GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

ok, since actually owning a vibe, i have a few questions

my vibe gt is an 03 and came essentially loaded...moonroof, side airbags, 16" alloys, roof rack cross bars, abs

ive also owned an 03 "base" vibe but it was almost as well equipped, moonroof, 16" alloys, roof rack cross bars, but NO side airbags or abs

i also figure that packages were/are different in canada then they were in the US. mainly because thats how they were in canada for the matrix (having bought an 04 matrix xrs NEW in 04).

see, for the matrix in the US, the base had the 1zz, no side skirts, black door handles/mirrors (like the vibe, actually), body colour door window trim, steelies (alloys were part of the "B package"). XR's essentially looked like XRS's, but had drum brakes in the rear and a 1zz under the hood. in 03 in the US, you couldnt get a matrix XRS with a moonroof AND 17's....you just couldnt.

in canada, the base is the same setup as the US, but the XR didnt have the front/rear lip kit and came with 16" alloys (it was a VERY expensive option, i think), and teh XRS had the full skirt package and stanard 17" alloys. in 03, however, packages were limited to the BASE, XR, XRS....no B packages were available. this means that an XR in 03 couldnt have the B package (fogs/17's/moonroof), and the XRS wasnt available with a B package either (moonroof/6CD changer).

this info all changed in 04 when the matrix was available with all options (for the time) in all models

my question, then, is has anyone laid out the options/setups available on the vibe throughout the model years? when did vibe come standard with the cross bars (or were they ever standard in either canada or the US)? were the side skirts (body coloured or grey cladded) ever an option or part of a package? (neither of the 03's ive owned(own) have the skirts, but i see them all the time on other vibes that are 03/04 in canada (base and GT)

the only thing i DO know (having looked seriously at a GT in 04) was that for the 03/04 model years in Canada, all vibes were dual-tone/cladded and it was an OPTION to pay for monochrome (its actually part of what jacked the price well past an XRS back in 04). so in canada, to see a monochrome 03/04 is rare, while for the 05MY monochrome was standard and grey cladded was an option (you RARELY see a dual-tone 05-08 in canada)...what were the colour/cladding options in the US?

anyways, if someone has some light to shed, id appreciate it

edit: for the record, here is a pic of a vibe with side skirts:


and mine without

OK. Here goes the US history (from memory)...

Two-tone vs monotone cladding styles:
The 2002 and 2003 (All were 2003 model year) US Vibes had the recessed nose and came in two-tone gray cladding with monotone cladding as a $325 Premium Monotone option package for '03's and '04's. I believe ALL 05's were Monotone Option.

As I recall, the 'side skirt' cladding you refer to (it has a distinct angular shelf appearance to the bottom edges, where the original cladding was 'smoothed under') appeared only on two-tone Vibes during 2004 production, as a result of unexpected wear (road debris and gravel caused scuffing) on the lower surfaces of original two-tone '03 cladding. Remember, some of the '03's were two years old by this time, and the scuffing became apparent. Some owners of '03's on GenVibe (Sheldon Cherry comes to mind) were given 'new 04-design' gray cladding 'side skirt' replacements at no charge when it became available, so there are some Vibes built with original style cladding in 2002-03 that have dealer-installed later-style 'side skirt' cladding to satisfy unhappy owners.

I'm not sure the scuffing was ever an issue on the Monotone painted cladding. I don't recall any discussions here on GenVibe. I think all monotones had 'original style cladding' well into the 2005 model year, and perhaps all the way through 2008.

Black headlight surrounds vs shiny headlight surrounds:
The shiny headlight surrounds appeared with the '05 models. The first US '05's appeared on dealer lots in late May 2004. There were not any two-tone '05's in early production. I'm not sure if the 2-tone was built again during '05 or if it was the '06 model year when two-tones returned. Crossbars:
All US 03's and 04's had the roof crossbars. Crossbars were eliminated in a decontenting to lower production costs on the 'smooth nose' 05's and later years, as was the two-level armrest with flip-up top storage, and the in-console 12-volt outlet. The crossbars were still offered as an extra-cost option in '05. I'm not sure about later years. Two things WERE added for '05 production: The rear wiper spray nozzle had two holes instead of 1, and Moon and Tunes now included a Monsoon subwoofer in the passenger-side rear compartment. GT's were produced 2002 - 2006. I don't think there were any '07 or '08 GT's nor were there any '07 or '08 AWD's built for the US market.

Hope that helps you sort things out! (Edited multiple times, as I found pics to support my recollections)

some of that i knew, some i didnt. thanks