New to Vibe, Hi to all

[cindi2]

Hi everyone!! I just bought a new 2004 Vibe FWD. I am new, so help me out here. I live in NW Ohio, so, how is the snow handling? Also, any major problems with this car? This is the 1st new car I have purchased, I leased 2 Toyota camry's and just traded in (for the Vibe) a 2000 Chevy Venture WB. The Toyota engine interested me in the Vibe along with the gas mileage. My kids are growing up (18 and 13) so I do not need the space as much anymore, but I do not want to feel as though I am sitting on the pavement in a car anymore. I did not find anything else out there in this price range that was comperable. I think I got a good deal, since the van had negative equity. A local dealer had a 2003 that I looked at and with my trade (pay-off) it was going to cost me $360/mo. for 5.5 years and I still had to buy an extended warenty for $1500-1800 and it had almost 40,000 miles on it. I found a dealer that could get me a NEW 2004 with full 3/36,000 warenty for $379/mo. for 6 years with my negative equity trade. What do you guys think, I hope I did not get hosed. I know it was a better deal than the 2003 but, I just thought I would say hello and ask all of you. Hope everyone had a great Thankgiving and will have an even greater X-mas and New Year!!!1 Cindi

[ToolGuy]

Welcome Cindi2!! I have no issues in the snow others put snow tires on the car. I have driven FWDs for years with no snow tires, JMO though. Things to watch for are the exhaust rotten egg smell and the too small battery issue. You can find info on both of these in the Problems & Warranty Issue section.Make sure you rotate your tires and keep them full of air too. I have the original tires on my car and they look new. I also do not drive it like a sports car.

[jmf2]

Hi Cindi!welcome to genvibe! i think you got a good deal, i'm paying $356/mo on my 05 for 6 years, with a 1k downpayment. my first vibe was $459/mo for 6 yrs because of being upside down with a kia sportage i owned.definitely get some snow tires on your vibe, we use studded ones here in north idaho. those standard goodyear tires just love to slide on the snow and ice!what color and options did you get? post a pic, we love pics here! enjoy your new car! have a very merry christmas!john

[joatmon]

Hi Cindi and welcome to genvibe! Cindi Williams? Ok, I promise no Laverne and Shirley jokes I don't know if that's a good deal or not. I'm not saying I have doubts, just that I don't know. I figure if you've commited to it then don't worry about it. There are some people here who've managed to get a much better deal than I did on my Vibe, but i was ok with the deal I got. Did you get the auto transmission or the 5 speed, and what color/options?

[nismo]

Welcome to the forums. Yes, I second the fact that we love pictures here. And I think I got a fairly decent price on mine. I picked mine up for $16000 out the door. I still wish I got the supercharger though . O well. Next time.Inder

[kostby]

Welcome to the Encyclopedia of Vibe! Just out of curiosity, how did you find out about GenVibe?I think I can safely say that most of us here LOVE our Vibes!If you're happy with the car, then the price you paid isn't ever much of an issue. Conversely, if you're NOT happy with the car, then EVERYTHING will be an issue, including the price.

[ColonelPanic]

Hi! Glad you found us! The deal you got really doesn't sound too bad to me... Being upside-down isn't much fun, but sometimes just biting the bullet and picking up a new car is what you need to do... I was in pretty bad shape with the last car, owed roughly half of what it was worth. I had to finance out to 72 months, but in the end, my payment was only $3 more than the clunker I traded in. It was well worth it to me!Welcome aboard, and hope you enjoy your stay!

[cindi2]

Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome!!! The only thing was my husband does not like the car yet. And he hates to spend the money, but the payment is the same as the other and is 4 years newer. But now we have 6 instead of 2.5 years left. Oh well I think we did the right thing and it's done now, lol. I found this site researching vibes, have been to other types of forums before. I did not have much of a choice of options with mine, it was the only new 2004 left on the lot. I really liked the new 05 grey, platinum and the blue. But I have frosty, lol.She is Fwd, with moon and tunes and XM(don't know if I'll keep that after the free 3 months though). I am considering calling the dealer and cheaking on getting a new battery in it, I saw all the controversy on the stock ones. Well off to work for me!!! Have a great day all!! P.S. I will get a pic soon, havent had time, I just got it Tuesday!!

[Triton]

Welcome to GenVibe! I haven't had any problems in the snow. I think it handles fine on the stock tires (Goodyear's, not Conti's ). But I will say that when it is time to replace them, I am going with some snow tires. You will have to be sure to make it to the big Michigan meet next summer. It's a good time and there are a lot of Vibe enthusiasts with a lot of mods.

[UWAdventurer]

Hey Cindi! New here myself, we purchased a 2005 on Oct.30. Got a good trade, 7yr-100,000mi warranty, health and life insurance, $217mo for 60 mo, extended the payments for ease.Welcome

[cindi2]

WOW!!! good for you . That's a He** of a low payment for what you got!! Are you gm employee or family?? cause I haven't even seen lease payments that low.

[joatmon]

he did say he got a "good trade", maybe that helped get the payment that low.

[Psychobroker]

Hello and welcome to both of you