GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I have a 2000 Pontiac Montana minivan with 101,000 km. I bought it new. In September/04 I took it to the dealership because I noticed, on occasion, that the auto transmission would have harsh, very noticeable shifts and one could hear a whine from the engine/transmission during acceleration.They diagnosed it as a problem with a sticking pressure control solenoid with the sticking due to sediment build up (I am looking at my September/04 invoice). So almost $700 Canadian later it was fixed.It is now March/05 just over 6 months later and 12,000 km more and the same problem has reappeared . I am not upset at this point since there is a year warranty on the part and repairs. So today I take it in. Get a call from the service manager later in the day. Forget the warranty for this one The solenoid is not defective but the codes indicate that it was indeed sticking open. But this time, unlike last time he says, the transmission fluid in the pan shows metal filings...oh crap, and itis this that causes the solenoid to stick. So he recommends draining and completely changing the transmission fluid rather than taking thetransmission apart at this point.So now I have this hanging over me.What are the chances that there is no more metal; that there isn't a more serious problem with this automatic transmission? I am so frustrated with the unreliability of this vehicle.And it was just a couple of weeks ago we put in an order for a 5 speed Vibe to replace our *13* year old car....that's expected. But there is no money to do much with this 5 year old van. Cross you fingers for us.Just out of curiosity, how many of you have driven a Vibe with 5 people...that is 4 plus the driver? We have 3 kids ages 9 13 and 14. I guess the 9 year old goes in the middle We may have to resort to using this Vibe as our #1 car and babying the Montana van

I've had 5 adult males in mine. The three in back were a little snug.Three kids in the back should be no problem.

I have had 5 full size adults in the Vibe comfortably. You should have no problem. But the adults weren't pulling each others hair and asking "are we there yet?? I have to pee" so I can't weigh in on that aspect.

i've had 4 drunk adult passengers that acted like kids in mine, and they weren't complainin about space but yeah space shouldn't be a problem, the vibe has a ton of space in the back seat. it suprised me when i got it that there was so much room in such a "small" car

I have had 5 in my Vibe many times. I have had a 10 year old in the middle, with car seats on each side. Yes, she did complain, but that was life. I also drove 4 14yr olds in the Vibe. They did not fit well at all. It was about 15 minutes for the ride, and they had to deal with it, or walk the 10 miles.So, it can be done, but I would not go very far! It works great for 4 people! As a side note, I will be using my Vibe to haul the kids as my intake gasket is leaking on my Venture (160k miles), and the big SUV that is dreaded by many on this site only gets 12 mpg on a good day.

Its real fun with 5 if you're dropped...

I was waiting for that picture to show up in here... With stock height, though, it shouldn't be a problem...heh. One of the things people like best about my Vibe is how roomy it is. I've had 5 people, including myself, in mine before and there weren't any issues.

i also have had 5. the three in the backseat were my daughter(in a car seat) and two friends which are a BIG couple about 250-300 each they were a lil tight but they delt u should be fine with what u got