GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Hey everyone,

I just picked up an 09 Vibe on Monday. It's replacing my wife's 97 2 dr Sunfire. It had 260,000 km on it, super rusty and was having overheating issues. With our first child due in March, we figured it was time to retire the car and get something a little more child friendly.

Here are a couple pics of it since everyone likes pics





I would like to do a few things to it to make it a little more unique, can't stand having a stock vehicle. Hopefully I can get some good ideas from the forum. I'm thinking tint will be one of the first things I do.

I also own a 99 Blazer ZR2. It has a 2" Body Lift, 33x10.5R15 BFG KM2's on third gen Z28 wheels, Auburn ECTED rear electric locker, 3000w Inverter, custom built (by me) rear diff cover and probably more mods than I can think of at the moment and many more to come lol.





And 2000 Sonoma ZR2.

It started out as buying a 2001 S10 writeoff for a parts truck



But decided I would like to have a trail truck project for a solid axle swap. So I fixed it up most of the way, but it still had a bent frame and not great to build off of.



So I found a 2000 Sonoma with no drivetrain but straight frame and clean title.



I swapped everything from the writeoff to the new truck. Engine, trans, complete interior etc. I also cleaned up some of the frame and inner fenders (sanded, painted). It was a lot of work that took me about a year and a half working some evenings and weekends.

Here's how it sits now



Eventual plans for it are Ford D44/9" combo form a 79 Bronco and 39x13.5R17 BFG Krawlers.

I have tons more pics of the project but don't want to make this intro thread any longer than it already is lol

Anyway, thanks for reading and I look forward to being part of the forum!

Welcome! Quite an introduction! That is a good looking Vibe, and a couple of nice trucks too. You did a great job on the Sonoma, for sure.

Congrats on your new baby! The Vibe should be a great family car. Plenty of room for stuff you will need to cart around.

Welcome to GenVibe. YES, the Vibe is very child friendly and a great car for any young family. Looks like you're the kind of guy who just can't keep his hands off his vehicles We like people like that here. Very nice mods don to your trucks and I'm sure you'll come up with a few for the "new to you" Vibe. Awesome job for your introductory post by including so many pics AND disclosing your location. Visit often!

Wellcome to GenVibe , good luck with your car...
Your Vibe looks nice..
Looks like You like to tinker with cars ,You did a great job on your truck too..

Thanks guys, yeah I'm not new to forums. Seems like the one universal theme is everyone likes lots of pictures lol

I grew up working on cars with my dad so I've been tinkering for a long time. I do as much of my own work as possible, only times would be if I don't have some specialty tool or it's an emergency type item that needs fixing asap.

I'm thinking I'll probably make my own strut tower brace for it just for the fun of it.

Welcome to the forum! And thanks for not making us wait for any pictures! Great job with the truck!

Welcome to GenVibe! As others have said, thanks for posting pictures right away ! I see your Vibe is a 1.8L Base and is also the best color ! It's neat to hear that your wife used to have a Sunfire. My mom and I both had Sunfires before we got our 2009 Vibe GTs (pictured in my signature below). There are a few other members here who used to have Sunfires too. I look forward to seeing what you do with the Vibe.

Hi Welcome.

Thanks for the warm welcomes everyone!

vibenvy wrote:Welcome to GenVibe! As others have said, thanks for posting pictures right away ! I see your Vibe is a 1.8L Base and is also the best color ! It's neat to hear that your wife used to have a Sunfire. My mom and I both had Sunfires before we got our 2009 Vibe GTs (pictured in my signature below). There are a few other members here who used to have Sunfires too. I look forward to seeing what you do with the Vibe.

You know your vibes lol, yup 1.8L base. Has 89000 km on it. First tank of gas got about 20% better mileage than the Sunfire average so that's off to a good start. To be honest, I'm not a fan of the colour, just because it seems like every other car out there is the same colour. But you can't be too picky buying used cars. I've read through both of your threads already, getting ideas.

We bought it with a good size crack in the front bumper but it's going to be fixed by the dealer as part of the deal. They're planning on actually fixing this bumper, but if they decide they can't fix it I'm going to see if I can convince them to replace it with a gt bumper.

Jamaroon wrote:You know your vibes lol, yup 1.8L base. Has 89000 km on it. First tank of gas got about 20% better mileage than the Sunfire average so that's off to a good start. To be honest, I'm not a fan of the colour, just because it seems like every other car out there is the same colour. But you can't be too picky buying used cars. I've read through both of your threads already, getting ideas.

We bought it with a good size crack in the front bumper but it's going to be fixed by the dealer as part of the deal. They're planning on actually fixing this bumper, but if they decide they can't fix it I'm going to see if I can convince them to replace it with a gt bumper.

I know my Vibes and Sunfires too !

I never kept track of our mileage when we had our Sunfires (My mom had a black 98 Sunfire SE Sedan 2200 that was purchased new and traded in for her Vibe in 2009. I had a silver 02 Sunfire GT Coupe ECOtec that was purchased new in 2002 and sold in 2008. I also had a silver 02 Sunfire SE Sedan 2200 that was purchased used in 2007 and traded in for my Vibe in 2009.), but I'm sure the Vibes probably get at least slightly better mileage. I've seen as high as 34 MPG with 100% highway in my Vibe and that's with the bigger 2.4L engine and 5-speed automatic. We both average 27-28 MPG with 50% city / 50% highway driving. I'd love to have a 2009-2010 1.8L Vibe someday just to see what kind of mileage I could squeeze out of it.

The thing I like most about silver cars is they hide scratches, dings, etc. pretty well and even when they're dirty, they don't really look too dirty compared to other colors. I think it's a classy color and looks amazing when it's clean. I fell in love with silver cars when I saw my 02 Sunfire GT Coupe on the dealer lot. Every vehicle since has been silver and I don't see that changing anytime soon .

That sucks about the crack, but at least the dealer's going to attempt tp fix it. It'd be really cool if you could talk them into doing a GT front bumper. There's a thread on here about adding OEM fog lights to a 2009-2010 Base, so you would have functioning fog lights if you do end up with a GT front bumper.

Glad to hear our Garage threads have given you some ideas. Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.