Just got an 04 V

[Serj22]

Hi, I came from a 2002 Cr-v and sold that to snag a down payment on a newer car, after a couple weeks, I settled on a 2004 Vibe 1.8 with MT. It's gray with the plastic gray bumpers. It's in great shape and has 102,000 miles. I talked the sale down to $5,200. I thought it was a great deal. I'll have pics up later. About me: I modify all my cars, but I'm planning on leaving this one stock as a family car, except for little alterations - nothing serious. I find it a waste of time and money to alter the engine of anything with less than a 2.4 in it. You spend a ton of money to make it as fast as a stock generic 6 cylinder. I have a 1998 Civic that I use as a commuter car for over 100 miles a day and that's at 178,000 miles and still starts and runs every day. The Vibe is mostly my wife's car but I'll be on here mostly, I am also on the Crvoc and a moderator there. I am no stranger to forums. So, that's that, I hope the Vibe serves our needs for a long time. It should since it's got a Toyota powerplant and such. Also, anyone know what the color is called on the 04? It's gray, and we need a paint pen to fix a couple dings so I can buff it out.

[BlueCrush]

Congrats & Welcome to GenVibe!! The Vibe should work perfect for you as a family car. Good luck with keeping it stock. Look here for paint codes: http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=5550

[Serj22]

Well, like I said, the plan is to keep it stock, that may not happen, but I'm going to try. Baby comes in january, need money for other stuff anyway.

[lovemyraffe]

Congrats on the new ride and welcome to GenVibe!

[vibedrivermatt]

Congratulations on your 04 vib! and Bem-vindo!! yeah I like having manual cars myself. Once I went manual I never wanted to drive an automatic again!about your grey paint I bet you either have a shadow or moonstone.

[star_deceiver]

Welcome to GenVibe!!!

[Serj22]

Thanks for the welcome mates. I'll have pics up after I get back from dinner. We were originally going to go automatic, but I told my wife she could have whatever car she wanted. She can't drive stick, but she told me she'd learn if I got her this car. The civic is also a stick so she's out of a car till she learns. I took her to an empty parking lot and she got it all the way through third several times, but the clutch/shifter combo still scares her enough that she doesn't want to do street driving yet, which is fine - I'd rather she be confident than freak out and call me from a stoplight saying she can't stop stalling and everyone's getting mad. I accidentally already broke my stock rule. I swapped the radio out with a pioneer. I also figured out that there must be a stock installed amplifier somewhere in the car, because the speakers didn't work till I hooked up the remote lead to an empty lead. Also I lost the antenna cord somewhere, I'll find it though. Very embarrassing having done mobile audio for several years. With the amp, I must also know, what kind of speakers are in this? I.E. - who made them? I've been searching google but it says nothing about them or the fact that there was even a factory amplifier. (It's a very muddy amplifier, but still). Also, is there a sub hidden somewhere in the car too? It makes me wonder.

[VibeBear]

Congrats on the Vibe!if all your wife has to drive is a stick, she'll learn VERY quickly. Worked for my mom & then me LOL

[808 Vibes]

Welcome and congrats!

[kostby]

Welcome to GenVibe!In '04 the medium gray color (that almost matches the unpainted cladding) was called 'Shadow'. If it's the lighter silver color, it was called 'Satellite'.If you have 6-speakers (4 in the doors and two tweeters high-mounted on the front door pillars), then the stock amp is located under the front passenger seat. It's rated at 200-watts peak, into 2-ohm speakers. Yup, the factory speakers are 2-ohms.

[Serj22]

2 ohm? What was wrong with using normal people impedence? They probably doubled tracks (if it's mosfet) or something to try to get more power out of it. I understand the idea for it, but that's just... I dunno - hard on me. Every speaker I'm gonna find is going to be rated for 4 usually. I don't like running lower impedence into anything, even subwoofers, I never bridge amps, unless it's for a customer who wants it.4 ohms would have done it, now I'm going to have a problem finding speakers for it that will sound right... no wonder the tweeters and everything sound like they are outside of the car or I'm driving through a hallway. I've seen $20 BOSS tweeters perform better, so I knew it wasn't the tweeters, had to be something else. Well, if the wiring diagram exists somewhere on these forums that allow me to change it out for my own amp, I'd like to be directed there. I'd like it if I didn't have to run new wires for an amp to sit in the same place.Also, there is definitly a sub in this car somewhere. I can hear it. It sounds terrible, kind of like a subwoofer that produces no sound or vibration, it just makes subwoofer "noises" I guess you could say, probably some 6 or 8" sub sitting in way to small of a box, so my question is, where is it? I must put it out of its misery and replace it with something better, hopefully in the same spot, (no worries I build sub enclosures and speaker enclosures all the time, I could make something fit - I just don't know where it is.So much for keeping it stock uh? Well at least I'm keeping it "looking" stock, that's the idea.Also, my pontiac badge on the back has a turned a pinkish white, obviously due to the sun, is it necessary to get a new one to fix it (and if so where?) or can I buff it out, like I did with the mirrors and roof rack garnish? (they buffed back to shiny black like brand new)

[TONY TAT2]

Hi !

[AKLGT]

welcome!if you haven't been told yet, the OEM clutches in the cars suck and you may want to think about upgrading. Sounds like you know your way around a car, so hopefully can do a lot of maintenance yourself. We had an 04 base vibe MT as well, was a good car but the transmission went out after about 4 or 5 years. Also, shifter bushings would probably help. I remember ours was very sloppy.

[Serj22]

Perhaps the transmission failed and someone replaced it, because the clutch feels alright to me. Only issue I have is sometimes my left foot hits the foot rest before I can clutch in all the way and I have to readjust. Transmission still shifts smooth. How would I want to upgrade the clutch? To like a stage 3 of some sort? Yeah I know my way around to do general maintenance and I do a lot of 12v wiring, so I already get a head start on all that. There is one other thing, and that's how to get the shift boot back into place? The top part seems to have been detached, and is sagging a little.Also to me, the shifting doesn't feel sloppy more than it does robotic. It clicks for every throw and feels very tough. You really need to power it into whatever gear you need and make sure you do it in the exact H pattern, or it won't move right. there's no forgiveness.

[AKLGT]

ah well it sounds like the car is in pretty good mechanical shape then.as for replacement clutch, I'd suggest something more heavy duty. especially if your wife is learning to drive on it. LOL

[yeo]

hi. just got a 2002 voltz. 2 wheel drive.i am in malaysia.any contacts for spare parts dealer?thank you very much.

[Serj22]

Thread hijacking is never cool, unless it's to throw in something funny, like a joke, like:Where is satisfaction made?In a sat-is-factory. That is hilarious. Best joke ever written. /sarcasmanyways... heavier duty clutch? Where would I find it, I didn't know there were multiple clutch variations till you went aftermarket. Is there a Vibe specific clutch that is just better in general? And at least she's not learning on our civic, that thing is way too modified and it just has two speeds, stop - and go. The clutch has too much play, so you're either mashing the clutch or dumping it, that's all you can do.