GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Good day everyone.

I've been lurking the forum for a couple of weeks now reading through the posts and working on becoming better informed about the Vibe as I plan on purchasing one in the near future.

I have been keeping my eyes open for a gen 1 GT and have found a couple of, what appear to be, great examples.

The mileage on the engines are on the high side (200k). My research here seems to indicate that the 2zz engines are known for longevity. Could any of you more experienced owners provide thoughts on the subject?

Research seems to indicate acquiring a 2005 or newer model due to transmission issues. Is this accurate?

I looked around for a post on the main things to look for when buying a used Vibe but couldn't find anything. Is there such a topic and if there is could someone point me in that direction?

Finally, if anyone has lines on a candidate (Abyss, Monsoon or Neptune) and wouldn't mind passing along information about I would appreciate it.

Thanks and have a great day!

Nick

Welcome to GenVibe! I'm of no help since we have 2nd gen GTs, but I'm sure some 1st gen owners will chime in with some advice and info for you soon enough. Best of luck in your search !

Welcome to Genvibe and hopefully the beginning of a new member here for the long haul! We can't kelp you UNLESS we know your general location (update profile please). Then you'll see all kinds of pointers and suggestions go your way. Good luck

tpollauf wrote:Welcome to Genvibe and hopefully the beginning of a new member here for the long haul! We can't kelp you UNLESS we know your general location (update profile please). Then you'll see all kinds of pointers and suggestions go your way. Good luck

Doh, rookie move on my part. Taken care of now. For the record I'm located in the Raleigh, NC area but don't have an aversion to make a trip for the right vehicle. I have a few hundred thousand points with Southwest to leverage.

The tranny issue is on the base model's 5 speed. You should be fine with any 1st gen GT and the 6 speed. In personal experience, I had an '05 5 speed go for 200K miles in my wife's Corolla, however it was a catastrophic failure when it finally went. It has a new tranny and we expect to get another 200K.

The 1ZZ and 2ZZ are both reliable engines and known for longevity.

runningslow wrote:The tranny issue is on the base model's 5 speed. You should be fine with any 1st gen GT and the 6 speed. In personal experience, I had an '05 5 speed go for 200K miles in my wife's Corolla, however it was a catastrophic failure when it finally went. It has a new tranny and we expect to get another 200K.

The 1ZZ and 2ZZ are both reliable engines and known for longevity.

The information is very much appreciated Josh!

Welcome! My current 03 GT has over 222K miles and is still running very well, so if it was well maintained I would not worry about the mileage that much. The motors and transmissions on the GTs are good for a lot of miles. The only issue could be the clutch, but that does depend on the prior owner and what replacement they installed. Mine was driven by the second owner about 167K and he replaced the clutch twice at about 40K and 198K. The second one was a cheap replacement that only lasted about 12K miles. So far I have 12K miles on the replacement I installed. If buying from an individual, get whatever information you can on the clutch, if it has been changed or what.

Good luck on your search!

The gen1 GTs require higher octane fuel, something more than regular 87, so that's a cost of ownership detail. Another detail about the gen1 GT is that the extra HP kicks in when you hit "lift", which happens at high RPMs, don't know if there's much HP difference between the 1ZZ and 2ZZ at normal (<6K) RPMs. I am not trying to talk you out of the fun of the GT, just wanted to make sure you knew these before you decided. Like they say in the coin commercials on TV, "avoid disappointment and future regret". I bought a gen1 5 speed, and the tranny issues cost me way more than the extra fuel cost I would have had with the GT. AS previously said here, the GT 6 speed trannies have been remarkably reliable

One thing to check when looking at a used car is to hook up a code scanner, and verify that you get a Ready indication. Some sellers will clear check engine lights so the buyer won't be put off by the dash light, but when freshly cleared, the system will return a not ready status indicating that it hasn't yet had a chance to run all of its tests since it was last cleared. That bit me on one used car I bought, didn't run the scan because there was no check engine light, but light came on a month later when it got warm enough to run the evap tests. I had bought it from a place too far out of town to make it worth going back to force them to fix it. It also saved me once, I bought a used Tacoma, scanner said not ready, so I made it part of the purchase that if I got a check engine light within a 500 miles they'd be liable to fix it, and sure enough, the day after I bought it, light comes on with a P0240 code, and I made them fix it, ended up getting a brand new cat converter and O2 sensors.

joatmon wrote:Another detail about the gen1 GT is that the extra HP kicks in when you hit "lift", which happens at high RPMs, don't know if there's much HP difference between the 1ZZ and 2ZZ at normal (<6K) RPMs. I am not trying to talk you out of the fun of the GT, just wanted to make sure you knew these before you decided. Like they say in the coin commercials on TV, "avoid disappointment and future regret". I bought a gen1 5 speed, and the tranny issues cost me way more than the extra fuel cost I would have had with the GT. AS previously said here, the GT 6 speed trannies have been remarkably reliable

Outstanding information and THANK YOU for the clarity. It's exactly the type of information I look forward to finding out by going to forums. I had seen the term "lift" mentioned in several posts I read and was unsure what it was referring to. Being armed with that knowledge has me now considering the non GT models.

joatmon wrote:One thing to check when looking at a used car is to hook up a code scanner, and verify that you get a Ready indication.

Using a scanner is something I typically do when purchasing a vehicle locally as I have a friend who is a mechanic. I will have to look into getting one for my personal use. I have a wifi ODBCII adapter, will just need to see if there is an IOS application that could be used.

There's a Vibe GT (200k miles) in Miami that the current owner seems to have kept maintenance up on it fairly well and wants $2k. First blush makes me think it's a decent deal especially if I can negotiate the price down a bit.

the bad:
cruise control not working,
emergency brake is worn (will hold car, just not in a hill)
headlights are yellowed.
car needs paint on roof, its faded brown.
back bumper leans at passenger side.

the good:
recent synthetic oil change. front and rear brakes done about a year ago
serpentine belt changed, new battery 3 months old,
recently had both tie rods replaced,
has straight scion tc rims ( very tiny curb rash)
radio has cd/ mp3/ auxillary imput
a/c works excellent
shifts well, engine runs like a top. (serviced by ase certified mechanic)

$2K for a GT with 200K miles is good. I paid $2,900 for mine with 207K miles over a year ago and it was well maintained with Mobil 1. Thought it was a deal with a new clutch so I didn't bother talking him down. I painted my roof matte black with a quart can of Rustoleum and a foam roller, and it turned out pretty decent. Yellow headlights are normal at this age. I just sanded and polished mine and they are 90% better.

Personally, I love the GT vs my son's base model, and would not drive anything but a GT. The little bit extra for 91 octane (I mix the 89 and 93 that we have in my area) is well worth it. I love the scream of the car at higher RPMs. Not quite as fun as my Mustang was, but the gas mileage is a good 10 MPG better. Great for a commuter car.

Good luck on your search.

Appreciate the feedback trb.

The small mechanical "nuisances" and the paint I can handle. I've painted quite a few vehicles in the past (cough decades ago cough).

The Vibe is intended to replace my Jeep for a daily.

Cheers

Official owner of an '03 Black GT as of today.

Picked it up for $750. It has 199k miles and needs a clutch.

It will definitely need to be cleaned up but the engine purrs and has brand new tires.

Now to get my hands on a FSM.

Any recommended maintenance?

Congrats! Now that is a deal! Another $250 in parts and time for the clutch swap and you have a great little car. Waiting for pics now!!!

trb wrote:Congrats! Now that is a deal! Another $250 in parts and time for the clutch swap and you have a great little car. Waiting for pics now!!!

Thanks! I read through your thread for the clutch replacement and ordered parts accordingly. Appreciate you listing out the parts etc.

I will get a picture up soon.

RDUNick wrote:Official owner of an '03 Black GT as of today.

Picked it up for $750. It has 199k miles and needs a clutch.

It will definitely need to be cleaned up but the engine purrs and has brand new tires.

Now to get my hands on a FSM.

Any recommended maintenance?

Compression test and buy new plugs while you're in there

Congratulations! Looking forward to seeing some pictures *hint hint* !

vibenvy wrote:Congratulations! Looking forward to seeing some pictures *hint hint* !

Thanks!

New thread posted over in the Garage section with pictures.

I thought that would be the best place to start recording the journey.

^ Was just looking at it. As I said in that one, I look forward to seeing the progress! Sounds like you've already got a good jump on it. Best of luck getting it back into tip-top shape !