]That's the plan. We're gonna catch up on everything else, moneywise, for now. By the time we have those things covered, the '10s will be coming out and either a major defect will be found and avoided in the '09, or the '10 will be much more efficient, or it'll be a great time to get some good clearance money off an '09.And then the '11's will be just around the corner.... might be a next gen... might want to wait & see just to be safe.

[Burns1210]

Quote, originally posted by woodlands1 »They really messed up on the hubcaps. They look awful with the steel wheels.Second!

[IBx1]

True, the wheel covers look good but expose WAAAY too much steel.

[VivaVibe]

Strange. I thought fogs and the roof rack did not come with the base model. Waz-up?

[tx_wrx]

I think you can add those as options. Anyone know if hte roofrack is removable? Prob best to take it off when not using it. you know wind resistance and all.

[AKLGT]

I have always been told never to buy the first run of any model year. However, what I have found in the last 3 vehicles purchased (did just that) is they actually made these model years better and then progressively made them worse (performance or changes). The only thing that they did on the 07 LGT vs my 05 LGT that was better was make the rear seats in the sedan fold down. Otherwise, the engine, tranny and amenities are arguably much better. I felt the same way in my 03 Vibe GT compared to any other model VGT year... just seemed to keep getting worse each year, to now when it's only in badging and nothing in actual performance. However, I would wait about 4-5 mos of that new model year and pick up a "newer" model of the same.

[vibedrivermatt]

Roof rack and fog lights. Bonus!! Those are options not on the base model. Dont forget the soccer mom organizer rack in truck! thats my fav!

[ToolGuy]

Quote, originally posted by woodlands1 »They really messed up on the hubcaps. They look awful with the steel wheels.Third that! Just Hideous! The roof racks look very bad as well! Plus stats show the horizontal roof rack pieces decrease MPG some by 2% since they increase drag. Should have left the vertical pieces in and the horizontal optional.

[IBx1]

Wasn't a base, it was a 2.4L, and we aren't so concerned with a little tiny (what, 0.6mpg?) loss from the roof racks. We wouldn't be getting all those options though, unless the roof racks are standard and then we'd be using them.