GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Hi my name is Pawkar and recently bought a 2003 Pontiac Vibe AWD, I am happy with this car except the fuel consumption. The car came with 38000 miles and without manual. Could you please let me know when should I change the oil, I am using 5W-40. Is there any recommended transmission liquid for -15 F. And a curiosity question, is there a Pontiac Vibe plant in Europe.Thank you so much for your help.Pawkar

Quote, originally posted by pawkar »Hi my name is Pawkar and recently bought a 2003 Pontiac Vibe AWD, I am happy with this car except the fuel consumption. The car came with 38000 miles and without manual. Could you please let me know when should I change the oil, I am using 5W-40. Is there any recommended transmission liquid for -15 F. And a curiosity question, is there a Pontiac Vibe plant in Europe.Thank you so much for your help.PawkarLT=Lithuania? Welcome to the site! Regular oil should be changed every 3000 miles.

the mileage epa rating is so fake, they dont even test in real world situations but ur awd should get al teast like high 20's. make sure the tires are at the right pressure, air filter is clean and the spark plugs are clean too.welcome!

Hi, and welcome to genvibe!I change my oil about every 5ooo miles (8000 kms)You can download a copy of the owner's manual from one of the links in http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=1010The owners manual says to use 5W30 oil. I do not know of any low temperature transmission fluid. There are people on here who are in cold areas, I do not remember anyone talking about a winter transmission fluid. There is no Pontiac Vibe plant in Europe. All Vibes are built in California, USA. However, most of the parts on your car are identical to parts used in Toyota Matrix, so if you are having trouble finding a Pontiac source for parts, you could try Toyota, if available. Most of the parts are the same, a few are different, and of course body styling, but if you are curious if a specific part is the same between Vibe and Matrix, just ask and someone here will find out and let you know.

Welcome to the Encyclopedia of Vibe! You are one of a select few Vibe owners in Europe, I'm sure!

Welcome to GenVibe! Your tranny fluid should be good from -30F to -40F so it shouldn't present a problem for you.Enjoy your stay!

Welcome!

Welcome pawkar.

My ex girl friend was from Lithuania. She was gorgeous btw I change mine between 3000-5000 miles. They say you don't have to do it that often but it will only benifit your car to do it more often, you know what I'm sayin?

welcome aboard!

Hey Pawkar! I've noticed the colder it is the more my car consumes gas. I usually average 26 mph with mine but in the winter it can go down to about 22 mph. The manual genrally recomends 5W-30 for oil, unless you in a place where it's real hot most of the time. I change my oil every 3000 miles even though I agree I could go 5000. Theres lot of great info on this site so search your heart out and enjoy!

More on the oil change frequency.As others have said here the manual says it should be changed at 3K miles. Interestingly, last time I purchased some filters at my local dealer, the service rep said that 5k was perfectly fine. But, I have also heard and read in consumer magazines that the warrantee can be considered void if you don't follow the owners manual recommendations....Whichever you do they all say to keep receipts or GM may give you a really hard time on engine warrantee issues. Too late for me on this one, but then again I don't expect to have any engine problems before the laughably short warrantee expires anyways.

I will follow your advice and see if the fuel consumption will improve.

Thank you Joatmon, the manual gave me vital information on how to keep my Vibe in good conditions. I just have another question, is the first part on the label of the engine oil messures the viscosity of the oil, ie. 5W-30. Thanks for your warm welcome, it made me feel like at home.