GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I am a landlord / handyman and have been tranporting building maerial on the roof of my chevy prizm for the last 5 years. I have enjoyed the gas savings compared to driving a minivan all the time but sometimes its a hassle. Im looking for a vehicle that has good utility and fuel economy at the same time. I'm trying to decide between a yaris or a vibe. I want to know what the maximum horizontal width of the hatchback mouth of the vibe going across horizontally and could it easily tranport drywall laid flat. If not is there enough of an opening to tranport it if I tilt the drywall? what are the dimentions of the hatchback mouth?

No, not inside the hatch. The opening on my 10 GT is 42", and diagonally the widest is 43". The earlier ones are not much bigger. About the only way is to get an 03 to 08 and use the standard roof rack, or get a Toyota rack for an 09 or 10 Vibe off ebay.

I would think if its 42" horizontally it would be more than 43" diagonally? Are you sure that's correct?

Yes. The opening on the 09-10 is wider in the middle and tapers on the top and bottom. The center is about 41", 42" if you pull the plastic panels, top is about 35 and bottom is about 32 or so.

I checked my son's 06, and the diagonal is about 45", maybe 46" if you remove the plastic panels.

Pics of a piece of 4' wide masonite board in my 10 GT hatch opening:



You can see how the opening is shaped:



My son's opening:

A standing ovation to you for taking the time to go out and take and post those pictures to answer a question here.

They are correct it will definitely not fit through the hatch. I learned this in a home depot parking lot lol

robtco99 wrote:They are correct it will definitely not fit through the hatch. I learned this in a home depot parking lot lol

As did I. Fortunately, I had my bike rack attached to my hitch, so I was able to affix the drywall to the unfurled bike hitch and carry it home that way.

Vibe + trailer = cheaper than a truck