Just Another New Guy, Here To Say "Hi!"

[Zimm]

Hey all,I'm a new guy, wanted to take the time to introduce myself since I've been reading the forums here pretty regularly for a couple of months. Thought I should set up an account before I ever have the need to post something, which I'm sure I will...I bought my Vibe last August in a mad cash 4 clunkers induced rush. '10 base w/1.8L, auto, air, power locks, etc. Black. Just the necessities and a couple of creature comforts. (my 1st car, a '86 Suzuki Samauri had manual brakes, steering, trans, and hubs you had to lock at the wheel to put into 4wd. I'm not going back to that-unless I buy an old FJ 40 for fun...)So far, it's been pretty much what I expected-great city mileage, good highway. A real change from my truck (cash 4 clunkered), which was a '98 GMC Sonoma ext cab w/sport suspension (the predecessor to those ugly S-10 Xtremes, only without all the ugly plastic body cladding.) Great truck, good mileage for a truck 14/23, but it was dying. It ate tires and batteries like they were going out of style.I've already learned a ton from reading the forums here. I'll be using the tutorials to help deal with the weird cartridge oil filter when I make the switch to synthetic this spring. I had stopped doing my own oil changes with the truck because it had 16 lube points after I replaced the U joints. I also bought a stainless exhaust tip based on someone's recommendation. Just an Autozone cheapy to dress things up-not one of those beer can resonators...Looks like I'll be headed to the dealer for some irritating warranty work. Obviously the old brake recall + anything for the new issue, plus the common center of the dash cracking sound when it's cold. I think the alignment has always been a little off, and i will once again gripe to the dealer that the Badyear RSA's just don't hold air-i've had to fill them 5 times in less than 5,000 miles. Can't wait to put some quality rubber on in a couple of years! Oh, and one of my back seat interior door handles has never worked from day one...Other than that, my only major complaint is the lack of a 5th gear for highway (40mpg would be well within reach and would get the RPM's down from 2,900 to 2,300ish. And then there's the Toyota interior junk like cruise on a separate stick and the counter-intuitive window controls (pull up to make the window go down. push down to make it go up. idiots!)Anyway, I love my Vibe and hope to have it around at for at least half of that one guy's 400,000 miles!BTW-i have read a couple of threads where people discussed what they paid for their Vibes. Not to brag too much, but I bought mine (after cash 4 clunkering my truck and a little stash from my GM card) for less than $9000 out the door. I figure no matter what happens down the road, this will be the best $9000 car i ever buy!

[star_deceiver]

Welcome!!! Glad you're enjoying the forums!Quote, originally posted by Zimm »Other than that, my only major complaint is the lack of a 5th gear for highway (40mpg would be well within reach and would get the RPM's down from 2,900 to 2,300ish.)The manual 5 speed runs 3000ish at 70mph (or around there.... it's late, brain no worky)! If you're hunting for better mileage, drive at 60mph or less (I know, it's hard...but it does work).And hey, how about some pics!!!

[Zimm]

seems like they could do better for a 5th gear in an auto. fwiw, i keep it to around 70 on the highway these days. it's pretty much a habit because it was an MPG sweet spot for my 4.3L Sonoma. I could get 22-23 consistently. At 60, I could get 25 on a good day.as for pics, maybe when we get a nice day here in the frozen north of metro detroit. it's overdue for a bath. but mine's just stock-even steelies, nothing like yours (and i've seen a whole lot of your pics!)

[star_deceiver]

At least yours is frozen.... we've been getting rain here and there. Add all the dirt on the roads and it looks like a mud bog on some days... And I don't have that many pics here..... (my photobucket's only on its 10th page... http://s1002.photobucket.com/a...eiver/ )

[vibolista]

All the snow is in the south this year. The Carolinas are going to get another big snow storm. El Nino is making a poor snow skiing year for us here. Barely have a foot on the ground, but at least its colder than normal and sunny most of the time. Rain really sucks in winter... and yes, we've had a couple of tropilcal storms so far. One in December dropped 4 to 5 inches of warm rain on us and the last one a little over a week ago, 2 to 3 inches of rain. A super buy at $9000 with the CFC program. Don' worry about the winter grime on it... we all have that on our cars right now. So just post a picture an put us all at ease. Yeah, welcome to Toyotaland, where up is down and down is up. You'll get used to it. At home, turn all your light switches around so off is up and on is down and you'll get the hang of it in half the time. I'm still turning my wiper switch up to make them go faster. Oops, it's the other way around! I always slow them up when I want them to speed up and speed them up, when I want them to go slower. Too weird.I could maybe accept that counterintuitiveness a little more if they had been designed and manufactured south of the Equator! We should be thankful that our Vibes steers right when we turn the steering wheel right and left when we turn the wheel to the left.

[DeClerq]

Quote »Oh, and one of my back seat interior door handles has never worked from day one...Check to make sure the child safety lock isn't on. If it is it will not let you open the door from the inside.

[lovemyraffe]

Welcome!

[vibolista]

Good call, DeClerq! Probably the problem.

[ou.grizzly]

Welcome to the forum and glad to see we have another MI Member!!!

[06pvibe]

Welcome Zimm, and Congrats on the new ride too!!!Please explain though, why would someone troll for months on a forum and not join in sooner? I signed up the same day, after only reading one or two posts, which has been my MO on others forums/sites. +1 on the rear door child safety lock. "Click it" and let us know if it works!!

[ou.grizzly]

Quote, originally posted by 06pvibe »Please explain though, why would someone troll for months on a forum and not join in sooner? I perused the forum for a few years before joining...

[lovemyraffe]

Quote, originally posted by 06pvibe »Please explain though, why would someone troll for months on a forum and not join in sooner? I too browsed for a few months before joining.

[Houston]

My window controls have always worked the way they're suposed to - up means up and down means down, and yet vibolista's, like yours, work in reverse. Is there a chance that your switches are wired backwards?

[06pvibe]

Quote, originally posted by lovemyraffe »I too browsed for a few months before joining.Quote, originally posted by ou.grizzly »I perused the forum for a few years before joining... 'Guess then I'm just a joiner.

[Zimm]

Quote, originally posted by 06pvibe »Welcome Zimm, and Congrats on the new ride too!!!Please explain though, why would someone troll for months on a forum and not join in sooner? I signed up the same day, after only reading one or two posts, which has been my MO on others forums/sites. +1 on the rear door child safety lock. "Click it" and let us know if it works!!troll? no, i lurked. big, BIG difference! besides, i have about 7 years and 6,000 posts invested in my primary internet relationship with a detroit-centric sports message board. don't want to spread myself too thin... FWIW, i tried the child lock thing. unfortunately it was not a "user error" like most of the things that don't work in my life. it's a GM quality control thing. same with the door weatherstripping they forgot to glue, but that's another dealer trip in itself... oh, and then there's the "auto down" function on my drivers side window that is not "auto." as you can tell i've been making a list for my dealer trip.!

[808 Vibes]

Welcome and congrats!