New to the board: Another future Vibe owner

[BanditWS6]

Greets to everyone here.I just registered on the board today because my wife and I are about to become the proud owners of a new Pontiac Vibe! I'm glad I found this place. It's been less than 48 hours since we decided to replace our ailing, untrustworthy '93 Grand Prix with a Vibe, so I'm still somewhat giddy. Getting a new car is awesome, and of course I've been spending most of my time configuring different Vibes through GMBuyPower.com. Finding this site by pure chance, however, was great as I had no idea there was already a community of Vibe owners!I've been reading most of the old messages on the board and I have learned quite a lot. Namely, that the waiting list for Vibe factory orders seems to be extremely long! In fact, the longest estimates suggest I could be waiting as long for the Vibe as I waited for my Ram Air Trans Am in 1998...and that was affected by a limited production run and the huge GM worker strike! This is bad news as while we're hoping to find the Vibe we want on a dealer lot, in truth that's not likely. We seem to want more options than the "dealer stock" builds usually incorporate. Namely: ABS, the security system and the monotone option...In terms of color I think it's going to be Abyss, Shadow or Satellite...but since we haven't seen any of the above in person, we can't make our minds up yet. I've actually not seen ANY Vibes down here in SW FL whatsoever. All the local dealers seem to have a healthy stock of them though (each of the two local Poncho places has 9 Vibes in inventory at last check).While I'm here I have a quick question for those who have your Vibes already. What did you pay for them -- how was the final selling price in comparison to retail? I've heard that dealers aren't happy to provide much wiggle-room on Vibe prices, since there seems to be a low supply/high demand thing going on. How much have some of you saved over retail?Also, my wife wants to talk me out of the monotone appearance package as it is pretty pricey. Any thoughts? Is it really worth it? I just don't like the plastic look. No offense to those that do. Thanks and I hope to learn a lot more while I'm here!-B.J.

[Sputnik]

Welcome!I just called my closest Pontiac dealer today and they've only got one Vibe in stock but its manual tranny which I can't drive (so I can't test drive it)! On the monotone option I'm trying to convince my other half to go for it as I don't like the grey plastic molding. If I do decide to go for the grey lower half then I'll order a Shadow Vibe, but I want Salsa monotone.

[NSimkins]

Welcome to the board! I am also debating whether or not to order a Vibe or take one from dealer stock.I personally like the monotone package and it makes the Vibe look completely different (in my opinion).Good luck with your pursuit!

[BanditWS6]

Thanks for the welcome! My wife and I just got home from the dealer. I can tell the salesman there really wants to sell us one of these things as quick as he can. Like, tomorrow! Within a three-state area, there's only one Vibe close enough to what we want, and it's right here on our dealer's lot. It's a Base Vibe, Abyss, Moon & Tunes, Power Group, automatic, and the monotone appearance pkg...mmmm....black with monotone! Talk about sharp!Sadly, there's no ABS on it and my wife really, really wants that. For those without ABS, how do your brakes feel? I test-drove one of the demos tonight and it drove great; it's very roomy and much more responsive (powerplant-wise) than I expected. The brakes felt fine to me. The obvious benefit to ABS is added "help" from the brake sys during panic stop (and a few dollars off your insurance...hehe), but I dunno...it's either take this car I mentioned above, or wait until the end of the year. I don't think I would even place a factory order right now because the dealer told me there were restrictions on some of the items we're holding out for! Plus, there's some really good lease rates available thru GMAC that expire at the end of the week.So that's my dilemma...buy a sweet black monotone now with no ABS (no aluminum rims either), or pull back entirely and wait a few months. Ack!!I should have news by tomorrow of what I decide to do... -B.J.

[Turkster]

I wanted a white basiv vibe with auto, power package with moons & tunes. I ended up getting a black stick with power package & alloys. There was not a vibe anywhere with in 400 miles of me so I took the only one around. Vibes were all taken with deposits till September. Great car...even with the stick. Mileage & room is awesome!

[QWIKGTA]

I too could'nt wait, so I went with the first GT that arrived in the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area. It is black with the moons and tunes, and power package, 16" alloys and the super hot GT only engine /w 6 speed. I'm sorry, but why would anyone buy this car without the GT engine and stick. I test drove an auto, base model and I was not happy with the performance, don't get me wrong, it will make many people happy, but come on, you can't beat that feeling when the engine hits 6K and you feel the push into the seat. My only wish was that I too could have gotten the monotone package. I HATE the gray plastic lower body and can't wait to "fix" it. Good luck, My only advice is PLEASE get the car you want the first time, you will only kick yourself in the A** later if you don't wait on the right modelGood luck and welcomeRob

[BanditWS6]

Thanks for welcoming me...and I definitely hear ya about the performance of the GT, Rob. If I were looking for a performance car, I would definitely pass on the base Vibe for sure. Not hot enough for me. But since this is primarily going to be my wife's car, plus the fact that she cannot and will not drive a stick...I have to get an automatic, and therefore a base Vibe and not a GT. Given the powerband of the GT engine, I'm not sure an auto trans could do it much justice anyhow. That's okay though, because at least I still have my LS1 Trans Am 6-speed for a good torque kick. I thought about this for a long time last night, and I think we're going to end up getting that black Vibe with the monotone package, power group, Moon & Tunes & automatic. I need to work on getting the payments lower but it looks like that's gonna be the one. If I go with that one, we'll have it in our garage by the end of the week. I'll make sure to post some pics if I do. That monotone Abyss paint job has gotta be sweet!-B.J.

[BanditWS6]

Fritzburg, I imagine you're right! Update on my situation: Well, I decided not to go for the Abyss monotone vibe. The salesman down here was waaayyy too aggressive and basically tried to get me to pony up within 24 hours. Dude, I don't buy cars that fast. Period. I don't care what his sales quota was looking like. Additionally, he wouldn't deal. He was gonna sell it to me for MSRP and not a penny less. Sorry, but no. I know that Vibes are in high demand, but I have a dealer in Detroit offering me $100 over factory invoice on any of the Vibes on their lot. The problem? I don't like the loadout on any Vibes on their lot and I no longer live in Detroit. *laughs* Blast it!My current quest: Try to find a dealer in Florida -- ANYWHERE in Florida -- who will match (or come close to) that deal. I found some very very purdy Vibes north of here (a beautiful Shadow monotone with 16" wheels...mmmm) that I'm gunning for. But I'm gonna need lotsa luck.Thanks for all the support! This site is a great place to be.

[ironchef]

Use the GM buypower site and plug in zip codes for as far as you are willing to go to get your car. I did this after being dissed by my local dealer and got a better offer from one an hour away. I ended up with a better equipped car for a better price from a dealer who I actually liked. (Greg Uhley at Gilroy, CA Pontiac/GMC) I received several valid responses to a best price request from the local dealers (1 out of 5 did not respond), Chose the closest match to what I wanted and went down and negotiated down from the quote in person. The result? 18500 with all the accessories, close enough to the Edmunds.com invoice price that I'm happy.Larry

[BanditWS6]

Great idea, Larry -- and congrats on getting a great deal. I'm actually of the same mindset as you in regards to the GM BuyPower.com search -- I've been doing that all afternoon. And, like you, I may be in luck! I searched dealers within 200 miles of here (anywhere I was willing to drive my clunky old trade-in vehicle to) and got two good offers so far. One dealer is offering to sell me a nicely-equipped Vibe at factory invoice. I sent a follow-up message and haven't heard back yet. Another offered me $18,406 for a Shadow base Vibe, automatic, power, moon roof, and monotone paint. My only concern now is that the offer is merely "trade bait" and they don't really have that particular car at all, just an optimistic guess that they'll be able to find one around here. I'm trying to chase them on this point.At least things are starting to look up again!

[ironchef]

The reality is that these things are not flying off the lots. If a dealer shows it on his buypower list that usually is a good indication it is there. The five dealers I checked out in person here in the SF Bay area were all accurately represented. There's an option to "hold this vehicle" on the website, I don't know if that wouldn't be tipping your hand too much that early in the game. Don't trade, sell then buy. At least keep the trade in out of the deal until you settle the price part. The dealers are pretty eager to move these, after all they have to pay for all the Azdrecks they have on the lot somehow. Everyone of them I talked to whined about how little profit there was built into a Vibe MSRP, to which I responded there was a lot less if they didn't sell it. The actual sales figures are skewed by what seem to be production issues at the plant (witness the complaints about how long it takes to get an order filled on this board). It may be an artificial shortage trying to move in stock units, but they are out there on the lots, keep looking around.As to the one dealer mentioned above who only had one in stock, sounds like he's a little gunshy. How many Azdrecks did he have?Larry
[Modified by ironchef, 12:36 AM 6/26/2002]

[QWIKGTA]

Im not sure of the other lots in the Norfolk/Va Beach area, but the lot I got mine from had 8 Vibes, (3 GT's) when I visited them yesterday. And in the last two months that I have owned mine, I have only seen one other than mine and it had out of state plates on it. I think that the "can't keep them on the lot" is a local thing. We have lots here.Rob

[Sputnik]

I called some dealers first to find who (if any) had an automatic for me to test drive. Finally found one and when I got there I noticed it had regular license plates instead of dealer plates... Did the dealer buy it so they would have a test drive car? If so, very smart. It got my business. I was also told that Toyota dealers aren't taking orders for the Matrix anymore (don't know if this is true?) and that the Toyota dealer is sending customers over to the Pontiac dealer.

[ShadowVibe]

Hey Turkster,I love the base Vibe. I have the Shadow Vibe with "moons and tunes" and "Cool Chrome Tint". I could not stomach the price of premium gas for a 4 cylinder. I traded a Nissan Quest for my Vibe and I don't miss it one second. If it is power I am looking for, I will just jump into my wife's 2002 Trailblazer. Now that is true power. Happy Motoring, maybe we should start a VibeGen club in Hampton Roads Area. What do you thingk?