joatmon - 2003 Vibe base (now gone)

[joatmon]

2003 Base VibeSatellite (silver) Two-Tone
5-Speed manual transmission
ABSS
ide Air Bags
Moon & Tunes
Continental tires (replaced at 45K miles)
Slate (dark) interior fabric
Steel wheels w/ hubcaps
OEM rear cargo mat
OEM rear bumper protector
purchased 12/30/2002
No performance mods

Non performance mods
03 Matrix CD/tape head unit
Center console power enable1
15V inverter enable
Moonroof soft stop disable
DRL disable switch
Hidden Hitch
2003 to 2004 cluster swap
Rear view mirror w/ map lights
Auto AC on defrost disable (thanks vibeowner )

Here's my old and new instrument cluster, swapped at 91245 miles

Crossed 100,000 miles on 1/21/2006
another odometer milestone 5/15/2006
another interesting Odo # on 9/19/2006
and yet another milestone200K on 4/7/2009
222222 on 4/23/2010
250K 0n 7/18/2011

Maintenance/Repair
Lots of oil changes, so far always with Castrol GTX 5W-30 oil and Purolator PureOne PL14476 filter
Engine air filter replaced twice
Spark plugs replaced @96K miles and @ 173K miles
Front brake pads, @96K miles, 170K miles
transmission, twice clutch replaced the first time
Changed tranny oil at 150K miles
Replaced stock Continental tires with Bridgestone Turanza LS-T tires @ 45K miles
Replaced the Bridgestone Turanza LS-T's with Goodyear Assurance TripleTreds on 9/8/7 at 151,784 miles
Replaced the TripleTreds with another set of Bridgestone Turanza's on 5/1/2010 @ 222700 miles
Coolant flush @ 60K miles
Wiper blades replaced
Rear O2 sensor replaced
Catalytic Converter replaced at 106K miles
Driver's door weatherstrip replaced - my only "warranty" work
windshield replaced 9/5/2006 after TS Ernesto threw a branch at it
valve clearance check at 128K miles, clearances fine
Headlight bulbs replaced too many times
Recirc actuator replaced at 173K miles
new clutch at 187,700
replaced connecting rod bearings 7/19/09 @ 208,034
tranny again, 9/13/2010 @228K
This canoe dwarfs the little car
This woodstove wouldn't have fit in just any car
MPG graph:

Attached files LOST from some forum software change along the way


This pic is from march 2013, first vibe on the right, replacement on the left

[denvette78]

I see your wood stove in your vibe. I beat you i put my new snow blower in it, try that in a car. When i bought it i mesure the hatch oppenning and mesure the snow blower with the handles down and i said to the man the i will be waiting at the back door with my car. He thought i was crazy but it did fit just fine.

[ArcsVibe]

Love the dog!

[bull77]

bump for motm

[ou.grizzly]

How many miles are you up to now?

[ou.grizzly]

Quote, originally posted by ou.grizzly »How many miles are you up to now?Was wondering how the Vibe is treating you?

[joatmon]

Bought my first Vibe 20 years ago today, Here it is the next day

1230.jpg (62.85 KiB) Viewed 855 times

Traded it in for the same color 03 10 years 288K miles later

[tpollauf]

Traded it in for the same color 03 10 years 288K miles later

So why did you end up trading it in back then? Was the tranny bearing issue the reason why? And to think you found an exact clone 10 years later! What were the odds of that happening

[joatmon]

It needed a new clutch, and a new cat, and was losing or burning a quart of oil about every 20K miles. It also was manual windows/locks, and the replacement had the power package. The replacement was also an auto tranny, which was wonderful since I was doing a lot of DC (gridlock) driving at the time. When I bought the first one 20 years ago, I wanted the 5 speed because it was rated an extra couple MPGs, averaged over 35 mpg over the 288K miles, but in the long run those extra MPGs cost me more after paying for clutch and tranny replacements