GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Hi all. I'm on the verge of buying a 2005 Vibe, red with gray plastic trim all around. It's in excellent condition, owned by a rental company. It was a corporate lease and has 46,000 miles. I love the look, and will test drive it tomorrow (it had to be transferred from another state). My concern is the trim. It looks sporty, but what will happen if it gets damaged in some way and has to be replaced? Will I have a hard time getting the parts?

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i'd be more worried about it being a fleet vehicle to be honest

Uh-oh...why not a fleet car? I bought a 2001 Corolla from this dealer and never had a problem with it. After 9 years, the exterior is scratched, keyed and dinged up, but they've offered kbb $3200 for the trade-in. Also, from reading other posts, I've learned the trim is called "cladding."

parts are available and will be for a while.

finding the cladding shouldn't be difficult if you were to hit something.

Quote, originally posted by governess »Hi all. I'm on the verge of buying a 2005 Vibe, red with gray plastic trim all around. It's in excellent condition, owned by a rental company. It was a corporate lease and has 46,000 miles. I love the look, and will test drive it tomorrow (it had to be transferred from another state). As you can see, we too have the "cladded" look, though I would much prefer the montone look instead.Why transfered from another state? Are you doing business w/CarMax? Please say no.

Quote, originally posted by 06pvibe »Are you doing business w/CarMax? Please say no.I've bought two cars from Carmax over the years...should I not have?I had my Santa Fe appraised there a few weeks ago and they offered me about $1400 below blue-book. So I don't think I'll be doing business with them anymore anyway.

Quote, originally posted by governess »Uh-oh...why not a fleet car? the idea just doesnt sit well with me, and its not as if theres a shortage of base vibes out there. what are they asking for it?

Quote, originally posted by 06pvibe »As you can see, we too have the "cladded" look, though I would much prefer the montone look instead.Why transfered from another state? Are you doing business w/CarMax? Please say no. [QUOTE=DeClerq]I'm buying from Enterprise Car Sales. I bought my Corolla from them in 2001 and was very satisfied, so I went back to them. Since their stock varies, they transfer cars from one dealership to another. There is a transfer fee if it's outside a certain area. Overall, I think it's a good deal- 46,000 miles for $9699. They have a 7-day/1000mi buy back program. If I'm not satisfied, Enterprise will buy it back from me. Plenty of time to take it to my mechanic. I had a friend who returned one car for another that worked out well for her. I also like the fact that they clearcoat their vehicles. I never had to wax the Corolla. Enterprise only sells the best cars in their fleet, which have to pass a 102-point inspection. On the downside, they often have higher mileage than average, for obvious reasons. I'm just concerned about whether the cladding would still be available, and 2 replies say it will be. I can't wait to see the car tomorrow. Here's a link to "Car Talk" archives about buying a former rental: http://www.cartalk.com/content....html

I would just be afraid of it fading.. Much like the cladding on the Avalanches.. Maybe you could have it painted?.. or just fine a monotone one.. My car was a fleet, though it was only in service for about a year, and I have had NO problems.. besides maybe a couple of scratches here and there..

Quote, originally posted by 09vGT »I would just be afraid of it fading.. Much like the cladding on the Avalanches.. Maybe you could have it painted?.. or just fine a monotone one.. Or you can just use Refinish Restorer on the plastic cladding and it looks brand new again... I borrowed some from houseofbugs to use on the plastic of mine and Chris's car, that stuff is awesome.

Quote, originally posted by governess »I'm just concerned about whether the cladding would still be available, and 2 replies say it will be. I can't wait to see the car tomorrow. A quick Google search found at least two sites that sell the lower cladding (they call it "molding"). So I wouldn't be concerned about the availability of any parts you may need to purchase in the future.They are rather expensive http://www.gm-partscenter.com/...gid=0 http://www.gmpartscenter.net/?...parts

Welcome to GenVibe! We've purchased several rental fleet cars (though not my Vibe) over the years. I also purchased my Vibe used, though it was a single owner vehicle and I bought it from a GM dealer because used Vibes were relatively rare then (early 2004). When we purchased fleet vehicles, our logic was this: my wife and I were both driving 50+ miles every day round trip to and from work. We needed newer vehicles that the ones we were driving, and they were old enough that there was not a significant trade-in value. We sold our used vehicles privately for almost double what the dealer offered as a trade-in, yet the private buyers got reliable vehicles at a fair price.Purchasing a 1-year-old vehicle with one-years' mileage (at our annual rate) at a 40% discount off retail saved us thousands in financing and interest costs, and we were just going to put 30,000+ miles per year on them anyway, so it didn't make sense to purchase a brand new vehicle, lose 30% of it's value driving it off the lot, and be 'upside down' for 4 years on a 5-year loan, versus purchasing a fleet vehicle at 'used-market' value, financing it for 3 years, and be 'upside down' on the loan for less than a year.Mother's Back to Black isn't as permanent as Refinish Restorer, but it's available at many auto parts stores for around $6. I use it on my '03 with gray cladding about once a season.

Thanks for all the feedback. I'll let you know how it goes.

What is book value on the car? The price seems a little high to me, but I haven't been looking.

Quote, originally posted by 2002sportside »What is book value on the car? The price seems a little high to me, but I haven't been looking. I was thinking the same, especially if it was a fleet vehicle.CarMax. Hmmmm. Well, if you are willing to play by THEIR many rules and regs and don't mind paying a premium for the car (maximum book value) then they might be all right. But I found them way too restrictive and ridged to deal with. In fact, if we hadn't needed to replace my wife's previous car quickly, and she were easier to shop for, I would have walked out of there the first night... and almost did!

Quote, originally posted by 06pvibe »I was thinking the same, especially if it was a fleet vehicle.CarMax. Hmmmm. Well, if you are willing to play by THEIR many rules and regs and don't mind paying a premium for the car (maximum book value) then they might be all right. But I found them way too restrictive and ridged to deal with. In fact, if we hadn't needed to replace my wife's previous car quickly, and she were easier to shop for, I would have walked out of there the first night... and almost did! Not to skew the topic, but back when I was shopping at Carmax they would provide a link on the vehicle description page to the kbb value. They no longer do that. Maybe now I know why!

Quote, originally posted by 2002sportside »What is book value on the car? The price seems a little high to me, but I haven't been looking. In excellent condition, certified, at 46,000 mi, blue book is $9955. With the average 74,000 mi, it's $8605. Enterprise is selling this Vibe for $9699, so it's $256 under blue book. But they are offering blue book $3200 for my 01 Corolla in good condition. A year ago, some idiot keyed the driver's side door, so I probably wouldn't get anywhere near that selling it privately.

I'd check autotrader.com and cars.com for comparable vehicles nearby in order to get an idea if the proice is reasonable.Looks like Laria Chevy in Rittman OH has an 07 with power/cruise, 47K miles, asking $9950. no idea what they'd give you as on the trade-in though.Whatever you get, once you buy it, stop price shopping. Assume you will find or hear about a better deal later

Dealer in my local area has a 2009 Vibe with 21,000 miles on it for $13,995 for comparison.

Quote, originally posted by governess »In excellent condition, certified, at 46,000 mi, blue book is $9955. With the average 74,000 mi, it's $8605. Enterprise is selling this Vibe for $9699, so it's $256 under blue book. But they are offering blue book $3200 for my 01 Corolla in good condition. A year ago, some idiot keyed the driver's side door, so I probably wouldn't get anywhere near that selling it privately.Wow, I wouldn't have thought it was that high. Maybe I should consider selling mine...

Quote, originally posted by 2002sportside »Wow, I wouldn't have thought it was that high. Maybe I should consider selling mine...blasphemer

Quote, originally posted by 09vGT »I would just be afraid of it fading.. Much like the cladding on the Avalanches.. Maybe you could have it painted?.. or just fine a monotone one.. If it is not taken care of, yes it'll fade, just gotta put some product on it.

Thats the con to grey cladding....highER maintenance. If knew what I known now, I would have bought a monotone. I just want to wash / wax my car & be done. The cladding becomes an extra chore for me. Looks awesome when a product is applied to the cladding....on the on the other hand if you dont maintain it.....it REALLY looks like crap. I would say if you have the choice get a monotone. Parts should be no problem either way.

[Quote, originally posted by joatmon »I'd check autotrader.com and cars.com for comparable vehicles nearby in order to get an idea if the proice is reasonable.Looks like Laria Chevy in Rittman OH has an 07 with power/cruise, 47K miles, asking $9950. no idea what they'd give you as on the trade-in though.Whatever you get, once you buy it, stop price shopping. Assume you will find or hear about a better deal laterjoatman, thanks for the tip. I went down to Laria Chevrolet, test drove the car and bought it. Got a great deal, too. I love it and look forward to many travels in it (I haven't named it yet).

My 2004 vibe was a Hertz car rental vibe. Came with 26k miles on it. I drive it until 70k about now my sister has it and it has over 110k miles with out any major issue to this date except that window recall. The cladding if you take care of it with proper wax/buff should stay fine. If it needs replacement there shouldnt be a hard time finding parts.

hey! welcome to the family! congrats on the vibe purchase. my o4 was a rental also. i bought it in 2oo4 with about 14k miles on it. no probs at all. (knock on wood)you'll have a blast with the vibe

The autotrader ad for that one in Laria didn't have any pictures, so post up one when you get the chance.