GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Quote, originally posted by lowincash »in all honesty, i'm not too impressed with the mpg for the 2.4 either...i mean it's good but not great. but i'm not complainingFrom what I heard, GM listened to consumer feedback and there were complaints that the Vibe didn't have enough power. So, they made the 2.4L with an extra gear so it was quieter on the highway.I think there was a flaw in their thinking though. There were a lot of very happy Vibe owners, like me, who were fine with the power and liked the gas mileage. Now, when all us happy Vibe owners went to the dealers this year to get their second Vibe, there were no nice 1.8L Vibes with all the bells and whistles on any of the lots. Believe me, I looked. God forbid someone might actually want a car with both an economical engine AND lots of nice ammenties. If we wanted the nice options package we had to take the 2.4.Don't read me wrong though. I still absolutely love this car. I'm just annoyed with a few minor points and I'm letting them know that.

Bells and Whistles???? There are no bells and whistles on the base 1.8 liter Vibe. That was the mistake. You can order all the other stuff after the fact; its not like the only chance was the day you bought your car. NUMMI smoked us 1.8 liter-heads by not allowing us to have radio buttons on the horn, 5 speed automatic, sunglasses holder, and a leather wrapped steering wheel. Other than that, nearly every other option is available at your local dealer as an add on. No, we get to relish in the fact that we get nearly 30mpg in town (as I do) and god only knows what on the highway. I'm loving the mileage, and think the engine is just fine. There is no way I would consider 21 mpg just to get some of the benefits that the GT and AWD get.

Pretty sure GM has nothing to do with the extra gear.The 2.4L uses a 5 speed auto because that's what it's mated to in the Toyota Camry. Which is also the reason the 2.4L AWD uses a 4 speed auto since it takes the whole Engine/DriveTrain/Transmission block from the Rav4.

Quote, originally posted by maxx4me »Bells and Whistles???? There are no bells and whistles on the base 1.8 liter Vibe. That was the mistake. You can order all the other stuff after the fact; its not like the only chance was the day you bought your car. NUMMI smoked us 1.8 liter-heads by not allowing us to have radio buttons on the horn, 5 speed automatic, sunglasses holder, and a leather wrapped steering wheel. Other than that, nearly every other option is available at your local dealer as an add on. No, we get to relish in the fact that we get nearly 30mpg in town (as I do) and god only knows what on the highway. I'm loving the mileage, and think the engine is just fine. There is no way I would consider 21 mpg just to get some of the benefits that the GT and AWD get.Well, that's weird then because I kind of built the car I wanted on the internet with the 1.8. I basically wanted a loaded 1.8, which is what I had before with an upgrade to the Monsoon Stereo plus the new ABS and traction control. None of the 1.8's I saw on the lots had the Monsoon or a moon roof. I like the wheel controls for the stereo, but I could live without them. I'm hapy to reach over and twist knobs. I've been doing it for 20 years. It's ingrained. I think the problem is that us 1.8L owners were so happy that GM never heard from us. They're hearing from a few of us now, I guess...

well that's the old car you are talking about; I'm talking about the new reality. A much better car, but without any ability to have the creature comforts I mentioned earlier. In the end, I'll take the 09 over the 03 anyday of the week. The refinement is clearly evident. I do miss the radio controls on the steering wheel given that I'm addicted to the XM experience now. Reaching for those far-to-reach radio buttons to change stations might cost me some day.

well that's the old car you are talking about; I'm talking about the new reality. A much better car, but without any ability to have the creature comforts I mentioned earlier. In the end, I'll take the 09 over the 03 anyday of the week. The refinement is clearly evident. I do miss the radio controls on the steering wheel given that I'm addicted to the XM experience now. Reaching for those far-to-reach radio buttons to change stations might cost me some day. (Keeping my head on the road)

I don't know much about the car business, but my guess is that the decision to not include the upper amenities on the base Vibe was strictly a cost-cutting measure at the production plant, unfortunately.If I had been in the market for the 1.8L engine Vibe, I'd be right there with you guys on the complaints.

Quote, originally posted by musicmanmu »I don't know much about the car business, but my guess is that the decision to not include the upper amenities on the base Vibe was strictly a cost-cutting measure at the production plant, unfortunately.If I had been in the market for the 1.8L engine Vibe, I'd be right there with you guys on the complaints.A dealer told me that they don't order a lot of 1.8's except as "price leaders" that they can put out in the front of the lot. They specifically order a few cheap models so they can put big orange numbers on them that say "2009 only $14,999!!"

I guess it all changes from area to area.Over here 1.8L models constitute about 80% of sold 2009 Vibes.

I think they should create a model designation for a loaded luxury car with high gas mileage. They could call it the "e-LX" or something like that. The marketing would be based on the concept of: "all the luxury you want, without the cost (of fuel)"

Someone at GM/Toyota decided a couple years ago that not enough people would want high options content with the base engine. Whether their prediction was correct or incorrect, and whether or not you agree with that decision is up to you. The OEM's financial incentive is at play as well... making the engine upgrade more attractive probably steers more buyers toward the 2.4 which = >$. Who knows, with more people being MPG conscious after the recent gas price spike, they may change it for 2010.This was also discussed here:http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=35380

Quote, originally posted by ned23 »The marketing would be based on the concept of: "all the luxury you want, without the cost (of fuel)" You can get a Prius with DVD Nav, Leather, Bluetooth, Backup camera, all sorts of stuff and 48mpg. It'll set you back about $30K though.

Quote, originally posted by shemp »You can get a Prius with DVD Nav, Leather, Bluetooth, Backup camera, all sorts of stuff and 48mpg. It'll set you back about $30K though.Yes, and not only would I have paid $30,000 but I couldn't have hauled home my new front-load High-efficiency washing machine (and the appliance dolly!) or my new 42" TV. Both I brought home in my Vibe. That's the difference between American and Japanese designers. It would never even have occurred to the Japanese that designing a compact car that can haul a full-sized clothes dryer was a great idea. .I calculated that gas would have to be about $8-9 per gallon over 5 years for the Prius to compete with a Vibe. I'm waiting for plug-in technology because that's where the REAL savings will be. So, when gas tops $8, I'll be in the dealer getting my Chevy Volt.