GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Hello all!

My name is Rome. I owned a 2003 FWD Vibe for a year but it was totaled a few week ago. I am now in the market for a new car and I need to make up my mind pretty fast.I really liked the vibe while I had it. Averged about 27mpg combined, loved the cargo space for camping trips etc.

However, our priorities have changed a bit since our first vibe purchase. We do more outdoorsy activities and have been interested in true 4x4 vehicles like Jeeps.

However, the vibe played a part in saving my life, so I have a fondness for them. I have found a 2005 AWD for $7800 (80k miles), which is the best price I can find anywhere for a vibe locally. I also live in a snowy area so I thought the AWD would be worth 2-3 MPG.

My concerns are that this is the only vibe around, it had an accident according to the car fax (damage greater than 1000$ but no frame damage and no airbag deployment), its from a smaller dealership, I might regret not getting a real 4wd/4x4.

Pros: i love the vibe look, it saved my life, its the AWD model I was looking for, I can afford it, the little dealer offers a free 5000 mile warranty with purchase.

So anyways, nice to meet you all. Im hoping for input from you all about my little situation. Thanks

Not sure if you want a "new" car or one that is just new to you. The 2014 Subaru Forrester is 4 wheel drive and with its CVT transmission supposedly gets a mpg equal to your 2003 front wheel drive Vibe.

I want a new car because my last one was totalled. An actual new car is WAY out of my price range. The vibe im looking at at 7800 is the most I could spend, unfortunately.

Hello and welcome. I was in the same position as you just a couple weeks ago. I did buy another Vibe.

I'm wondering, when you say this Vibe is the only one close to you, what radius did you look within? I had to go out to 300 mile radius to find even 6 Vibes that fell in the parameters I was looking for.

I do think it's a bonus that this dealership is offering you a 5000 mile warranty. Depending on how many trips you take or how far your commute is, that could equal as much as 6 months to see if anything goes wrong with it. Less than $1000 damage sounds like it wouldn't be anything more than cosmetic damage. I was in a total of four accidents with my previous Vibe and even with "only cosmetic damage" the one time, it still was over $3K for the full fix up, so $1000 is really next to nothing. I'm wondering if maybe just a bumper fell off or something. I know there's no way to tell, but with that small amount, I'd say you aren't looking at anything major at all if you choose to go with this car even though it's been in an accident.

Also, what types of activities are you planning to do with your future vehicle that you are worried the Vibe won't be able to hack it? I do a lot of outdoors-y things too, but nothing that would require a more specialized vehicle (like a Wrangler or something). I'm wondering if you are concerned with the Vibe's ability to haul more weight, or if it's more an axle issue, where you're concerned that the vibe won't handle rougher terrain? I would say 'yes' to the Vibe hauling a decent amount of weight, but 'no' to it handling, say, rocky terrain like a Jeep Wrangler would. The issue with that though, is that both Jeeps and Subarus hold their value really well - good for a current owner, but not good at all for someone looking for a decently priced used car. Also, a Jeep that might be more in your price range would have to be pretty old (because of the holding their value thing) and the older Jeeps, including Wranglers, had some serious issues with the axles always breaking on terrain that a Jeep supposedly could/should be able to handle so a Jeep (of any style) might be out of the running too if you are planning to take it into the mountains or somewhere like you see on their commercials.

Anyway, I'd recommend starting with a larger search area if you are not sold on the local Vibe and go from there. If you are looking to stay under $10K, you may be able to find one of the smaller SUVs (like a Honda CRV or a Kia or Suzuki <- I don't have any info on any of these so this is not a recommendation, just pointing out that there may be some other options), but I don't know as though they'd be much better than the Vibe as far as handling whatever activities you may want to do with it. They would likely be able to haul more weight though if you are pulling a camper.

Let us know what you decide.

Rome, What area are you in? Vibes are hard to find but there are 3 here locally that I know of for sale by dealers. Im in Wheeling WV ( just west of Pittsburgh ,PA)

Welcome to GenVibe Rome! Sorry to hear about your Vibe. If you were happy with it than I don't see why you wouldn't want to get another one. As others have said, you may have to expand your search area to find more options of Vibes for sale though. Best of luck with your search and let us know what you end up with ! Also, post some pictures of your dearly departed Vibe when you get a chance.

Rome. As others have said ... let us know your location so we can help you. Also pics of your "totaled" Vibe would be nice. We love pics here @ GenVibe

Hello all and thanks for your replies.

I am worried a vibe won't be able to handle a few things. Rough terrain on forest trails, minor mud, decent snow, hauling 4 people and their 50 lbs packs up hills etc.

I think what we have settled on is trading the wifes nice sedan in for a small SUV with a 4wd lock like a hyundai tucson, and then getting me the vibe. Then we will have a nice "4wd" car for outdoors (and my wife works close to home so the lower mpg wouldnt be a big deal). And then get me the AWD vibe so I can be a little more capable in the snow than with a standard FWD car.

Only problem with that plan is it will cost us about $2000 more than our original plan, and we HATE loans! lol.

Ill post a picture at some point soon. Maybe after the legal stuff is settled...

FWD and snow? Never had any issues here.



Still don't! Studded tires do wonders for all vehicles!!!



I chose not to go with any of the in-between models when I looked into replacing the Vibe. No AWD crossover for me!

star_deceiver wrote:
I chose not to go with any of the in-between models when I looked into replacing the Vibe. No AWD crossover for me!

LOL! I saw your posts on the Equinox forum from before you got the truck. I thought, " Hey, I "know" that guy!"

Yeah, the rear cargo area and the test drive sealed the Nox' fate! Not to mention the 4cyl issues... and the fact that an AWD 3.6 would've cost more then the Silverado!

Well, my wife test drove an 06 Kia Sportage and fell in love with it. We traded her little mazda in for it. It's at least a little better than the standard crossover, because it has a 4WD 50-50 lock, and is not completely dependent on automatic electronic slippage AWD system. Its no 4x4, but seems to be much better than the likes of an AWD Equinox or CRV for the minor-moderate off-road tasks we want to use it for.

The purchase of this Sportage also frees up my car to be a fuel efficient Vibe without the concern of any off-road capabilities. I still want the AWD vibe for the snow. So now it's down to whether I get the AWD vibe with the nice price, smooth driving, smooth shifting, and super clean interior THAT has been in a car-fax reported accident, or wait and hope I find another AWD one pop up on the market in a nearby city.

The accident was reported to carfax because the damage was AT LEAST $1000, but the accident was 8 days after the original buyer got the car. The accident could have been a badly dented bumper and cost over $1000. OR, it could have been an $8000 damage accident, but because the car was brand new they didn't total it. All I know is the damage was at least $1000, no frame damage was reported, and no airbag deployment was reported.

I'm also not worried about resale value being hurt by the accident, because I plan to drive this car into the ground. But the accident was when the car was a week old, and the same owners kept it for the next 7 years before it was traded in. If this were from some big name dealership I feel like I would be less concerned, but its from a tiny dealership with only 15 cars on his lot. Am I overreacting about the accident?

Lastly, there are a good 7-8 scratches or chips in the paint. I would like to do touch up paint at some point. This car is the salsa red paint. Anyone ever purchase the GM factory touch up paint and have success with it?

Rome wrote:Lastly, there are a good 7-8 scratches or chips in the paint. I would like to do touch up paint at some point. This car is the salsa red paint. Anyone ever purchase the GM factory touch up paint and have success with it?

Duplicolor BGM0509 Dark Cherry Met is as close as you can get to factory without getting a can made at your local auto paint shop. I tried the code matched paint from Duplicolor, and it's not even close. This color will be almost a perfect match and blends well. Of course, with the properties of the Salsa paint, no touchup can match the metallic perfectly at every angle. It's one of those paints where if you get a damaged panel, you may need to repaint the whole car, in fact, my hood was repaired and it took the shop 9 tries to get the metallic to flip/flop correctly.

hotbug1776 wrote:

Rome wrote:Lastly, there are a good 7-8 scratches or chips in the paint. I would like to do touch up paint at some point. This car is the salsa red paint. Anyone ever purchase the GM factory touch up paint and have success with it?

It's one of those paints where if you get a damaged panel, you may need to repaint the whole car, in fact, my hood was repaired and it took the shop 9 tries to get the metallic to flip/flop correctly.

I had a cobalt before in the metallic orange color. I had a 1mm thick scratch of about 6 inches I wanted to fill in. I bought a paint pen right from a chevy dealership and it matched really well. I figured there would be the same kind of think for scratches on this vibe if I get it.

Related to the accident and condition of the vehicle: I gave this guy a $100 deposit to hold the car for me while I wait for the insurance check to show up. If I ask him now to take it to an independent mechanic or something I feel like hes just gonna tell me to forget the deal, because he took his listing down a week ago. Bah.

It's one of those colors that the dealer may have, but won't look good. I even have a can of matched paint from a paint supplier that doesn't look as good as the duplicolor does. It's all in the flip/flop of the metallic. I'll try to wetsand and get some pics of my roof this weekend, weather permitting.

So there is the accident to worry about. But now I am reading horror stories on genvibe about how apparently the AWD is so easily broken. Espeically if the maintainance wasnt perfect for the life of the car, or if it was ever towed NOT on a flatbed. I did not want to think about having poor mpg or costly repiars because I want the AWD model. Any thoughts?

As my other post says, Orange 04 vibe just got totaled and I bought an 04 Blue...BUT...I did get to look at a 2013 Orange Subaru Crosstrek. Awesome!!

Rome wrote:So there is the accident to worry about. But now I am reading horror stories on genvibe about how apparently the AWD is so easily broken. Espeically if the maintainance wasnt perfect for the life of the car, or if it was ever towed NOT on a flatbed. I did not want to think about having poor mpg or costly repiars because I want the AWD model. Any thoughts?

All AWD cars require a flat bed to be towed. When the transmission fluid is change the rear-diff fluid also needs to be done. These are the most basic things to know about AWD cars.