GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

My name's Matt and I bought a used 2004 vibe awd this past summer from a sketchy kid also named Matt. I define what I mean by sketchy in a minute, but I know what you're really here for is this:2004 VibeShadowsunroofHID lightscold air intakeviper alarm system with remote startjensen in dash dvd with ipod interface10.5" rear monitorkicker speakers in all the doorscustom blue dash trimlots of blue stuff under the hoodNow back to the sketchiness. By "a sketchy kid" I mean baggy pants, hat turned backwards, wearing a little too much jewelry, having an answer for everything that was just too smooth, filling every pause in the conversation with something just to be talking, using big words like he'd heard someone else use them and was trying to work them into the conversation like he knew what they meant. Adding to the sketchiness were the facts that he worked as a salesman (for a cell phone company), we met in the back of a parking lot, and he showed up with a big brother (both in age and size) and another large fellow who didn't introduce himself and drove a large black suv.In any event, the price was good since he had moved out of state to go to college and didn't want to have to reregister and needed the money for school yada yada yada. He had already removed:the lambo doorsthe blue lights under the hood that flashed with the alarm systemthe 19" rimssome amps and subs (he apparently won some local sound competitions with the car)the driver's side sun visor (he'd installed a custom one and said he'd find the original for me, but never did)hydraulic lifts for the rear window (I think they may have rattled with the sound system)So far (about 7 months in) the car is doing great with some minor annoyances, all of which are Matt's fault (not me, the other Matt). It turns out the other Matt likes to work on his car himself. This would not be a problem except that he doesn't know how to work on his car himself. I'm totally inferring this from his handiwork, but I suspect he'll soon drop out of that community college or get kicked out for trying to cheat by photocopying someone else's homework. I would guess he's the kind of guy that gets locked inside his car or swerves off the road to turn off his turn signal, if you know what I mean. After a closer examination of the window tint (patched together in places with holes covered by other stickers), I removed it (some of it was illegal in VT anyway). I also removed the reflective sticker he had put across the back window that covered up the center brake light (which was out and needed to be replaced). Living in VT, heat isn't an issue, and I like the improved visibility of not having the windows tinted anyway. After I did that, I noticed that the headliner was sagging where he had mounted the flip down monitor for the dvd player. Apparently Matt (the other Matt) didn't see any reason to mount a 10.5" screen to anything more substantial than the flimsy cardboard headliner. So I bolted it to the frame underneath the headliner.The aftermarket horn stopped working a while back and I asked the dealership to look at it while I was having other work done (actually replacing Matt's poor attempt at homemade battery cables). The dealership ripped out the aftermarket horn and told me there wasn't a horn there (see here for details). So I picked up a horn at the local autostore and replaced it myself. Most recently, I hit a bump in the road and the radio stopped working. After a rather grumpy ride to and from work without my music, I pulled out the head unit to discover that the other Matt has a serious fetish for electrical tape and an (apparently) inherent dislike of wire connectors. Some of the tape had come off of one of the leads and blown the radio fuse. I have now gone through a couple packs of connectors to correct the nightmare that is the other Matt's electrical work. The next other Matt problems that I foresee trying to fix are:1. He apparently installed the HID headlights himself and high beams don't work. In fact, when you switch your high beams on, the lights turn off. All of them.2. The backlights behind the heating system controls & shifter don't work. 3. There is that "light bulb out" light that has been on since I bought the car. I suspect it might have something to do with either or both of the above problems or with the fact that the other Matt removed the overhead dome light to install the rear monitor. 4. This also might be related to the above: the cigarette lighter in the center console doesn't work. He had hard wired a 4 plug cigarette lighter directly to the wiring behind the in dash lighter plug, but I pulled that out when I redid the stereo wiring. It looks like he took an off the shelf splitter, cut the plug off it, and connected some household speaker wiring to it and ran that to the power leads for the original lighter (again, all connected with lots of electrical tape).5. I've started to hear some crackling from the rear driver speaker and I suspect I might find some interesting wiring back there as well. It seems to quit as the car warms up though. I'm crossing my fingers and praying that the other Matt had someone else install the viper alarm system. I don't want to have to sort that one out. Personally, I don't like my odds on that one, considering his cost-cutting track record.On a more positive note, there are fewer and fewer things that are screwed up on the car and I'm contemplating getting one of little cameras that you put on the rear door for when you're backing up. I do have an extra video in port .... I've also considered a gps for that port, but that's more money and I have too many expensive hobbies as it is.

well the good news is so far its mechanically sound. now those other annoyances should be weekend car repairs to patch them. good luck and post pics of the bad jobs he did if you get a chance.

Quote, originally posted by northvibe »well the good news is so far its mechanically sound. now those other annoyances should be weekend car repairs to patch them. good luck and post pics of the bad jobs he did if you get a chance.Yeah, the only other problem was that there was a leak in the exhaust that he was actually honest about (it was pretty obvious from the sound) and he lowered the price a bit because he hadn't fixed it. I didn't take pictures of the poor wiring, because I was trying to get it done before I lost daylight (don't have a garage and it gets a bit nippy at night). I will post pics of the car soon and any other adventures I have with it.

welcome!

welcome to the forums

Welcome to the fam

Welcome to our Vibedom!!we seem to be having a population boom latley

Welcome, reading your post brought back memories of a hacked up car I bought for cheap several years back. It wasn't nearly as bad as the mess you're dealing with but it was worth the effort to fix it. It was a 1984 chevy citation with an aftermarket stereo that seemed to be running on 3 cylinders. The kid I bought it from thought the engine was shot and sold it to me for $75.00. He had somehow detached the main wire harness from the clip that held it to the fender well. It had moved against a pulley and burned through about 20 different wires. I spent an entire day soldering each one back together and insulating with heat shrink. The car ran beautifully for almost 2 years when the tranny went bad. I still think it's the best deal I ever got on a car. Once you get all the wiring straight, you'll have a great, reliable car for a long time.

Welcome starmatt! We need pics of your new Vibe as soon as possible!

welcome to the family. sorry about your experience, but like North said, it sounds like you'll have most of the problems fixed over some weekends.about the HID problem: i don't have em in my vibe, but from what i've read and learned, unless he got the bi-xenon bulbs, you won't have high beams. anybody, feel free to correct me if i'm wrong (like you guys care if i give permission haha )i'm assuming when you say that you don't have any lights, you're talking about your fog lights going out, too. when you hit the high beams, the fog lights turn off by default with ANY vibe from 03-08. there's REALLY easy mod to do that will take care of that problem. i'm actually heading out to do the mod to mine in a couple minutes. here's a link to our how-to list. #14 is the fog light one: http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=25918

Welcome aboard! Good luck getting your Vibe all patched up.

Welcome! Hope to see pics soon...and if you got pics of it when it had the lambo doors, that sounds very interesting...LOL

Quote, originally posted by MRCN RCE »welcome to the family. sorry about your experience, but like North said, it sounds like you'll have most of the problems fixed over some weekends.Thanks to all who said welcome. For all the fist shaking at the other Matt (kinda like that bitter old man yelling "Hey you kids get offa my lawn!"), I'm having fun figuring out the car.Quote, originally posted by MRCN RCE »about the HID problem: i don't have em in my vibe, but from what i've read and learned, unless he got the bi-xenon bulbs, you won't have high beams. i'm assuming when you say that you don't have any lights, you're talking about your fog lights going out, too. when you hit the high beams, the fog lights turn off by default with ANY vibe from 03-08. I wondered if that was the case. I noticed that no HID headlight companies mention that on their websites ...One of these days I may try to get a hold some stock headlights or a bi-xenon system because I would prefer to have high beams. All in all, it's not a big deal to me, just a minor annoyance. Quote, originally posted by northvibe »post pics of the bad jobs he did if you get a chance.I was able take some pics of the extra cigarette lighter he added. This is by far his best wiring job (there's actually a connector, though only on one of the wires), but you can see the big difference in size of the two wires spliced together. I'm glad I didn't ever use this plug: Here's a closeup of the wiring: Here's the car (pardon the dirtiness, it's a little cold to wash the car or the engine). Grill: Engine: Obligatory aggressive shot from low front driver's side: The video system: The speaker:

Welcome to GV; you'll find it very helpful and friendly. Hope you find and fix all the jerry-rigged mods. FYI the proper color name for the 04 is Shadow. The gray changed to Moonstone in 05 and later, and is a slightly different color. It should be a dependable and fun ride. Enjoy!

damn that kid needs to be slapped for that kind of wiring job . you'll be like a walking vibe wiring diagram after you finish cleaning up his mess i see he got the headlight overlays, too. i saw those on ebay before, and wondered if they worked like they were supposed to.the vibe looks great though. be ready with some clay n wax when the spring hits. with the rep he has so far, there's no telling what he used to wash the paint with

Quote, originally posted by MRCN RCE »damn that kid needs to be slapped for that kind of wiring job . you'll be like a walking vibe wiring diagram after you finish cleaning up his mess Speaking of wiring diagrams, anyone care to point me in the direction of figuring out where he screwed up the second cigarette lighter plug? Apparently there's a relay above the glove box, but other than that it'd be nice to know. One of these weekends I'll have a look under the center console to see if he just unplugged it. Quote, originally posted by MRCN RCE »i see he got the headlight overlays, too. i saw those on ebay before, and wondered if they worked like they were supposed to.I didn't look too closely at them, but they seem to be fine. Not sure how they're attached since I haven't given them more than a passing glance.Quote, originally posted by MRCN RCE »the vibe looks great though. be ready with some clay n wax when the spring hits. with the rep he has so far, there's no telling what he used to wash the paint with I'm hoping his incompetency is confined to the electrical realm. My impression was that he kept it pretty clean on the outside. He struck me as the kind of guy that was trying a little too hard to look good (which isn't a bad thing as far as the car exterior is concerned). As far as the mechanical goes, he seemed to have taken decent care of it.

given the way the speaker picture looks, it appears he just cut out a hole in the factory door cover where the speaker sits behind to mount the cover for it?

Welcome to the family!

welcome! you should come to the meet were having around boston the end of this month.....i use to go up to burlington all the time

Quote, originally posted by hskater26 »welcome! you should come to the meet were having around boston the end of this month.....i use to go up to burlington all the timeand then come to the meet in July down in Gatlinburg.

Quote, originally posted by joholste »and then come to the meet in July down in Gatlinburg.yes do it!

Quote, originally posted by hskater26 »welcome! you should come to the meet were having around boston the end of this month.....i use to go up to burlington all the timeQuote, originally posted by joholste »and then come to the meet in July down in Gatlinburg.I think I will probably have to pass on those invitations. I have a nice long commute (~50 mi each way) and enjoy not having to drive so far on the weekends. Maybe if you have one a little closer (or a lot closer in the case of gatlinburg) I could pull myself away from my lovely wife, but don't count on it ...

Hey welcome to the club!I'm from Wells, VT so just over the mountains and North of you kinda sorta.I'm pretty sure i've seen this car on Cardomain http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2357553Sounds like some problems to sort out but they should all be easier fixed once the snows gone. I've heard bad things about Springfield , but if you need good service and your over the Rutland way I can recommend a dealer Anyway good luck with the vibe and maybe we'll see ya around.

this one worries me:"i have twin intakes and a computer chip that helps out alot. the whole engin is painted to.""My first flip out screen with another cd player under it."i just have to ask, "why"?? man i think ALL OF US are glad that you rescued the vibe from that evil, evil owner

Quote, originally posted by kurgurvibe »I'm pretty sure i've seen this car on Cardomain http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2357553That's the one. So if you were asking for pics with the lambo doors, there you go. It's interesting to see how the positioning of things under the hood have changed. I'm glad I don't have to get around/clean those dual CAIs though. Quote »i just put my lambo doors on and it only took 30 hours to weld and place both hinges.I think this one worries me more. You can do a whole lot of damage with 30 hours of welding, especially if you have a history of crappy work. Quote »I dont roll anything smaller then 20z At least the kid has standards, even if he is somewhat lacking standard spelling/grammar ... Quote »Everyone asks y a vibe and i tell them no one elts does it. the whole engin is painted. I redid the int matalic blue and it looks sick now with type R speakers in the doors. it was insainly loud. in a cupple of weeks i am going to get tvs in the head reast and hater vistion. i am going to get suicid doors. and a flip flop trunk and a flip flop hood. its going to look sick.I think maybe we should take up a collection to buy the kid an MLA handbook and a dictionary. That's after we send him a soldering iron, wire connectors, and a crimping tool and tell him exactly what to do with those. And I guess he can't blame his poor workmanship on a lack of money from looking at that sound system. It's amazing the car hasn't spontaneously combusted yet.

Welcome and WOW... Hacks a plenty.. If you can, start in the dash and just work your way back slowly, fixing things as you go.. electrical problem are not to be taken lightly in a car, it's the #1 cause of fires.. I used to fix those problems all the time and can tell you it's not an easy task... you can however search out the repair manual for the car, which will have the wiring diagrams in it, to allow you to identify each circut at least... sounds like you have some aptitude in the area of repair anyway.. Shady yes, HACK definitly..

Quote, originally posted by kurgurvibe »I'm pretty sure i've seen this car on Cardomain http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2357553spinners lol

Quote, originally posted by starmatt »4. This also might be related to the above: the cigarette lighter in the center console doesn't work. He had hard wired a 4 plug cigarette lighter directly to the wiring behind the in dash lighter plug, but I pulled that out when I redid the stereo wiring. It looks like he took an off the shelf splitter, cut the plug off it, and connected some household speaker wiring to it and ran that to the power leads for the original lighter (again, all connected with lots of electrical tape).I fixed this one last night. Broke a cheap bit driver and may have burned out an electric screwdriver trying to get out the bolts in the center console. The front ones came out fine, but the socket couldn't turn inside the box for the back ones. I ended up just prying up the front enough to see that the connector was disconnected and reached under to reconnect it. Now it works fine. Come to think of it, I should check to see if this solves the backlight problem on the shifter. I doubt it, but it's worth a shot. I'm glad this one was nothing as nefarious as the poor wiring for the radio. I also saw that the wires for one of the foglights are not connected to anything, so that's probably the source of the light bulb out light as well. We'll have to see about that when we're not having another ice storm though.

So I pulled out the HID lights and put stock ones back in since you need high beams around here to avoid close encounters of the wildlife kind (skunks, deer, moose, etc.). I'll sell those on here when I get enough posts to do so. I also replaced the aftermarket foglights with stock ones from the junk yard since I broke the glass on the front of one of them while trying to replace a bulb. I also realized that what I thought was the warning light telling me that I had a bulb out is actually the light that tells me my headlights are on (which they always are). I think it would be nice if they told you what that light meant somewhere in the manual. Now the only thing left is to figure out the backlighting to the heater controls & shifter knob.