GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Hi Everyone. Just bought a 2010 Silver 2.4L Vibe(32,00 miles) several months ago and am falling in love with it! My sister has a 2009--same color. I am so glad I bought this car as I think they are getting harder and harder to find.
I have 2 questions.
1. The warranty will be up soon. Is there anything I should asked to be looked at or or done, including recall stuff, before it expires??? There is nothing wrong that I can find and they had just replaced the tires(under the warranty I believe).

2. I bought very expensive seat covers and the only installation problem I am having is getting the back seat bottom to pop up. Anybody have experience with this or have any tips?
Thanks for any help and I'm so glad I found this forum. Didn't know SO many people loved Vibes and now I am one!
Nancy
PS--my other car is a 92 Toyota Corolla with 207,000 miles and will not die. I use it for work. The Vibe is my weekend car!

Welcome to GenVibe!!!

flysbetter wrote:Hi Everyone. Just bought a 2010 Silver 2.4L Vibe(32,00 miles) several months ago and am falling in love with it! My sister has a 2009--same color. I am so glad I bought this car as I think they are getting harder and harder to find.
I have 2 questions.
1. The warranty will be up soon. Is there anything I should asked to be looked at or or done, including recall stuff, before it expires??? There is nothing wrong that I can find and they had just replaced the tires(under the warranty I believe).

2. I bought very expensive seat covers and the only installation problem I am having is getting the back seat bottom to pop up. Anybody have experience with this or have any tips?
Thanks for any help and I'm so glad I found this forum. Didn't know SO many people loved Vibes and now I am one!
Nancy
PS--my other car is a 92 Toyota Corolla with 207,000 miles and will not die. I use it for work. The Vibe is my weekend car!

Welcome to the forum!! Didn't take long for me to fall in love either. The 2010's are very clean looking cars, congrats. As far as recall stuff, my car had some recall issues, it's out of warranty and they did it all free anyways. I had to travel a ways to find a dealer that would do it but cost me nothing but the little gas I used. Just a thought. Could just take it in for a check up, see what they recommend, if anything. For the seats, I have 0 experience, I'm sure you can cruise older threads and find something, try the search bar? It's helped me out. Glad you have the work car and can save the Vibe as a weekender. =)

flysbetter wrote:2. I bought very expensive seat covers and the only installation problem I am having is getting the back seat bottom to pop up. Anybody have experience with this or have any tips?

Can you explain the problem a little differently? I cannot figure out what you mean by "pop up"....... and what brand of covers did you buy?

Charles

Welcome! These cars do grow on you, I had to get my own after we bought one for my son several years ago.

As for the warranty, unless you have something broken or a concern, there is no real need to take it in. The only waranty work my car required was the radio knob that broke, twice! They are fragile so check it and be careful with it. There are a few other little issues that might be a concern though. If you have a sunroof, the frames are all rusting under the rubber seals, so that would be a good thing to check. And the paint on the tops of the door panels is peeling off on some cars, mostly 2010 models. Three of my doors are peeling now, all but the drivers side! Some people have gotten their door panels replaced/repainted under warranty.

Other than that, good luck with the new Vibe!

If you have a sunroof make sure it's not rusting. Quite a few people have had that issue on the second gen Vibes.

Call a former Pontiac dealer or Buick/Chevrolet dealer with your VIN, and ask them if there are any current recalls for your car. There have been a few TSB's, but I don't remember if there are any full recalls.

Welcome to GenVibe!

SeattleJeremy wrote:Call a former Pontiac dealer or Buick/Chevrolet dealer with your VIN, and ask them if there are any current recalls for your car. There have been a few TSB's, but I don't remember if there are any full recalls.

Welcome to GenVibe!

I had the accelerator pedal and the floor mat interference recalls on mine, one fixed by the prior owner and one I took it in for. Having them run the VIN report on their system will also show any warranty work that was done on it. I had it run before I bought my car just to see if it had any problems. That is how I found out about the two radio knobs.

Hi and welcome

Welcome to GenVibe! Glad to hear you and your sister went with the best color for your Vibes !

As everyone else has said, call your local GM dealer and have them run your VIN to see if there are any outstanding recalls that need to be taken care of. If you have a sunroof, check out this thread. If you have an automatic transmission and you are having any problems with it "downshifting", check out this thread. That's all I can think of for now. If I think of anything else, I will definitely post it.

Post some pictures of you and your sister's Vibes when you get a chance !

Many thanks to those who posted with help to my questions! I will take my car in to the dealer for a service and request them to run the vin number. And I will request them to update the software for the downshift as I have also noticed some jerking from time to time. Thanks for that as well. To Charlesin Ga...my seat covers are from Cover King and they fit like a glove--CR neoprene--about $250.00 per row. They are really nice, however, I need to pull out the bench seat in the back to install that cover and I can't get that seat out. Any ideas? I know there are 2 white plastic "holders" that the metal clips into but I can't seem to pop the seat out from that. Maybe I am not strong enough?
Anyway, many thanks to all. Vibe owners seem to be REALLY nice(and smart I might add) !
Nancy

flysbetter wrote:Many thanks to those who posted with help to my questions! I will take my car in to the dealer for a service and request them to run the vin number. And I will request them to update the software for the downshift as I have also noticed some jerking from time to time. Thanks for that as well. To Charlesin Ga...my seat covers are from Cover King and they fit like a glove--CR neoprene--about $250.00 per row. They are really nice, however, I need to pull out the bench seat in the back to install that cover and I can't get that seat out. Any ideas? I know there are 2 white plastic "holders" that the metal clips into but I can't seem to pop the seat out from that. Maybe I am not strong enough?
Anyway, many thanks to all. Vibe owners seem to be REALLY nice(and smart I might add) !
Nancy

You're very welcome Nancy! That's what we're here for !

I have yet to remove the rear seat in my 2009 Vibe GT, but I know with my previous vehicle, 2002 Pontiac Sunfire GT Coupe, the bottom of the rear seat needed to pulled on pretty hard to get it to pop out of place. You may want to have your husband, fiance, boyfriend, brother, guy friend, etc. see if they have better luck.

Thanks for the kind words ! This is definitely one of the nicest automotive forums I've come across on the internet and the wealth of Vibe knowledge here is infinite. Best of luck getting your issues taken care of at the dealer and getting that rear seat out .

flysbetter wrote: I bought very expensive seat covers and the only installation problem I am having is getting the back seat bottom to pop up. Anybody have experience with this or have any tips?

Hello Nancy and welcome to this forum. Take a good look at the attached photo and you'll see the nylon inserts (which stay in the body) and the wire which is part of the seat cushion then "snaps" into these inserts. Yes it is VERY TIGHT and if not familiar with it you might hesitate thinking that you'll break something. Take a large screwdriver or a pry bar and place it as close to these inserts as possible then "pry up" and it should release the seat. Hope this helps. Let us know where you're from. Go into your profile and fill out that section then it will appear under your user name every time you post. Glad you & your sister have Vibes and are enjoying them. Now get your sister to join us as well. If you're near Erie Pa. then join us on July 7th for a HUGE GenVibe meet. Hope this was helpful

Other issues - do you get a rattle from the steering column at low speeds over rough pavement? This is apparently not dangerous, as there have been no recalls for it, but it can be annoying (especially w/the stereo turned down low). Several members have had this investigated, and I think only one person ever felt that it was fixed. The rest have had steering racks, upper steering columns, lower steering columns, etc. replaced but the sound is still there. Other dealers have said they can't hear the noise or diagnose it. So YMMV on any fix if you have a problem.

Also, you might check to see if the cover to your cabin air filter (behind the glove box - just gently press in the sides and the box front will lower out of the way) is still in place. If it is broken, it is probably not a warranty fix. Although it is very easy to break (I did mine when closing the air filter cover) I suspect the dealer would just blame whoever for being too rough with it. If not broken, be very careful about putting pressure on it when getting it loose.