2007 Pontiac Vibe New owner

[Kelly987]

Hello, We recently purchased a 2007 base model pontiac vibe for our daughter for college. She will be attending college 10+ hours away from us so we want to fix this car up to be reliable. It has over 200 thousand miles on it. We had it looked at by two shops and were told it needs new front breaks and the right front strut is broken. My husband thinks the serpentine belt may also have some tears in it so he is thinking about replacing that also. I have purchased some parts but I am not sure that I have everything I need and or if the parts I purchased are good or not so I need some help with purchasing parts. My husband is going to try and tackle fixing these things.

Struts: I purchased the KYB from walmart. KYB sr4118 and sr4117. They appear to be out of stock now so I am hoping they don't cancel my order. Anyway, I read information on this forum and watched some videos on youtube about changing struts and it was mentioned that we will probably need to replace the sway bar link ends also. I am not able to find much information on sway bar links and which brand to purchase. One person on here said they have gone with Moog brand for some of there products. Does anyone have a recommendation for a brand on these as I want ones that will last.
Also, should we be prepared with any other parts that we may find need to be changed when he has the car apart?

I was not able to find a lot of information on the brand of serpentine belt that would be best or the belt tensioner. Anything would be helpful.
For the brakes and serpentine belt:
I purchased from napa: Brembo front brake rotors and akebono front brake pads and NAPA DriveAlign Belt Tensioner
I purchased from Amazon: Bando USA 6PK1855 OEM Quality Serpentine Belt

I checked Rock Auto but with shipping costs and time decided to go with napa and amazon. Rock auto prices were better.

The car looked nice when we picked it up for its age and miles. The first rain had us wondering though. That is when I started searching for a forum and found this site. We recently had the windshield replaced and rust removed. Found a great place near us. It has not rained yet though so not sure if it worked. Will post in different area about that once I know.

[VibeNation2024]

Welcome to Gen Vibe and to owning a Vibe! You will see that these cars are extremely reliable and have a low cost of ownership! As you are also expiriencing, you have some repairs but that is after 200,000 miles so that is expected. I can't comment on the struts, sway bar link or the belt tensioner since I have not had to repair these on my 2 Vibes but there are some forums that discuss all 3. You can use the search feature to help find the info.

On the belt, I just replaced mine with a Contential Multi V.

Hope this helps and please reach out with other questions or updates on the progress!

[tpollauf]

We recently had the windshield replaced and rust removed. Found a great place near us. It has not rained yet though so not sure if it worked. Will post in different area about that once I know.

Welcome to GenVibe. Why was the windshield replaced? How did the rust get there and was it under the glass to where the interior got wet when it rained? Too many unknowns for us to help you. A big question is where will this car be primarily used? Southern states where you don't have to worry about rust, or mid-west/snow belt states where corrosion will be an issue. Give us more info so we can help you.

[Kelly987]

We were unaware car leaked when it rains when we purchased it. We had some heavy rains overnight and my daughter said water was getting all over her on driver's side. Water was visible in the driver's side a piller.
After reading a lot of post on this site my husband looked at top of windshield and noticed some rust appearing through the paint along the windshield and then saw a bit more rust in the corner of windshield on drivers side. He took out apillars and was able to see some under headliner and saw a little rust.
I called many multiple windshield replacement companies and found a couple that said they could fix it. One of them sounded like he had done this work before. He was also the only one that said he could get windshield out without breaking it.
He got us in right away and said the one we had was not factory. He said it was done poorly. He got windshield out in one piece and showed us. It was a lot rustier than my husband expected to see. The shop cleaned it all up and we opted to have a new windshield put in.
No rain since so still not sure it doesn't still leak but it looks like he did a good job.
The car will be used in Tennessee. They can get quite a bit of rain during hurricane season.

[Kelly987]

Vibenation2024 Thanks for belt information. I will look it up.

[Kelly987]

My husband and daughter replaced the front rotors and brake pads yesterday. She is learning a lot. One of the calipers needs to be replaced or rebuilt so looking for a new caliper in case rebuild doesn't work. Do the Corolla matrix calipers fit the vibe? Is that the best option or would another brand be just as good?

[joatmon]

Welcome to genvibe!

You may have already guessed, but we here are fans of the Vibe, and think it should be a great car for your daughter.

I don't have any input on which parts to buy. Those should be fine.

Before she heads off to college, make sure
- she knows how to change a tire, even if you have some roadside assistance like AAA
- similarly, she knows how to jump start a dead battery properly
- the spare tire is properly inflated. They take something like 60 psi, and it may be low, being 18 years old
- she knows how to and understands the importance of periodically checking oil and coolant levels, and tire pressure
- Look under the back seats. Just a few bolts to lift them up. In one used Vibe I had, I found a previous owner's check book under there. Not knowing the integrity of the previous owner, if nothing else, you don't want there to be anything lurking under there that could get her in trouble with the law.
- As tpollauf said, we don't know where she will have the car, but make sure the tire type and tread are suitable for whatever kind of winter she'll get

If you need one, you can download a PDF of the owner's manual from viewtopic.php?p=524013#p524013

It can be a real test of faith to send a child that far away from home, good luck with that. Have patience and understanding if she gets a ticket, or is involved in an accident. Be reassured that historically, Vibes have been shown to take great care of occupants in crashes, and the car is just a thing, while she is all that matters.

[Kelly987]

Thanks for the great advice. Will do.

[Kelly987]

We may be doing more than we need to but we are hoping to leave the car in Tennessee over the summers if possible so we won't have it around to fix later. My husband and daughter replaced the serpentine belt and tensioner. We are waiting for rear struts, and front ball joints and tie rod ends and new calipers to arrive. Taking the wheels on and off multiple times but we are tackling each project as parts arrive. Will do the rest of the front end parts at once. When doing breaks found one of the calipers needed to be fixed. Chose to go with AC Delco for those. Someone on this site mentioned they used Beck/Arnley for ball joints and tie rod ends so I got those and a mechanic I watch on youtube said he uses FCS for some of the vehicles he fixes and he has not had anyone return with problems so I purchased those for rear struts. Don't have much time left before school starts. Will also be doing oil change and have appt for alignment. We are not sure if radiator has ever been drained and filled but we are going to leave that alone for now. Hoping of course that everything holds together for the next four years. Will also replace battery. Considering getting one from Walmart with four year warranty. If anyone has a better idea please let me know. The site has been helpful when looking for parts.