GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Vibe repair manual on DVD. Any good?
I see them on Ebay for about $16.00.
Are the Haynes/Chilton paperbacks better or worse?
I'm no fan of Haynes, but I need torque specs. etc.
chiadog

Received the GM 1998 - 2009 service repair manual on DVD today. I didn't attempt to load it yet. I'll post a quick review in a week or so, after I've had a chance to check it out.
chiadog

Chiadog wrote:Vibe repair manual on DVD. Any good?
I see them on Ebay for about $16.00.
Are the Haynes/Chilton paperbacks better or worse?
I'm no fan of Haynes, but I need torque specs. etc.
chiadog

What year Vibe? There are factory manuals available, though they may be hard to find.

Vibe is an 05. I see the factory paper manuals on Ebay for like 150.00 - too rich for me.
chiadog

if you do your own repairs Factory Service Manuals are a good investment. I bought my '09' in June. First thing I bought for it was the Helm Factory Service manuals. It's a three volume set with everything you could ever want to know about the car. Before this I had a '03' GMC Envoy and had the Helm manuals. In the eight years I owned it I saved a ton of money by being able to stay away from the Stealership.

Pops wrote:if you do your own repairs Factory Service Manuals are a good investment. I bought my '09' in June. First thing I bought for it was the Helm Factory Service manuals. It's a three volume set with everything you could ever want to know about the car. Before this I had a '03' GMC Envoy and had the Helm manuals. In the eight years I owned it I saved a ton of money by being able to stay away from the Stealership.

I totally agree with Pops In your case you're lucky you have one of the first generation Vibes. Like Pops, I too have the 09 model year and I too purchased the 3-book set from Helm. Although extremely helpful when needing the info, I found several errors in this newer three set volume. What little work I've done so far, the books were not very helpful. Some information was merely recopied into the 09-10 models when in fact it was from the 08 & older models. Hopefully it is only applicable to a few items and that the majority of the information is correct. Also, in my case, I own my cars for a VERY long time (10 - 20 years) and do not put a lot of mileage on them,so having these manuals really pay for themselves. Good luck

I purchased the "factory DVD" for my 08. Loaded it, looked at I and in general it was poor, very poor. Next day ordered the Helm Manals, never a moment of regret!

Dave

Chiadog wrote:Vibe is an 05. I see the factory paper manuals on Ebay for like 150.00 - too rich for me.
chiadog

That's a shame. Have you checked to see if your local library has the factory manuals? Mine does (03, 04) along with the Navigation manual. I did an Interloan and located one library has all circulating factory manuals for 03-09.

Thanks for all the input on the repair manuals!
Great idea on the library, ZYZY, I'll give that a shot. It will let me know if I want to dig that deep into my pocket for the "real McCoy".
Good points on the Helm manuals! I tend to forget how much money I am saving by DIY.
For now, I have ordred the craptacular Haynes manual. better than Nothing!!!
chiadog

Quick review of: 1998 -2006 GM service repair manual from ebay, cost $13.00
1. clunky menu system - not intuitive or easy for me to use. I found very little of what I looked for - frustrating. maybe its me.
2. No electrical anything that i could find. Different dvd?
3. Lots of GM to dealer directives explaining how to code repairs, etc.
4. I am unable to print from the DVD - probably just me.
Whats good;
1. Drawings can be blown up.
2. contains good detail on some tasks subjects - I didn't look too far. I found how to remove the inner door panels!
3. Covers all GM vehicles plus Saturn 1998-2006! For me it covers 3 cars that I own.
4. Contains numerous TSB's technical service bulletins.

Overall, a good value for info not found elsewhere. However this is not a standalone manual. It may take me longer to find something here than to do the repair!
chiadog

Chiadog wrote:Thanks for all the input on the repair manuals!
Great idea on the library, ZYZY, I'll give that a shot. It will let me know if I want to dig that deep into my pocket for the "real McCoy".
Good points on the Helm manuals! I tend to forget how much money I am saving by DIY.
For now, I have ordred the craptacular Haynes manual. better than Nothing!!!
chiadog

You're welcome. Good Luck. I can tell you the Factory manuals are 2 volumes and are thick. Vol 1 would be the thicker of the 2 manuals and it would cover General Info (maintenance, oil capacity, etc) Engine, HVAC, Steering, Suspension, Driveline/Axle and Brakes Vol 2 is Body, Transmission, Restraints Vehicle Control systems, Accessories. This is taken from the 2004 Factory Manuals. The later years are probably similar.

Has anyone found any repair manuals for the 2010 pontiac vibe?

vowner wrote:Has anyone found any repair manuals for the 2010 pontiac vibe?

Yes. Oak Lawn Public Library in IL has just received the 3 volume edition. It is at the bindery

zyzyix wrote:

vowner wrote:Has anyone found any repair manuals for the 2010 pontiac vibe?

Yes. Oak Lawn Public Library in IL has just received the 3 volume edition. It is at the bindery

They also have the 3 volume 2009 edition circulating.