New Vibe owner... Howdy! (03 AWD)

General discussions about the Pontiac Vibe & Toyota Matrix. New members, introduce yourself here!
Post Reply
brandontw
Posts: 21
Joined: Sun Jan 12, 2014 2:26 am

New Vibe owner... Howdy! (03 AWD)

Post by brandontw »

I've owned about 5-6 cars in my life now, and this is the latest! Its become habit for me to stalk the forums of a car before I purchase it, then become an active member once I pull the trigger, so here I am!

I've had my eye on Vibes for a while now, I always thought they looked pretty nice, once I was in the market for a new(used) car, I decided to give one a drive. I found that it fit me really well, and I liked it, but wasn't really interested in a Pontiac with them having a questionable reputation, and being out of business. Once I found out it was basically a cheaper, cooler looking Toyota Matrix, it hopped to the top of my list, and I started looking seriously for one.

I do a lot of mountain driving and road trips, so I really wanted the AWD version if I could find one... After lurking and looking for about a month, one showed up at a dealership about 4 hours away from me. They were asking 7k for it, so I got them talked down to 5k before I even considered driving up there.

So I made the trip, found the car to be en fairly excellent shape, and made the purchase at 4800.00$ out the door, cash.

Its got about 125000 miles, clean carfax with 3 owners and respectable service records, It apparently has just about all the bells and whistles, power everything, moons and tunes, ABS, fog lights, etc...

It drives smooth, shifts well, and has no obvious problems except for a burned out headlight, and someone put on aftermarket wind screen things on all the windows, and the front two fell off.

I've had it for a few days now, and I love it! My biggest complaint so far is that the cupholders don't fit an Arizona tea can, so I ended up spilling once so far.

Anyway, hopefully ill be here more just to chat than asking for help with issues, but nonetheless... hi!

Edit: a picture!
new car
new car
Bsvibe.jpg (102.19 KiB) Viewed 1237 times
Salsa Guy
Posts: 1775
Joined: Thu Oct 07, 2010 10:46 pm
Location: Greater Tulsa Area

Re: New Vibe owner... Howdy! (03 AWD)

Post by Salsa Guy »

Welcome to Genvibe.
Good solid little car and it looks good. You know about the issues with the Rear Diff outboard seals leaking so you're doing good. I'd suggest a fluid change over for Transmission, Transfer Case and Rear Diff. You may want to check the belt and tensioner. I replaced mine and the water pump last spring.

I have a 05 Matrix XR AWD which is the same animal. Had a TRD SC on it for awhile and it ran great. I've been de-modding for my daughter.

Good luck!
05 Matrix XR 4WD and 03 Vibe GT
"If you want Government to solve your problems, then you are the problem!" BMSR
Trix MODS: SRI w/ AEM filter, Vibrant/Magnaflow Cat-back, Alutec Lightweight Crank Pulley
GT MODS: Cosmo SRI, DRL, Auto Stop
brandontw
Posts: 21
Joined: Sun Jan 12, 2014 2:26 am

Re: New Vibe owner... Howdy! (03 AWD)

Post by brandontw »

Yep... i was thinking the same thing with the fluids.

Carfax said last tranny flush was at 86k along with a serp belt, then a coolant and power steering flush at 105k, along with spark plugs and front brakes. Gotta love people that get their car serviced regularly at the dealership. Sure is nice seeing that history on the carfax. Too bad ill be servicing it off the record from now on.
Nasmfell
Posts: 364
Joined: Sat Jun 08, 2013 5:48 pm

Re: New Vibe owner... Howdy! (03 AWD)

Post by Nasmfell »

Hi and Welcome.
User avatar
vibenvy
Posts: 7121
Joined: Wed Apr 15, 2009 5:38 am
Location: Sandwich, IL

Re: New Vibe owner... Howdy! (03 AWD)

Post by vibenvy »

Welcome to GenVibe! Props on posting a picture right away! Nice looking first gen AWD you've got there ;)!
Image
2009 Liquid Platinum Metallic Vibe GT - 5-Speed Auto – Garage
2009 Steel Blue Metallic Vibe GT - 5-Speed Auto – Garage
tpollauf
Posts: 4146
Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2010 11:37 am
Location: Toledo/Oregon, Port Clinton Ohio
Contact:

Re: New Vibe owner... Howdy! (03 AWD)

Post by tpollauf »

Welcome to GenVibe :D Nice find you've acquired there ... and in the BEST color too! Visit here often and get involved!
Image
2009 Vibe GT (manual), 2009 G8Gt, 2009 Vibe GT (auto)
2014 Silverado, 2004 Vibe GT

"everything is modifiable"
Post Reply