GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Hi! I'm new to forum but not to the Vibe, just posting to introduce myself. My name is Bryce, I'm 31 and own 3 Vibes: a red 03, silver 04 and a black 04. All 3 are base model automatics. I'm from Saskatchewan, Canada and own a small taxi company in which the Vibes are employed. They work along side 4 Pontiac Montanas I also use in my business. Here's a couple pics:I have to say that I'm more than impressed with the durability of these cars. The red 03 is just shy of 200,000 hard driven KM and has been completely trouble free besides the bent door-stopper problem which I've noticed is quite common. Other than fluid maintenance and front brakes, everything is still original including the accessory belt, spark plugs, rear brakes, etc. But I plan on replacing all those shortly. I did have a problem with the weatherstripping rubbing through from the constant friction of people getting in and out, but a couple feet of black duct tape over-top the weatherstripping solved it.Naturally I don't modify these cars for performance, but I do modify them for taxi use and for durability. Some of those things include:-2 way radio: if you remove the dome light cover and the bulb and look up, there's a perfect spot to drill a 3/8" hole to mount an antenna. I thought this was pretty cool. I use the port inside the console as an easy power source for the radio.-top light: attaches nicely to the roof rack. Then I run a wire along the rack to the rain gutter underneath the rear hatch and drill a small hole so the wire can pass into the area behind the driver side tail light. I hook the wire up to the park lights so the top light comes on automatically at night. -first aid kit and fire extinguisher: fits nicely in the open spaces in the spare tire compartment, out of sight and out of the way.-auxillary transmission cooler, Amsoil ATF and Amsoil bypass filter. I have pics of those here. The dual remote bypass on the engine was removed because it didn't extend oil life enough to be economical. The bypass on the transmission has proved to be a very good investment. All my vehicles now have one along with synthetic ATF and my transmission rebuild rate has dropped to zero.-synthetic engine oil: currently using Esso XD3 0w30, Napa Gold 1396 filters, changed every 15,000km. I have used oil analysis to prove this interval is safe. -15" steel rims and Michelin Arctic Alpins for winter use.-stainless steel grill inserts: keeps bugs out in the summer and serves as a descent winter front.Sorry for the long post! You'll be seeing me around here from now on. Hopefully I can contribute to the forum and learn new things in the process.

Oops, forgot one thing. This is what I tinker with when I'm not driving or maintaining my cabs: The SHOpaz And if that's not crazy enough for you, here's some pics of what's happening to it now:pic 1pic 2pic 3So it's going to be a 12 cylinder, AWD, 700hp Mercury Topaz...lol! I like to get my groceries FAST!

Quote, originally posted by olympic »Hi! I'm from Saskatchewan, Canada Although Sask. is big province I bet you and pmh013, our esteemed. original? Saskatchewan representative, must have crossed paths! Quote, originally posted by olympic »I have to say that I'm more than impressed with the durability of these cars. The red 03 is just shy of 200,000 hard driven KM.Hey guys this must be close to a record for mileage by a member of Genvibe?

I think it's sitting at 192k right now and accumulates about 300km/day plus a ton of idling time. For the last 2 winters it ran for 5 months straight, only shut off for servicing!I plan to put 400-500k on it before trading it in. It's got some wear and tear on the body and interior but the mechanicals are like new.The Silver 04 has around 80k and the black 04 only has 30k.

WOW! Welcome Brice. Vibes as Taxis.....interesting.

Quote, originally posted by Mr. Poopypants »WOW! Welcome Brice. Vibes as Taxis.....interesting.Make sense because of the versatility. Welcome to the boards. And I've seen your Topaz before. Not in person but once again, online.Inder

dude, that paz is amazing. what kind of ponies are you making?oh, welcome to genvibe

Welcome to genvibe! Always nice to greet a fellow Canuck! I always wondered why no one thougt of using the Vibe as a taxi and here you are!What kind of comments do you get from your clients that hop into the Vibe?

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!Most of my customers love the Vibes. They're roomy and comfortable and just different from the norm. The seniors like them because the doors are light and easy to open/close and the seats are just the right height for getting in and out. A few people comment on the rough ride and there's always the customers who are 6'5" 350lbs who compolain there's not enough room but w/e. I like them because they have been very reliable and only use about half as much fuel as my previous cars. 30-35L/day compared to 60-70L/day. The savings are enough to make the car payment and the insurance payment!The Topaz dyno's 198hp/187tq n/a and 239hp/248tq with nitrous. Best 1/4 mile et was 14.6 n/a. I bust an axle the first run out with the juice so I don't have a time for that. It's a very fun car to drive to say the least. Nothing like having someone laugh at you at a stop light and then blowing their doors off when the light turns green....lol!With the dual engines, I'm hoping for 550-600hp at the wheels w/N20 and 10 second et's.

welcome to genvibe !!!!Awesome topaz, man I didnt know you could do all that to one of those

Welcome to the Encyclopedia of Vibe!My Vibe is an oft-used 'taxi' for my 14-year old son and his friends. LOL!

Dual engines? holy crap

Just wanted to add another Welcome!Glad to hear the Vibes are not only holding up, but have exemplary maintenance records in the rough life of a taxi!

I like the grills lol. I would for sure wanna take your taxi

Quote, originally posted by Boxgrover »Hey guys this must be close to a record for milaage by a member of Genvibe?ok, this always strikes me weird, but how can you call it Mileage when it is clearly Kilometerage? I thought that the metric system doesn't use miles, so how can one say "mileage"?

Quote, originally posted by Pablo1669 »ok, this always strikes me weird, but how can you call it Mileage when it is clearly Kilometerage? I thought that the metric system doesn't use miles, so how can one say "mileage"?Hmm...because whatever distance he has travelled it can always be converted to miles?

192,000km=119,000 miles That's quite a bit for a 2 year old car, but I doubt it's the highest one around.I think "kilometrage" is actually a word, but it's just too wierd to say it out loud..lol. So most of us metric folk still say "mileage" when the need arises. Most Canadians learned both systems in school, atleast I did, so I can convert the numbers back and forth in my head.

Quote, originally posted by olympic » For the last 2 winters it ran for 5 months straight, only shut off for servicing! let me get this straight; the car runs all day and night without turning off????

Yep, when it's really cold outside we just leave them run all day and all night. If we shut them off for any length of time, it takes too long to warm the interior back up and customers don't like to pay for a ride in a cold car. The red Vibe pictured above is on duty 24/7/365, so in the winter months, it never gets shut off.

This explains the reason he doesn't need to replace starters. Wow, that's a cool taxi. Those grills look interesting - any close up shots?

Vibes as taxis . . . interesting. When I was shooting my movie for my Advanced Video Production class, it was called Cabbie, we considered USING the Vibe for the cab in it, but I traded it for my Redline before we started shooting.