I haven't been on this board in a while. I was an owner of both a 2004 and 2007 Vibe both purchased new. The 2007 was passed on to my son but was the victim of an errant driver over a year ago and was replaced with a VW. Anyhow the VW was just traded in last night by my son and another Vibe (2004) is back in the family. I'm hoping he makes out well with it and glad he sought out and bought a Vibe.
That's great news. Also it's always nice to see some of the older original members still active on this forum. Hope he has good luck with his Vibe and owns it for a long time
Welcome back! Thanks for giving us an update on your Vibe fleet! I'm sure your son will be very happy with his decision to get another Vibe. We'd all love to see some pictures of your Vibe fleet when you get a chance !
I've owned 4 VWs since 1996 but none at the moment. The Reason? Just as stated....repair and routine Maintenance costs are too high. I loved the way they drove but just not worth it. If I ever have another it will be a lease only and I'll turn it in at the end of the lease / free maintenance deal. My 2010 Vibe it will be handed down to my son in 2 years because its so reliable!
i have never owned a vw but recently sold my volvo in favor of my vibe. i really liked the volvo, it ran very well and was comfy. but when i started to price maint/repair items i couldn't believe how expensive they were. i wound up getting more out of it than i paid for it so wasn't a bad deal. but guess it will be only euro vehicle i will ever own. just to costly for me....
I bought a VW way back in '79. A Golf (back then a Rabbit that I had badge changed to Golf). Loved that car. Fun to drive. It was a diesel manual from Wolfsburg,Germany. Put fat wheels and tires on it. Put adjustable Bilstein Struts/Shocks on it. Put about 94,000 enjoyable smile filled miles on it and then found a hairline crack in the throttle body that allowed diesel to seep out. To repair in 1983... $850 bucks for parts, not including labor, which back then was a huge amount (not so little even now). I smeared a little high temp glue over the hairline crack and that stopped the seeping. Less than a buck to fix.
Lesson learned about Euro cars in the USA. Prices of parts high enough to make me think they were milled from platinum and covered in gold. I switched to Honda and some American products after that.
Vibe has a great comeback record. Easy to guess why. Small outside, big inside. "Cheap" to keep and fix. Easy on fuel, too. My son sold his Vibe after 5 years of ownership and bought a Fiesta. Very nice little driver, but now he really misses the Vibe "roominess" and seems to use mine quite a bit. Each time I get the keys back, he says he misses his Vibe.
'08 Manual, Sun&Sound, 17" Borbet Type CA wheels, 215/50 Summer Tires... 16" OE steel, 215/55 Snow Tires