GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

So, the wife and I finally bit the bullet and bought a used 2009 base 1.8L Vibe, silver in colour, 119,000km. Private sale from two very nice older people.

A couple of things manifested themselves during the drive home that neither of us noticed during our test drive. Maybe some folks here can chime in and tell me whether it's "just ours", or if these are common complaints.

1. The rear view mirrors and side mirrors seem to vibrate a lot, compared to the mirrors in our 1st gen Vibe (we alternated driving the two Vibes on our way home, so the differences were pretty noticeable). I was checking my mirrors every now and then, and it looked like the cars in the mirror's view were experiencing an earthquake!

2. Speaking of the mirrors, I'm wondering if there's a way to replace that big rearview mirror with something smaller. I'm never going to use OnStar, and the mirror is really obstructing my view out the right side of the car when combined with that massive A pillar, no matter where I move the mirror.

3. I heard a very high-pitched whine that fades in and out, really faint, really high pitched, and very infrequently during the drive home. It seemed to occur when the steering wheel was turned to a specific spot, although I couldn't reliably duplicate it on command. At certain times though, that sound occurred--almost like the sound you hear when someone is grinding a copy of a house key, but nowhere near as loud. Same pitch though. I noticed too that although the car's alignment was perfectly true and straight, the steering wheel itself, when the car was moving in a straight line, was turned slightly off-centre. So I'm wondering if the sound is due to some kind of wheel alignment issue.

4. Gas mileage seems worse than I thought it'd be--I can't be sure, but I think we went through more gas on the way back with the 2nd gen than with the 1st gen. I'll have to measure though and get back to you all on this point.

I noticed too that although the car's alignment was perfectly true and straight, the steering wheel itself, when the car was moving in a straight line, was turned slightly off-centre. So I'm wondering if the sound is due to some kind of wheel alignment issue.

This is probably from the place that did the alignment not centering the steering wheel before aligning it. I had this happen on one of my vehicles. Dealt with it until I needed it aligned again and then told them to make sure the steering wheel was straight, like they're supposed to do anyhow, when aligning it.

Congrats on the purchase. You definitely need to post some pics soon!

1) No, that's definitely not normal. I can't compare to a gen1 but I've always had a clear view in all the mirrors.

2) You can try moving it up. The mirror has about 3 inches of vertical movement. If that's not enough, you can definitely replace it with different mirror.

3) it definitely sounds like you have something wrong with the front end. That might explain why your mirrors are shaking. Could be something as simple as a tire out of balance.

4) What motor do you have? The 2.4 is a bit of a hog. The 1.8 is pretty good but there's not really any improvement from the last 1.8. One thing I did notice is that the fuel gauge isn't linear. It stays at full for a long time then kind of shoots down to empty. The lower the hand is the faster it seems to go.

zbyers wrote:

I noticed too that although the car's alignment was perfectly true and straight, the steering wheel itself, when the car was moving in a straight line, was turned slightly off-centre. So I'm wondering if the sound is due to some kind of wheel alignment issue.

This is probably from the place that did the alignment not centering the steering wheel before aligning it. I had this happen on one of my vehicles. Dealt with it until I needed it aligned again and then told them to make sure the steering wheel was straight, like they're supposed to do anyhow, when aligning it.

I completely agree. Not centering the steering wheel is an all to common short cut.

Also, I learned on these pages, if you have electric power steering its calibration can be affected when the front end alignment goes out of whack.

Why did the car need an alignment in the first place? Maybe the PO kissed a curb to hard, maybe a bit more severe. Maybe the grinding noise is a result of that. Anyhow it seems to me a diligent and knowledgeable garage will be able to straighten it out. And if it appears the PO did not disclose an accident you have a good reason to pee on his leg.

gtv237 wrote:Congrats on the purchase. You definitely need to post some pics soon!

1) No, that's definitely not normal. I can't compare to a gen1 but I've always had a clear view in all the mirrors.

2) You can try moving it up. The mirror has about 3 inches of vertical movement. If that's not enough, you can definitely replace it with different mirror.

3) it definitely sounds like you have something wrong with the front end. That might explain why your mirrors are shaking. Could be something as simple as a tire out of balance.

4) What motor do you have? The 2.4 is a bit of a hog. The 1.8 is pretty good but there's not really any improvement from the last 1.8. One thing I did notice is that the fuel gauge isn't linear. It stays at full for a long time then kind of shoots down to empty. The lower the hand is the faster it seems to go.

Thanks for the detailed feedback, much appreciated. It's a 1.8L, sorry--I've edited my OP accordingly. Interesting comment about the fuel gauge--I'll have to measure fuel economy properly as soon as I get a chance to fill the tank and drive it a bit. Maybe the gauge is logarithmic

Fuel gauges always lie. They do so because they supposed to scare you so you will fuel up before it is to late.

Congrats on the additional Vibe purchase Dave Now you are among the MANY multiple Vibe owners on this forum. Good luck with the newer Vibe!

Congratulations on the "new" Vibe! Nice to hear you got the best color ! Definitely post some pictures when you get a chance.

Regarding the rear view mirror, GMPartsCenter.net used to list a non-OnStar equipped rear view mirror, but now they're showing it's been discontinued . You may be able to find one in a junkyard or by searching around online. I'm sure there are probably rear view mirrors from other vehicles that would work as well.