I really like this car. I love the design and I love the roominess. I got a good deal on it as well because I got it from a private seller.
I noticed that even for a 2009 vehicle with 86k miles, it's quiet. No weird used car noises. It was comparable to 2014 corolla I test drove. The mechanic that inspected the car actually drove 2003 Pontiac Vibe as well. He packed 150k miles on it and called the seller crazy for selling the car. Seller and I both just smiled. He was complementing how I was making the right call buying the car.
Steering felt heavier than smaller cars, but that's to-be expected. I wish that acceleration could be a bit smoother. When I press the gas pedal ever-so-slightly engine kind of kicks in too fast and the car jerks too hard. It's kind of scary when I try to park or get out of parking. I felt that the viewing area seemed narrower than other cars vertically and I found looking through the back windshield a bit more difficult as well. But then again, it's an hatchback. I love hatchbacks so it's ok.
I was thinking that Vibe drivers are safe drivers!
I am a young male driver and my guy friends all pay like 200+ on typical auto insurance. They drive Hondas, Kias and Hyundais.
I am gonna pay 125 / month with a first vehicle and I have better coverage than them! I was absolutely shocked and overjoyed.
It had 77K on it and ran just great up until it's untimely end. 
This was part of an earlier Toyota recall where they all got shaved and a tighter spring was installed. Not smooth at all BUT you will adjust to it eventually. My Red Vibe GT was not touched BUT my son's Blue Vibe Gt was ... and what a difference! 
and then turned around and had them replaced with brand new pedal assemblies (the recall said if you weren't satisfied with the "modified" pedal assembly, they would replace it with a brand new one, so that's what we chose to do). The difference with the "modified" pedal was negligible, but the difference with the brand new pedal was night and day. Not nearly as touchy as before.
This province always had an obsession with small cars. I think it had 65hp new but when I bought it in '88 with 180,000km, I'm sure it wasn't producing anything near that number. It was an automatic and throttle had to be nearly floored at every light to get going, entering an on ramp took forever and anything over 90kph the shaking and vibrations were downright scary. Then again the car was pretty much at the end of it's useful life by that time. Despite all this gas mileage was pretty good, I guess cause the car was pretty much a tin can and weighed nothing. Fairly certain I would not have survived a medium speed crash in that car.