GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Yeah, yeah...I know this topic has been beaten to death. However, in light of recent heated opinions in the "What if Toyota bought GM" thread, I thought we might have another go round.BTW: Please add as many poll options as you want...

It appealed to me... when I first saw one, I had no idea/didn't/still don't care it was toyota.

Same here

The first time i saw it on tv. i thought it was a dumb ugly car. specially with the matrix comercial where no one could figure out what it was. my wife got preggo, i had a small 4 door, and was also iching for anotehr new car. the vibe got my attention once i saw an ad on the paper. year end sale. drove it, liked it, good deal on it. got it.

Jan. 2003. $2,000 rebate. GM mailed me an offer to increase my GM Card earnings (which only were at about the $500 level) to $2,003 if I bought a new GM Car by Jan. 31st. Now we're lookign at $4,003 off plus dealer discount. Didn't really need a car, but with that deal I had to buy something! There is a no haggle GMC-Pontiac-Buick dealer in the area that sells at $49 over invoice. Thought about a new GMC Sonoma pick-up with AT because it would have been cheap ($9,500) and handy. Wife talked me out of that - the Vibe was the only other GM model that interested me and I liked the Toyota heritage. The Nummi built Chevy Prizm (Corolla twin) always had a good reputation. So for another $4,150 over the Sonoma I got the Vibe.

i was looking for something with better mileage but still a bit of utility to replace my truck. my family's owned quite a few very reliable toyotas over the years, and the price was right.

i was looking for a replacement to a ford windstar. im a college student so i need space to carry stuff and gas mileage. i didnt find the right mercury sable ( abs, moonroof, center shift, ls permium) so i looked into other cars. my fam gets consumer reports and they recommened this car alont with matrix but the pontiac is cheaper so my dad made me look at these, its a litle more than i wante to spend but it was everything i needed for coolege, so i got it! i wanted a american car but with toyota's rep for reliability i couldnt go wrong with this...im hoping

I was looking for a replacement for Saturn SL2 to commute to work. I wanted certain things:1. American made (or at least branded American)2. all wheel drive3. good fuel economy4. space for 2 car seats.5. reasonable cost.The Vibe seems to fit the bill to a "T". I haven't regretted the decision. I was looking at the Ford 500 AWD because I would get the Ford "A plan" through father-in-law but the mileage wasn't as good and would cost more.

I had a '92 Mitsubishi Expo (a microvan) that I absolutely loved, but the tranny finally died beyond affordable repair. That was January 2003.I saw the Matrix and Vibe at the Houston Auto Show that spring and thought either of these would be the ideal replacement. I would lose some cargo space (that Expo had over 90 cu ft.), but I didn't want a minivan.The Vibe was the perfect marriage between reliability of the Toyota drivetrain and Pontiac styling (just like the poll says). My family has owned several Toyota vehicles with good history (and my wife had just bought a RAV4, which, we really like). Also, I found that similarly equipped Vibes priced a little lower than their Toyota counterparts.I started saving and kept shopping around, also waiting for the first year to roll off the line and get the bugs worked out.Spring of 2004...perfect timing...Just as I have a decent down payment, a local dealer offers $7000 off the MSRP on Vibes in the lot. I test drive two and end up the with my Abyss Vibe. A year and a half later, it's become my favorite car. I'd get another without a blink.

I was driving an old ('86) Ford Bronco II around, and it was in dire need of major work or total replacement. My wife and I were finally both out of school and working, so it seemed like the perfect time for a car. We needed 4 doors, and cargo room and had a GM card... made perfect sense. My friend had a Matrix, loved it, so that was another plus.

I had an Accord Coupe before this, which had a good bunch of room for my tools, or mountain bikes, and I could even fit my Marshall amp and a couple of guitars in there, although it was kind of squishy.The first ads for the vibe were kind of goofy, but once I saw one in the flesh, and really checked it out, I thought it was perfect.The better parts of GM and Toyota stuck together, some nifty features, like the 110vac outlet (standard on the Vibe, optional on Matrix, BTW), the fold flat front pass seat, a usable hatch and rear area (especially with the seats folded down), and pleasant styling, bordering a little on bland, but at least non-offensive.Decent fuel consumption and a reasonable interior doesn't hurt either.Another 150 hp WITHOUT having to go to premium fuel, and it would be perfect.

First i wanted to buy a corolla or civic,but it was to small to me for driving ,but when i discover the Vibe,he have good place for me,plus toyota engin,plus the look,

We were looking at a bunch of small suvs/5 door hatchbacks. we have a big dog so we wanted enough space for him to ride in the back if we have 4 people in the car. we also had a very strict limit on the $ we could spend.in the end we narrowed it down to the matrix or vibe. i liked the styling of the vibe better than the trix, so we went with that. i doubt we would have bought a pontiac if it wasn't essentially a toyota.

I've always been a 'yota head and pontiac would be the only GM vehicle I would ever be seen in. so, it was a perfect fit.

I have loved hot hatchbacks since the '80's (Toyota Corolla FX16 GT-S, Corolla GT-S {AE86}, Suzuki Swift Gti, Volkswagen GTI)

I've always loved sporty wagons. I had an '86 Escort GT and my mom had an '85 escort wagon. I thought it would be cool to combine them for something a little different. but that was many vehicles ago.

It just looked cool from the moment I first saw one back in 2002. My room mate wanted to demo one (as he is a sales person) but ended up getting something else instead. I still really don't consider it a wagon per say... more of a sporty 4 door hatch. My buying one really had nothing to do with being toyota. Actually I found that out after I bought it that it was a Toyota lol.... Oh well. I had wanted a new car at the time, didn't want a sunfire or cavalier. Vibe was the next thing in the lines of affordable for me and since I worked for GM at the time, was not prepared to buy anything else.Now that I work for Subaru... my next car... you guessed it... probably be a Subaru...

I had a (gasp) minivan with 250K miles on it, and wanted to get something with better gas mileage. I looked at a lot of cars, went to various dealers to see what they had. The stuff Ford had that got decent gas mileage had no headroom, finding one big enough inside meant accepting lower mpg than I wanted. Same at the Dodge/Chrysler deaaler. no headroom except in guzzlers. At a GM/Chevy/Buick/Pontiac dealership, starting out with the smallest/best mpg, and by the time I found one I was comfortable in I was sitting in some Buick land yacht. Walking out of there I saw a Vibe, saw the sticker, sat inside and thought "this will do nicely" Did some research, found out it was the same as a Matrix. Went to talk to the Toyota dealer to compare price and those stuck up sales people acted like if I was really nice to them they might condescend to let someone like me buy a sacred Toyota. Got a better price on the Vibe, and it is a US brand, which is important to me. Even if a lot of the parts inside are Toyota and those profits go to Japan, more stays in the US buying a Vibe instead of a Matrix. I have only had my car into GM service once, and they treated me just fine.No regrets, great car. The fact that there is a Toyota powertrain in it is supposed to be good, . I like the car, and part of it is the powertrain, so I guess it is good. We'll see how the reliability thing turns out after a few hundred thousand miles

When I saw the concept version of the Vibe it was love at first sight. I told myself I would own one if/when they came out. Haven't regretted my decision once.

well, I actually went down .. way down in mileage. I had a diesel VW Golf which got 50mpg. why ? there are some extra issues with owning a diesel, like the diesel clogging the intake with soot. That and the lack of VW dealers.the reason for the Vibe, good gas mileage, Toyota reliability and the GM dealership coverage. It is also fun to drive and has lots of room.

I wasn't even interested in the Vibe until I found out it was a Toyota. I'd seen them around but didn't give them a second look. I bought mine because of the Toyota reliability and Pontiac depreciation.

Didn't really have a choice, my old '95 dodge intrepid was falling apart and my parental unit offered to help me get either the vibe or honda civic. They both had the same MPG so I thought I'd get the vibe for the extra space. I could also get more options on the vibe than on a civic because of the GM employee discount.

Quote, originally posted by Mavrik »...since I worked for GM at the time, was not prepared to buy anything else.Now that I work for Subaru... my next car... you guessed it... probably be a Subaru...God forbid you should ever end up working for Kia...

Quote, originally posted by ZubenElGenubi »God forbid you should ever end up working for Kia... Oh god now... I actually DO have taste when it comes to cars lol.

actually, i like the new kia sportages. if i ever want a small used SUV (no way i'd buy one new) that i could drive and trash for cheap, that'd be on my list.

i bought my vibe to replace my 01 Tundra. i needed better gas mileage and less on insurance and payments. i was looking for the financial side of them and wanted another toyota. our good friend works at GM and told me the vibe was a Toyota and since i really didn't care for the matrix, the corolla wasn't powerful enough, and the celica was only 2 door (i wanted 4 door for easy hauling people and things for work), the vibe was perfect for me at the time. and yes, i do view it as a wagon. it looks like a wagon to me.... but i don't care, cause it was a cool and sporty wagon!

Bought mine for my wife so that she could have a car that was easy on gas and we coud use it as the family car. We had been using my GTO as the family car. Now instead of 18mpg everywhere we get 30mpg in the Vibe. And the miles arent piling up on my car anymore.

I thought this car would be "reliable" so I guess the alleged "quality" was something that factored into the decision. Oops.I'll have better luck next time, by the end of the year if all goes well.

I had enough with the US designed and built GM beast I was driving. The design was good but the "execution"(assy. of parts) was poor. Starting @ 50k miles the beast made me mad every time I had to fix something that should have never broken. Now at 120k rust was taking over. I had to get something. The Vibe was it for the mileage, space and Toyota running gear. My bro and I have had no probs with previous toyotas all seeing 150k+. My only word of wisdom: Just don't buy a GM with a V-6 or V-8 larger than 3.5 litre.

Quote, originally posted by eilros »I wasn't even interested in the Vibe until I found out it was a Toyota. I'd seen them around but didn't give them a second look. I bought mine because of the Toyota reliability and Pontiac depreciation.Did you mean to say "because of the Toyota reliability and in spite of the Pontiac depreciation?". Or perhasp you bought it used and got the benefit of the Pontiac depreciation.

Quote, originally posted by jake75 »Or perhasp you bought it used and got the benefit of the Pontiac depreciation.That's the way I took it... That certainly is a good benefit**unless you're trying to trade!

My car died and I was borrowing my sisters extra car. A friend suggested the Vibe as a good used car buy. But I saw the '05 grill compared to the used '03 on the lot and decided I would try for a new one. I also liked the Toyota heritage, gas milage was a bonous and it had room of a wagon.

When I decided I had enough of paying $$$ at the gas station, here is what I searched for.....1. gas mileage2. price3. reliability3. styling & utilitySince I had driven a truck, I was looking at the mini-suv groups - mileage was there, but price wasn't - so I began the search and the Vibe came up, after doing the research - most all consumer comments were great, mileage was there, styling & utility were there - had 2x Pontiac's before, always loved thier styling, the toyota motor gave me the reliability I was seeking (or so I hope) and GM discounts with some flirting with salesman, price was on target. Test drove on a Thursday, made the deal on Friday, picked up on Monday - best decision I made in awhile!!!!

I got my Vibe (which originally I didn't like), because my Cavalier lease was up. I wanted a small GM car that wasn't a Sunfire or another Cavalier. Hmm... that didn't leave much left from the selection. So I went to the Toronto Auto Show to see the Vibe in person and decided it would be perfect! I had to order because no one had Vibes on their lot yet. It would have taken 4 plus months to get the car I wanted (originally Salsa!), but when I was ordering my car, another customer cancelled his order for the exact same car I was ordering, except in Satellite. So I jumped on it, and my car was in 1 month later!

I was knocked off my feet the first time I saw a photo of the "vibe" prototype.... I told my wife, when they come out we're getting one....toyota underneath and the anti- me too look, is what attacted me the most...Plus I'm a sucker for hatchbacks/wagons.....

Toyota reliability, huge cargo space, great gas mileage - that sums it up for me. Purchased the Vibe yesterday and already put on 250 miles. I still have 1/2 tank. WOW!

When I first saw one, I was like "it's too small-I'd be claustrophobic"UNTIL I drove my Mom's new Vibe. I felt very comfortable in it and had to get one too. It doesn't feel like a compact car at all. And I was navigating a Firebird...what seemed like 4 feet in front and another 4 in back! Fun and functional. Perfect for family, pets, luggage,...the perfect car for anyone!

I was looking for something more gas economical (former vehicle was a Ford Escape).I really like hatchbacks and it was sporty, so I definitely loved the look of it. I test drove it and loved it, and knew this was the one. Of course the employee pricing was a plus.

I saw commercials for the Toyota Matrix and thought it looked horrible. I saw the Pontiac Vibe on the road and it was love at first sight. So a few months after my Honda Accord was totaled I got one!I liked having a toyota engine, the power package options, it being a wagon, and the great gas mileage.

because it had a toyota engine, price was good and had tons of room for my college life style of moving all the time! Has been working out great...except i spend a lot of money on my car to mod it......

i was looking for something that could function as a family car but not LOOK like a family car. i may be older than dirt now at 31 but man i am never ever gonna buy a minivan!! of course, the gas mileage and toyota guts with the much cooler gm body helped. i don't know why gm is so damn scared of selling this car. suck up the ego and put them back in production. maybe it'll stop the cashflow bleeding.

ummmm you guys dont have one for none of the above whats up with that????? hahah well it was a hand me down slash graduation gift pretty sweet either way lol

I bought mine to replace my 96 Sunfire GT... I needed something decent, reliable and affordable to build credit with and the Vibe fit in perfect into that. Plus its sporty enough, plenty of room and great fun to autocross.

I've wanted one since the prototypes were shown. I need it to carry my tuba and golf clubs around at the same time. Oh yeah, and the fact that I'm a cheap ******* that doesn't want a car that gets less than 30 mpg on the highway has something to do with it as well.

You need another option on this poll: I got a Matrix instead. I would fall into that category...although I test drove--and liked the Vibe, too.

VVTL-i, price and looks.

The car i bought for college was almost at 200k (2000 Plymouth Neon LX) i got it 4 years ago with 36k ( too many long trips) was searching for a new car in my price range was looking a an 06 Eclipse, was a nice drive be hardly any trunk space and you couldn't change out the stereo with out really messing up the electronics, the sales guy asked what i was looking for i didn't have a preferred choice in mind i told the guy what i was looking for manual tras, good trunk space and something with some power under 20k2 days later the salesman call said he found a 05 vibe 06 in the lot said that i should come by and see, drive it liked the feel, good power "6 Speed", and fully load a plus.... had 289mils on it got it for good price, have lots of fun with it

May 2006,After doing the 120,000 Mile Maintenance on my 2000 Chevy S-10, I pull the tranny dipstick to notice that there ar specks of gray fibers on the dipstick. I take it to my mechanic that works on the major issues of my truck, and come to find out that the clutch that changes gears in the tranny is deteriorating and its only a matter of time, the repair bill was going to cost over $2000 and this truck had the 2.2 liter 4-cylinder engine in it, plus it was standard cab. So I looked at a 2005 left over Blazer and a Torrent, and the HHR. However none of them appealed to me and Consumer reports gave them all low ratings. I didn't know that Pontiac still carried this car at that time. When I researched it, the MPG was in a nice spot, toyota was still making the drivetrain to it, and it was descently priced. So i called my friend in St. Clair Shores, MI and in the Beginning of August, i got a good deal on one.