GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I've had a lot of rattling coming from the back of my 08, and this morning discovered that the piece the hatch latch grabs on to is loose.


I can see what look like a couple of nuts with lock washers peeking out, and one is clearly loose. I assume those are what holds the latch part in place. Does the plastic piece covering these nuts come off without having to remove adjacent plastic pieces? And then, is it just a matter of retightening the nuts? Any advice to prevent a recurrence?
While I'm asking questions, I'm thinking about 205/R60 tires to replace my R55s. I've searched the site and have found a few favorable comments about such a change, but I'd be interested in a list of the pros and cons.
I turned over 193K this morning, also, nearly 10K since I got the car 14 months ago. I love it, except for the aftermarket radio.
Thanks for any advice.

There are two bolts under the plastic trim piece. Just tighten them.
Congratulations on almost hitting 200k.

Hi Memphis:
I think that plastic piece is the first to come off. Check if the side pieces overlap or tuck under. In any case it is super easy. You could add a little loc-tite if you worry about re-occurrence.

If you use tires of the same width and lower aspect ratio your will achieve a slightly better acceleration, a slightly lower top speed and a slightly worse fuel economy. Cornering might be a bit better but ride comfort will suffer. The speedometer will fool you a little more and make you think you are oh so fast.

It's fixed, and it was so quick and simple that I feel ridiculous for asking about it. Any more, though, when a problem comes up, my first thought is not to make things worse. The key was getting into the spare tire compartment (saw my spare for the first time; looks brand new).
Thanks for the tire comments. I'll probably stick with the R55s. Is there a brand that seems to give a better ride? I'm on Douglas tires now, which I think are from Walmart, and don't know how long they've been on the car. My mechanic likes Toyos.