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New owner of a 2006 Vibe

Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2011 9:34 am
by 92blacktt
Hi,Just bought a vibe for a nice daily driver. This is my first daily driver, all my other cars were rwd, mostly boosted (turbo, supercharged) and slowly started modded my previous daily (RHD twin turbo soarer), so its too low to drive around in winter.I needed something good on fuel, reliable, cheap parts, roomy and easy to drive in winter.My vibe is manual (so I can still have some fun), dark grey, and somewhat immaculate condition with just over 109,000 kilometers. The body was not oil sprayed or anything, but no rust whatsoever (even underneath which surprised me).The suspension components and suspension subframe have light surface rust (as to be expected in Ontario).So, my first task it to undercoat this thing and then get it professionally oil sprayed.So some questions I have for the forum:- what are some things to look out for on the car?- are there any projector headlamps available so I can install some HIDs?- what are the interchangeable body parts with the matrix? From what I see a lot of the interior parts should swap with the matrix and just about everything suspension, engine wise.I also noticed there was some kinda sub-woofer (factory installed) in the cargo area. Will it continue to work if I put in an aftermarket head unit?

Re: New owner of a 2006 Vibe (92blacktt)

Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2011 10:07 am
by The Viber
Welcome! And congratulations on getting a great car.I can't help much with your questions since I am mostly stock, but you will get lot's of input from the people who have made mods.I hope you enjoy your new Vibe

Re: New owner of a 2006 Vibe (92blacktt)

Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2011 10:31 am
by star_deceiver
Welcome to GenVibe!!!

Re: New owner of a 2006 Vibe (star_deceiver)

Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2011 1:11 pm
by vibenvy
Welcome to GenVibe!

Re: New owner of a 2006 Vibe (92blacktt)

Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2011 1:20 pm
by kostby
Welcome to the GenVibe family! By mid '04 there was a tiny rust spot on some early 03's developing under the center of bottom rubber seal for the glass hatch window. As I recall it was where there is a spot weld. I don't know if they fixed that in later production or not.

Re: New owner of a 2006 Vibe (kostby)

Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2011 2:03 pm
by tpollauf
Welcome ! Professionally oil sprayed ??? I'd be interested in having that done to my '09 Vibe but mot sure any such thing is available here in the Ohio/Michigan area. It's only been through one salty winter and would like to preserve most of the 'rust free" underside. Again ... Welcome

Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2011 2:52 pm
by 92blacktt
^To be honest, professional oil spraying is over rated. Just take a look under your car and spray that trunk bedliner stuff on any bare metal (also do it inside your doors, wheel wells etc. Some spots are tough to get at such as the inside side rails (this is where you need those professional spraying guns and oil spray.)

Re: New owner of a 2006 Vibe (92blacktt)

Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2011 10:31 pm
by TONY TAT2
Hi !

Re: New owner of a 2006 Vibe (92blacktt)

Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2011 11:12 pm
by KITT222
Welcome to Genvibe!Some things to look out for: very few, actually. Not many that I know of, other than the dreaded P0420 (cat converter)There aren't any projector headlamps available, but member kiethvibe and his company ultimateretrofit.com do great retrofit jobs for any car. Everyone which has gotten a retrofit from Kieth say it is well worth the price.As far as body parts go, there are few which you can directly swap with the Matrix. But i do believe that the door handles and windows are interchangeable. Other than that the Matrix and Vibe are pretty much the same thing, just built in different places.

Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 1:40 am
by 92blacktt
Does anyone know about the sound system in my car? I haven't picked it up yet, but does it do mp3s? I found it odd to see a factory installed sub in the back...is this some kind of sound package?

Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 1:42 am
by 92blacktt
Also has anyone used the roof rails for towing bags or tables or anything substantial? Is it sturdy enough for that kind of hauling? I would like to try my dining table on their when I have to move.

Re: (92blacktt)

Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 3:07 am
by DeClerq
Quote, originally posted by 92blacktt »Also has anyone used the roof rails for towing bags or tables or anything substantial? Is it sturdy enough for that kind of hauling? I would like to try my dining table on their when I have to move.The roof rack (cross-rails, anyway) is only rated for 75lbs. Plus the antenna is kind of in a bad spot - it sticks up from the middle of the roof and gets in the way of longer items. You can unscrew it though if need be.I don't believe any of the OEM radios in the earlier Vibes are mp3 compatible, even with the upgraded sound packages. Mine has the Moon and Tunes package and does not play mp3s. I eventually replaced the radio for that reason.

Re: New owner of a 2006 Vibe (tpollauf)

Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 3:38 am
by journeyforce
You would think there would be in Michigan with all the rust that could occur. There is a family from Michigan that moved into my neighborhood 3 months ago. They have 3 cars which are a 1993 Sable, 2004 Sable and a 1996-2006 Jeep Wranglar. All have a lot of rust on them. The sables look horrible but the jeep looks good with some rust (a badge of honor on a Jeep). Whatever they use up there eats cars up.

Re: New owner of a 2006 Vibe (92blacktt)

Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 3:56 am
by journeyforce
Welcome to Genvibe. I know most engine and other mechanical parts will be inter changeable . It looks like by 2005 Matrix and Vibe had different radios that are not swappable without some modifications. There was a guy that did add the toyota nav system into a vibe but i cannot remember what year it is.Alot of TRD parts should fit the Vibe. Please post pics

Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 5:10 am
by 92blacktt
I will post pics soon. I got the moon and tunes thing figured out, apparently all the speakers are powered by a factory amp. I will be going with aftermarket stereo and converting the low level RCAs to 2 wire to feed the factory amp.All temporary...I am a bit of a stereo nut, and with this much room itll be great and easy work to put in a nice setup.I have 2 ED 13av.2s laying around with 2 nine.1 amps, 3 way front stage setup and 3 600 watt 2 channel amps to power them...unfortunately no time to do an install right now. I was going to put them in my soarer, but no reason I cant use the equipment in both cars.BTW here is a pic of my former daily, until I take pics of my new car:

Re: (92blacktt)

Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 9:19 am
by vibenvy
Quote, originally posted by journeyforce »There was a guy that did add the toyota nav system into a vibe but i cannot remember what year it is.2009

Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 1:18 am
by 92blacktt
Does anyone know the center bore for the vibe? how does this compare to the matrix and rolla? I am thinking to go to 15" alloys from a rolla (save some cost in winter tires, save gas etc)

Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2011 12:06 pm
by 92blacktt
Just picked it up today.A few questions:1. how do I turn on the fogs?2. why do I have 2 antennas? What is the second one for?3. how do I release the hatch? I have a button to release the hatch glass only.A few things I already hate about this thing...1. rearward visibility is awful (and this coming from a 2 door sports cars with next to no blind spot visibility). I understand its a lot better on the trix because of the smaller pillars2. Storage space in the passenger compartment is lacking, the center console is just pitiful and don't get me started on the door pockets...(removed)! I couldn't get all the stuff I usually keep up front to fit. Not a bad thing, maybe this will encourage me to keep things tidy.

Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2011 1:35 pm
by journeyforce
Here is the owners manual for the 2006http://www.genvibe.com/images/...e.pdf1. On the same stalk as the headlights is a option to turn on the fog lights 3-7, 3-152. The long antenna in the center is the radio antenna. The other one might be for XM or Onstar. or it could be for both Is there any buttons on the rear view mirror? If so it is for the onstar. If not then push source or band on the radio and see if you have XM 3-44, 3-78, 2-303. Have you tried to see if unlocking the doors will also unlock the tail gate? On my folks Sable wagon that is the caseYou get used to the lack of view and us the side mirrors a lot more. It is better then the 2009-2010 because at least you have something that could be called side windows, the ones on my 2009 Vibe suckThere is a space that opens up under the shifter and don't you have pockets behind the seats?

Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 10:42 am
by 92blacktt
no xm radio, premium sound, no onstar but two antennas...not sure whyIs there a way I can disable the clutch down to start feature? I find it really annoying and its not good for the car. All my JDM cars did not have to have the clutch down to start it