GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

We had our worst traffic day ever yesterday-when the Army tried (midday) to move an oversized piece of equipment onto the freeway...taking out large sections of pedestrian overpass with it, causing the freeway to be closed in both directions. I worked from 9am-9pm. Then sat in traffic until 2am...with my special needs dog in the car. I thought about staying at work overnight; in the 3rd-4th hour while sitting by the airport, I seriously considered checking into a hotel, because I had to be back at work at 9am, and I wasn't sure if another 4 hours of traffic awaited me on the other side of the airport! I saw abandoned cars all over the place-either out of gas or some other reason, but I decided to get more gas, take back roads and just tough it out. After 5 hours in traffic, the temp gauge did not move at all!

Wowsers! That sucks! But glad it didn't overheat though. You've so gotta tell us your mileage off this tank. lol!The longest I've been in traffic was from something like 1 AM-5 AM, middle of winter, at a dead stop. I had just merged onto an interstate and bam, brake lights everywhere! No turning back, no U-turns as the highway was dug out of a fricken hillside so the median was big rocks. The next exit was less than a mile away but the road was closed.Later on, I learned from the radio that there was a guy on the interstate that was walking alongside the road and was struck by a semi. Yikes. It was horrible. Being able to move the car again was a relief. I'm just glad I didn't have to go to the bathroom while I was stuck!

2.5 hours to get home from work due to the GD snow! Oh and about 3 for the Nationwide black out in 2004 I believe!

I think the longest was about 2 hours on a two lane road. Where the two lane road met the main highway I was trying to get on, there was a huge accident and traffic backed up for miles. I had a 2004 Chevy Malibu (new style) at the time. After about 1/2 hour the temp guage started creeping up. It came close to the red zone and would have gone in had I not turned on the heat. And it was only about 90 degrees outside.

damn, you faired much better than some! the ordeal lasted 14 hours!http://www.local6.com/news/9803862/detail.html

The longest I think I've waited is probably about 2 hours as a construction crew hit a natural gas line.My brother had a much longer wait last year during Rita. He lives in Houston and it took him 22 hours to get to Austin. Normally a 3 hour drive. After 7 hours he was only 5 miles from his house. If he could've of turned around he would of, but they had everything going out of the town and no way to come back in.

Quote »After about 1/2 hour the temp guage started creeping up. It came close to the red zone and would have gone in had I not turned on the heatYour Malibu's temperature gauge was being honest. The Vibe's gauge hits normal operating temperature and stays there. The temperature is still going up and down, but you never know it unless you've got a ScanGauge or a good temperature gauge installed. There's a range of temperatures where the gauge will not move. If it gets hot enough, it will start moving again.I always thought something was wrong with my prior GM cars since the gauge always crept up when I was stuck in traffic, then I got in the Vibe and it never moved... But the GM gauge was reporting it correctly, the Vibes is not - probably for psychological reasons so people won't freak out if the gauge moves higher. We had some discussion about this over in the scangauge thread.

Quote, originally posted by ColonelPanic »Your Malibu's temperature gauge was being honest. The Vibe's gauge hits normal operating temperature and stays there. The temperature is still going up and down, but you never know it unless you've got a ScanGauge or a good temperature gauge installed. There's a range of temperatures where the gauge will not move. If it gets hot enough, it will start moving again.I always thought something was wrong with my prior GM cars since the gauge always crept up when I was stuck in traffic, then I got in the Vibe and it never moved... But the GM gauge was reporting it correctly, the Vibes is not - probably for psychological reasons so people won't freak out if the gauge moves higher. We had some discussion about this over in the scangauge thread. I don't have a problem with it moving up, I have a problem with the idiots at the dealership that think it is normal to move 3/4s of the way between normal and red and idle extremely roughly. It did this at least once a week after getting off the highway. It was like it got used to the wind at 75 MPH cooling it and then forgot to kick in. And the 2003 lemon Malibu I had prior to that came to within a hair of red. The dealership said that was normal too. I was for giving them a second chance on a first model year car. Never again...For clarification: I had a 2003 Malibu that was bought back by GM as a lemon @ 16k miles. I had 2004 Malibu Maxx LT (almost the highest you could go) that had engine and transmission problems as well as almost monthly interior problems (parts snapping off, breaking, etc.) That thing was a lemon even though they didn't buy it back. I guess you could say I was the ColonelPanic of the Malibus. I now have 5k on my Vibe and it runs as good as the day I drove it off the lot. I can't say that about either Malibu.It seems GM still hasn't fixed the unstable idle in the 3.5L V6. I rode around in a 2006 Malibu with a co-worker and at every light, it would shudder a little bit every few seconds.

My longest was 5 hours during the big black-out, the year was actually '03 not '04. 3 hours to get to the company yard with the truck and 2 more to get home.

I had a '98 Malibu, I give you for getting the '03 bought back. I tried - crashed and burned miserably. HawaiiPontiacLover, your ordeal way over there made it to the news last night! Crazy stuff.

That's one crazy back-up. I'll bet work was tough that next morning.I once sat at a stoplight for 35 minutes while waiting for a Government escort to pass through. You know, one of those thing with like 200 motorcycle cops, and big black suburbans.I originally had the opportunity to run the yellow before the intersection got blocked, but decided to play it safe. and ended up sitting there for a century when the cops blocked it off. lol

I would've been sitting in traffic even longer than I did if I went on the freeway. The next morning I didn't take the freeway because I knew everyone would be staring at it, so I took an alternate route.I had to wait for one of those motorcades too-freeway was completely shut down for that guy that was president of the Philippines for a short time...I forget his name now.

5 hours last year trying to get out of town to get to San Antonio because of Hurricane Rita that ended not even hitting Houston.A typical 3 1/2 hour drive took 8 1/2 hours. (And that was considered lucky compared to others) Luckily I had a full tank of gas, otherwise, I would have been stranded on the side of the road like many people I saw.

July 4th this year I left work in VA, and was heading down to NC to meet my Girl. It took my over 3 hours to travel about 20 miles.... the whole trip took me about 9 hours....