Just installed a new 9" Stubby Antenna

Adam24303 · Post by **Adam24303** » Fri Sep 16, 2011 12:44 pm

With a link from J_TO_ENVY I went ahead and purchased a 9 inch stubby antenna on eBay. it was only $6.95 with free shipping (from china took about a week and a half to arrive)It fits perfectly and looks great. The original antenna would sometimes catch on low branched of trees (Trees in Florida tend to hang down/have moss hanging) so I'm glad to have a much shorter antenna now.Thanks again to J_TO_ENVY who has been such a big help to me, along with many others on this site. What a great place!!!! Link to eBay for 9" OEM antennahttp://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...t_946ALSO:I cleaned up my garage a bit. Moved some photos from separate posts back to the main post to organize a little better. So feel free to check it out if you haven't yet.

vibenvy · Post by **vibenvy** » Fri Sep 16, 2011 10:59 pm

Looks great Adam ! I've been anxiously awaiting your post and pictures about it! Quick question... is it glossy black like the antenna base is? This is one thing I don't like about the Honda antenna I have is that it is the texture and color of the XM antenna, so it looks kind of goofy with the glossy antenna base. If it's glossy, I'll definitely be ordering two of them (which means for anyone interested I'll have two of the Honda 7" antennas for sale)!You're very welcome for all the help! I'm more than happy to help anyone whenever I can .

DressedInBlack · Post by **DressedInBlack** » Sat Sep 17, 2011 1:09 am

yours it bigger than mine. [dang Irish curse...!]

jake75 · Post by **jake75** » Sat Sep 17, 2011 3:48 am

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...e375ba 5 inch stubby one-----------------------------------------------http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...df086and a 3 inch stubby one

nerka · Post by **nerka** » Sat Sep 17, 2011 7:47 am

Is there a universal antenna that will work for XM/Sirius and FM? A guy told me his 2009 Matrix had one but I doubt it.

vibenvy · Post by **vibenvy** » Sat Sep 17, 2011 8:55 am

Quote, originally posted by DressedInBlack Â»yours it bigger than mine. [dang Irish curse...!](removed) !!!

jake75 · Post by **jake75** » Sat Sep 17, 2011 1:01 pm

Quote, originally posted by nerka Â»Is there a universal antenna that will work for XM/Sirius and FM? A guy told me his 2009 Matrix had one but I doubt it.There are 2 antennas on the 2009 Vibe - I think the long one in the middle is for the radio, and the short one off to the side is for OnStar. So my best guess is that any replacement should work for am/fm/XM.If the short one works for both OnStar and XM then there also is no issue.

jake75 · Post by **jake75** » Sat Sep 17, 2011 1:07 pm

Quote, originally posted by Adam24303 Â»With a link from J_TO_ENVY I went ahead and purchased a 9 inch stubby antenna on eBay. it was only $6.95 with free shipping (from china took about a week and a half to arrive)It fits perfectly and looks great. The original antenna would sometimes catch on low branched of trees (Trees in Florida tend to hang down/have moss hanging) so I'm glad to have a much shorter antenna now.Thanks again to J_TO_ENVY who has been such a big help to me, along with many others on this site. What a great place!!!! Link to eBay for 9" OEM antennahttp://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...t_946Just looked at that eBay listing. It says 9 inch in the heading but 16 inches in the description. The one in your photo looks longer than 9 inches. If it is shorter - how well does it work? One would think that if a shorter antenna was adequate that is what Toyota/Pontiac would have used.

Adam24303 · Post by **Adam24303** » Sun Sep 18, 2011 12:59 am

Yeah it's a short antenna deff not 16" that has to be a typo. Reception appears to be the same but I only turned the am/fm radio on real quick to check as never use it, i have XM or my iPod on at all times. It was just for a better look and the other one kept scraping trees. J TO ENVY: it looks more like rubber than anything so no it doesn't match the base exactly so I would guess it's similar to the Honda antennas you have already tried. I'm ok with the look because you have too look real close to see the difference.

vibenvy · Post by **vibenvy** » Sun Sep 18, 2011 1:45 am

Quote, originally posted by jake75 Â»There are 2 antennas on the 2009 Vibe - I think the long one in the middle is for the radio, and the short one off to the side is for OnStar. So my best guess is that any replacement should work for am/fm/XM.If the short one works for both OnStar and XM then there also is no issue.The small antenna is for OnStar and XM.Quote, originally posted by jake75 Â»Just looked at that eBay listing. It says 9 inch in the heading but 16 inches in the description. The one in your photo looks longer than 9 inches. If it is shorter - how well does it work? One would think that if a shorter antenna was adequate that is what Toyota/Pontiac would have used.Quote, originally posted by Adam24303 Â»Yeah it's a short antenna deff not 16" that has to be a typo. Reception appears to be the same but I only turned the am/fm radio on real quick to check as never use it, i have XM or my iPod on at all times. It was just for a better look and the other one kept scraping trees. J TO ENVY: it looks more like rubber than anything so no it doesn't match the base exactly so I would guess it's similar to the Honda antennas you have already tried. I'm ok with the look because you have too look real close to see the difference.As Adam said, the 16" listed in the auction must be a typo. Here's a picture of the OEM Vibe antenna compared to the Honda one I have. The OEM one is 16" and the Honda one is 7".Adam, thanks for the info. I guess I will just stick with the Honda antenna then.

leemur · Post by **leemur** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 6:42 am

Soooo, I went down to the Toyota Dealer and price checked the Matrix Stubby and the spiral stubby on the new Prious. Scary Crazy!!$63 for the Matrix and $74 for the Prious stubby.For an antena??? My gosh. That Prious one is awesome though for someone not worried about price. Base looks the same as ours.

leemur · Post by **leemur** » Tue Oct 11, 2011 6:08 am

http://www.jdmpit.com/jstore/i...gtehw3rd row...4th down.Just bought it for $56 shipped. It's mah birthday so I get to waste money.

journeyforce · Post by **journeyforce** » Tue Oct 11, 2011 6:20 am

If you were interested in the stubby with the swirl on it then why didn't you get one at the Honda Dealer?It is part #39151-SWA-306 and is from a Honda Element. It cost me about $24 with Maryland tax http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=45085 Ether way that style of antenna is the way to go

journeyforce · Post by **journeyforce** » Tue Oct 11, 2011 6:26 am

The guy that said his matrix had a combined antenna for the am/fm radio and the XM radio speaks the truth to a certain point. The XM/Sat radio antenna is built into that base where the regular radio antenna mounts. Most likely in the front of the of the base. Most sat antenna are flat and that makes sense to combine them both into one base. Since Matrix does not have Onstar there is no need for the other antenna like on our vibes. the actual screw in antenna is the regular radio antenna

jake75 · Post by **jake75** » Tue Oct 11, 2011 8:29 am

Quote, originally posted by journeyforce Â»The guy that said his matrix had a combined antenna for the am/fm radio and the XM radio speaks the truth to a certain point. The XM/Sat radio antenna is built into that base where the regular radio antenna mounts. Most likely in the front of the of the base. Most sat antenna are flat and that makes sense to combine them both into one base. Since Matrix does not have Onstar there is no need for the other antenna like on our vibes. the actual screw in antenna is the regular radio antenna So J_to_Envy is mistaken about the stubby antenna being for OnStar AND XM?

journeyforce · Post by **journeyforce** » Tue Oct 11, 2011 11:47 am

No on the Vibe the stubby little antenna(closest to the rear of the passenger side) is the XM and Onstar antennas. The base of the antenna is the XM antenna and the actual antenna part (that sticks up) is for the Onstar. Notice what a strange base that antenna has? How flat the front of it is? Thats the XM part She is correct about thatOn the Matrix there is no Onstar as Toyota does not have Onstar so the radio antenna and the XM antenna share the same space, The XM antenna is in the front of the base of the antenna assembly and regular radio is in the back of the antenna base (near where the mast screws in)I am sure you notice that the 2009-current Matrix has a different base and assembly then our vibes. Since Onstar is not around on the matrix only one hole in the roof is needed

leemur · Post by **leemur** » Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:44 am

yeah, the honda spiral would have been good enough...but I didn't know about the Honda "spiral" antenna. Missed that post Way to ruin my B-day!!

cythraul · Post by **cythraul** » Wed Dec 07, 2011 9:57 am

I found the 39151-SWA-306 on ebay but the seller won't ship to Canada. http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAP...12148

Kincaid · Post by **Kincaid** » Thu Dec 08, 2011 11:58 am

So, is this shorty antenna just for looks?

bull77 · Post by **bull77** » Fri Dec 09, 2011 12:08 am

Quote, originally posted by Kincaid Â»So, is this shorty antenna just for looks?for me yes just for looks

Rayven01 · Post by **Rayven01** » Mon Feb 25, 2013 10:28 am

Adam24303 wrote:With a link from J_TO_ENVY I went ahead and purchased a 9 inch stubby antenna on eBay. it was only $6.95 with free shipping (from china took about a week and a half to arrive)

I went ahead and ordered one of these since I think the 16" OEM one looks ridiculous. They're down to $3.57 with free shipping. Seems sketchy that they are that cheap but for 4 bucks it's hard to go wrong.

I use a bluetooth car kit with FM push and barely ever listen to actual radio stations so if it degrades FM stations it will only make my bluetooth sound better!

Rayven01 · Post by **Rayven01** » Tue Mar 05, 2013 4:31 pm

Received it today:

Seems to work just as well as the original. It's not shiny at all like the original, just matte black rubber which I kinda prefer anyway.

tpollauf · Post by **tpollauf** » Tue Mar 05, 2013 8:37 pm

Looks good

Especially for under FOUR bucks!!! It is a totally different design BUT if it works then that is all that matters

lowincash · Post by **lowincash** » Wed Mar 06, 2013 12:18 am

Cool I just bought one from the ebay link above. Been wanting to do this a long while back but getting to it now =]

09vGT · Post by **09vGT** » Wed Mar 06, 2013 8:28 pm

I ordered one too!

lowincash · Post by **lowincash** » Thu Mar 07, 2013 1:07 pm

My antenna came, very fast shipping. I thought it was shipped out from Hong Kong but it was shipped out from California, like 20 miles away from me.

vibenvy · Post by **vibenvy** » Thu Mar 07, 2013 4:02 pm

It's awesome to see so many of you getting shorter antennas for your Vibes recently! I love mine! It looks so much better than the huge factory one.

kitchenaide · Post by **kitchenaide** » Wed Jun 05, 2013 11:23 pm

I have a 2005 Vibe Base, and got one of the stubby antennas from a Kia dealership for a 2013 Kia Soul. $36, but worth it. I like the spiral look as opposed to the Honda antennas. I think it makes it look sportier.

djkeev · Post by **djkeev** » Sun Jun 09, 2013 4:48 am

When I stumble upon those "too good to be true" deals I am suspicious.

Why will they send me a $20 item for $4 ? Shipping and packaging costs that much ........ if not more!

My first thought is to harvest credit card numbers and PIN #'s for future profitable use?

I most often pass or will use a secondary firm such as PayPal but NOT LINKED THROUGH THEIR WEB SITE!!! I sign in independently and use their customer ID to pay them.........

Call me cautious........

Dave

mrbravo2000 · Post by **mrbravo2000** » Thu Aug 22, 2013 7:43 am

I just purchased the antenna to replace the long center one. However, what is the parts number for the Onstar antenna. My Vibe is missing that antenna (pic below) and it looks off to me. I personally wouldnt mine just capping it either. I looked on Ebay

http://www.ebay.ca/sch/i.html?_trksid=p ... &_from=R40

and it's expensive for an item I don't even use. Any ideas?

mrbravo2000 · Post by **mrbravo2000** » Thu Aug 22, 2013 7:44 am

djkeev wrote:When I stumble upon those "too good to be true" deals I am suspicious.

Why will they send me a $20 item for $4 ? Shipping and packaging costs that much ........ if not more!

My first thought is to harvest credit card numbers and PIN #'s for future profitable use?

I most often pass or will use a secondary firm such as PayPal but NOT LINKED THROUGH THEIR WEB SITE!!! I sign in independently and use their customer ID to pay them.........

Call me cautious........

Dave

As long as you use Paypal you'll be fine, Paypal has worked with me before. I never pay direct to the companies, thats no bueno.

vibenvy · Post by **vibenvy** » Thu Aug 22, 2013 4:33 pm

mrbravo2000 wrote:I just purchased the antenna to replace the long center one. However, what is the parts number for the Onstar antenna. My Vibe is missing that antenna (pic below) and it looks off to me. I personally wouldnt mine just capping it either. I looked on Ebay

http://www.ebay.ca/sch/i.html?_trksid=p ... &_from=R40

and it's expensive for an item I don't even use. Any ideas?

You're only missing the small rubber part of the antenna that sticks up. You could always try car-part.com to see if you could score one from a junked Vibe or Matrix (and probably other vehicles) near you.

Also, a "sharkfin antenna" would probably work pretty well if you wanted to just cover up the whole thing.

cptnsolo77 · Post by **cptnsolo77** » Mon Aug 26, 2013 3:39 pm

Im looking to purchase a stubby antenna, I went through the car wash & it flew off as i was driving through the blower

All is left is the part where you put the wrench on to remove it

I would like to get one the "stubby-er" ones but hows the reception with the 4" & 5" ones ? To be honest with with virtually no antenna, I only have one station where I get SOME static. So it cant be worse than what I have now.

cptnsolo77 · Post by **cptnsolo77** » Tue Aug 27, 2013 5:14 pm

Did some searching on MatrixOwners & found that this fits : http://www.ebay.com/itm/LEXUS-IS300-8-P ... c4&vxp=mtr" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Just purchased it. MO says that a 7" Honda S2000 is a direct fit, but the base doesnt fit as well as the IS300 & is about 20 bucks on Ebay. This is cheaper. I splurged & spent a whole 9 bucks

stsin · Post by **stsin** » Tue Aug 27, 2013 5:26 pm

How are these antennas reception wise? I've still got my original antenna and moving to a new (small) town I've noticed that the radio reception is fairly craptasatic to the point where my little battery powered NOAA radio with an extendable antenna gets better reception of my chosen station with its antenna DOWN.

I was thinking of http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007J8 ... automotive" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (they have 4, 5,7, 8, or 5:6:10 adjustable as well as 16 inch whip for ~$15.99 shipped) which looks similar to this one (but of course the one is300 linked on ebay is a much better deal) for me it's not about looks, but rather I'd like to have something that will work better. It's conceivable to believe that the stock antenna has been damaged somehow since it is the original antenna for my 03 vibe and it's now 2013

Thanks guys!

vibenvy · Post by **vibenvy** » Wed Aug 28, 2013 3:53 pm

We've never had a problem with reception with our 7" Honda antennas. We live ~60 miles west of Chicago out in the country and we get all the Chicago radio stations no problem. Although, we typically listen to XM all the time so it's kind of a moot point for us.

mrbravo2000 · Post by **mrbravo2000** » Mon Sep 09, 2013 7:10 am

just installed mine from the Ebay distro in this thread and it works great. I listen to FM and it gives me good reception. I have the old one and man was it cracked and peeling... my Vibe has been in the sun apparently.

ps2010 · Post by **ps2010** » Wed Oct 23, 2013 8:31 am

I just got the 9in stubby antenna shipped from ebay for $3.50. I really didn't mind the look of the original antenna, but for that cheap why not try it out. I use my radio a lot during my commute, but I just tested it out today quickly and it seems to be the same as the stock one. It definitely looks a little cheap close up, but for $3.50 it's what I expected. I let you know if I have any problems with it after using it for a few weeks.

kumquat · Post by **kumquat** » Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:24 am

What's the smallest antenna you guys know of that'll fit?

ps2010 · Post by **ps2010** » Tue Oct 29, 2013 3:15 pm

So, I've been using the 9 inch stubby ebay antenna. I drive a lot all around the outside of Boston(~30 miles out), the antenna definitely does not work as well as the stock antenna. When pressing seek on the radio some channels get skipped that didn't get skipped with the stock antenna. There is a little static now that wasn't there before and a couple of good channels are now just okay with static going in and out as I'm driving. Honestly, it isn't a huge difference, but I can tell I am starting to get annoyed with it. I don't think it's the length that's the issue but the quality. I don't know this for sure, but the cheap ebay antenna looks cheap to me. My guess is if you go with a genuine part (better quality) rather than a knock off (shipped from china for $3.50 total) I think the signal should be good regardless of the length, but that's just opinion since I don't have other similar length antennas to compare. For now, I'm going to leave the antenna, but I'm not going to throw out the stock one anytime soon just in case. I hope this helps.

Adam24303 · Post by **Adam24303** » Tue Oct 29, 2013 7:26 pm

So an update on this antenna...

The full-service car wash folks would always take the antenna off my car and replace it after they had done their work. Well, I've discovered that the last time they did this, they cross threaded the antenna, and when I went to remove it I twisted it too hard and now the antenna, and the metal part it screws onto all spins around. I'm guessing this wouldn't be easy to fix.

Adam24303 · Post by **Adam24303** » Sat May 17, 2014 11:43 am

Another update on the antenna:

I had the Vibe in the shop to get the window switch recall done and also to have the radio replaced because of the broken volume knob. I inquired about my antenna situation and it ended up being covered under my major guard warranty.

They replaced the base and the mast and it's all back to normal. Not sure I'm going to mess with getting another stubby mast. I know that's not the reason the base broke, but just don't want to risk it.

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