Hi I'm back with an 09 Vibe

[Capnblinski]

Hello I'm back!

Took me awhile though until the time presented itself to get a nice Vibe in the family. That's for the wife to drive and for me to wash and wax and maintain lol. I had a 2009 rental I was gonna buy three years ago but was recalled back to Toyota and got lost in the shuffle. We've been driving the Camry for the past three years and love the car - but for the beat streets of a city in SW Pa, you need a overbuilt suspended truck. So I'm looking for an FJ cruiser here soon. So here is the new Vibe at the stealership. I couldn't bring the car home because the front brakes were grinding a bit ( I think from rust on the rotors as the car has been sitting since mid-April) and the pedal was mushy. The parking brake felt good though at about 3 or 4 clicks. I think they look much better with the roof rack and lip spoiler The car has about 51xxx on the clock.

[Rayven01]

Awesome! I think that is my favorite 2nd gen color.

[tpollauf]

Welcome back Who were you the first time around (registered name) and how long you been gone? Nice to see another 2nd gen Vibe owner join up with us. Nice color too!

[Capnblinski]

Thanks for the replies! That is a nice one we found. I remember that 'spread' of Pontiac's in your signature. Nice! What is the one in the middle?

I will be around probably in the brakes forum looking for an answer on a fairly mushy brake pedal. New rotors, maybe they just need to bed in with the pads. The rotors on my camry were still nearly good as new after 150xxx miles (here's a pic of that one) and the Akbono pads took about 50 miles to firm up. Wonder if that's the brand of pads Vibe owners use?

Let me see, I was pre on this forum with a similar log-in name as I have now - can't quite remember the old one. That was about three years ago and I've been here on and off since but mainly on toyotanation keeping after that Camry. New bushings time lol

Peace and see you all around on GenVibe

::Dave

[jake75]

If I may ask, what is an '09 1.8L base - assume automatic, a/c, power package with 51,000 on the clock going for these days?

[Capnblinski]

My research showed in the $11500 range - with all the service records and a free CarFax report.

Interestingly, when I first put the brakes on during the test drive - the pedal was mushy and there was a hint of grinding, like when a set of pads have about 100 miles left on them lol. The salesman, who was cool otherwise, immediately insisted that their cars are all serviced thoroughly before being put out on the lot and don't have mushy brakes. Well, I hadn't even said anything besides 'the brakes are mushy'! And that 'attitude' continued throughout the rest of the sale. They even at one point suggested driving the car the way it was and coming back the next day to fix the problem! No sir - not with the brakes in that condition. When I went back to pick up the car the next morning, they had fixed the brake problem, OK, so I went out to check the tire pressure - and one of the sales guys follows me out and almost asks what was I doing! Well, I said I'm checking tire pressure before I driving away in my new car - and there came that attitude again! "Blah blah, blah... We'd never let a car leave our lot with low tire pressures.. "blah, blah, blah. Odd experience there...

[tpollauf]

I remember that 'spread' of Pontiac's in your signature. Nice! What is the one in the middle?

That's the wife's Pontiac G8 GT. Only made two model years ...08 & 09


Oh and the salesman "blah, blah, blah, that you have to listen to ...... Just always be sure you have the upper hand when dealing with these jerks. This one sounds like he REALLY loves his job The world could stand to lose a few idiots as him

[Capnblinski]

Those G8's are a nice looking ride!

[jake75]

My research showed in the $11500 range - with all the service records and a free CarFax report.

Interestingly, when I first put the brakes on during the test drive - the pedal was mushy and there was a hint of grinding, like when a set of pads have about 100 miles left on them lol. The salesman, who was cool otherwise, immediately insisted that their cars are all serviced thoroughly before being put out on the lot and don't have mushy brakes. Well, I hadn't even said anything besides 'the brakes are mushy'! And that 'attitude' continued throughout the rest of the sale. They even at one point suggested driving the car the way it was and coming back the next day to fix the problem! No sir - not with the brakes in that condition. When I went back to pick up the car the next morning, they had fixed the brake problem, OK, so I went out to check the tire pressure - and one of the sales guys follows me out and almost asks what was I doing! Well, I said I'm checking tire pressure before I driving away in my new car - and there came that attitude again! "Blah blah, blah... We'd never let a car leave our lot with low tire pressures.. "blah, blah, blah. Odd experience there...

My '09 has only 24,000 miles - Looks like I could probably get what I paid for it new in Jan. 2009 when the dealer was having a fire sale, GM was giving rebates and dealer incentive money, and my GM Card earnings were upped to $3,000. We may never see those days again.

[jake75]

Another recent post reported a price of $7,750 for an '03 with 70,000 miles. I would think 6 years newer and about 20,000 fewer miles was well worth the $3,750 difference - but unfortunately a lot of people can afford $7,750 but not $11,500. The '09 also has more airbags, ABS, stability/traction control. Prior to 2009 these were costly options.

[Capnblinski]

I saw here in sw pa that advanced auto parts had bought a small fleet of '09 or '10 plain white Vibes to deliver parts.
All white with no roof rack or lip and they look like an egg going down the road.

I can tell without further reading here that the matrix and the vibe are/were very influential on the design of many a crossover and even suv's. So now that the other half is driving the Vibe - I'll (probably) be the one searching for info on the car. As for me I'm itchin' to get my hands on that FJ cruiser! lol.

[vibenvy]

Welcome to GenVibe! That's a very sharp looking 2.4L Base you've got there ! That is one of the most beautiful colors ever offered on the Vibe (Steel Blue Metallic). My mom has a 2009 Vibe GT in the same color and she's always getting comments on it from complete strangers.

[Capnblinski]

Thanks vibenvy,

A couple good coats of carnauba wax and then I''ll get some better pictures



btw - is there anywhere besides a dealer to get a good deal on a shop manual?

[tpollauf]

is there anywhere besides a dealer to get a good deal on a shop manual?

Online from Helm. But they will NOW set you back $200 for the three volume set Was only $150 three years ago when I purchased these.
Although very useful, there are several errors where it lists 2008 Vibe information instead of the 09-10 Vibe.

[vibenvy]

is there anywhere besides a dealer to get a good deal on a shop manual?

Online from Helm. But they will NOW set you back $200 for the three volume set Was only $150 three years ago when I purchased these.
Although very useful, there are several errors where it lists 2008 Vibe information instead of the 09-10 Vibe.

If you're lucky though, you may find $90.00 in cash while looking through one of the manuals !

[Capnblinski]

hahahahaha! on the ninety bucks!

Definitely need a shop manual for this one lol. Maybe the most important thing to buy first.

I see that the other forum sections are more focused and this seems to be the one to relax in and jaw abut Vibes/Matrix's in general.

[tpollauf]

If you're lucky though, you may find $90.00 in cash while looking through one of the manuals !

Only YOU would have found that cash I'm definitely going to be more careful where I lay any loose $$$ around.

[vibenvy]

If you're lucky though, you may find $90.00 in cash while looking through one of the manuals !

Only YOU would have found that cash I'm definitely going to be more careful where I lay any loose $$$ around.

I still laugh when I think of that !

For those that weren't in Pontiac... Tim (tpollauf) kindly brought his 2009 Vibe service manuals with him for anyone who wanted to look through them at the meet. I was sitting behind my Vibe at the cruise night flipping through one of the volumes trying to decide if I wanted to shell out the $200.00 for them. Tim and his wife Sue were up by the front of my Vibe. All of a sudden, I flip to a random page and there's $90.00 in cash in between two of the pages. I called Tim and Sue over and showed them. They started laughing. It was cash that Tim's son had paid him back and he had "misplaced" it !

[Capnblinski]

If you're lucky though, you may find $90.00 in cash while looking through one of the manuals !

Only YOU would have found that cash I'm definitely going to be more careful where I lay any loose $$$ around.

I still laugh when I think of that !

For those that weren't in Pontiac... Tim (tpollauf) kindly brought his 2009 Vibe service manuals with him for anyone who wanted to look through them at the meet. I was sitting behind my Vibe at the cruise night flipping through one of the volumes trying to decide if I wanted to shell out the $200.00 for them. Tim and his wife Sue were up by the front of my Vibe. All of a sudden, I flip to a random page and there's $90.00 in cash in between two of the pages. I called Tim and Sue over and showed them. They started laughing. It was cash that Tim's son had paid him back and he had "misplaced" it !

Good story lol
I took some snaps of the Vibe. These are pre-wash and wax.

[vibenvy]

Looking good ! Just wait until you get a coat of wax on it, than it will really look great !

[Capnblinski]

I just waxed the Camry that tomorrow is getting new struts and some bushing work. Don't really like anyone working on my cars, but I'm a bit out of whack physically since an accident some years ago lol.

[Capnblinski]

Here's the Vibe with three coats of Mother's carnauba wax:

[vibenvy]

Looks great ! I will be washing both our Vibes this weekend since the weather's finally going to be nice (no rain). I haven't washed them for almost a month .

[Capt.Vibe]

Very nice Vibe.

That is a very rare colour here. Hardly see any Steel Blue or Mystic Blue Vibes in Quebec.