GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I loved my 2004 Vibe so much I decided to upgrade to a 2010 Vibe with only 31,000 miles.
After I got it, I wanted to swap the stock wheels and hubcaps with the AWD 17" aluminum wheels. I experienced a little speed bump while trying to swap them out. I didn't know they were different wheel bolt patterns on the two wheels. But luckily the money I spent on wheels and new tires didn't go to waste. I was able to find hubcentric wheel adapters/spacers that went from 5x100 center bore 54.1 to 5x114.3 center bore 60.1. I should have known better that the AWD Vibe with the Camry engine would have Camry Wheel hubs and the 1.8 base would have Corolla wheel hubs but I wasn't thinking. Lesson learned. I also picked up a new compact spare on eBay with the 5x114.3 60.1 center bore bolt pattern in case of a flat. I'm super happy with it although I miss my 2004. It had 170,000 and still running strong. I was able to get $3,000 for it.

Florida car ??? Now it needs the factory fog lights! Looks very clean. Why the extremely low mileage, if legitimate? Private seller or dealer?

Yep, to confirm what you've learned:
All 09-10 2.4L Vibes are 5x114.3
All 03-10 1.8L Vibes are 5x100

Also, nice looking 10 Base. How thick are the wheel spacers? Do the wheels stick out from the fender at all? They look pretty flush.

I agree with tpollauf... needs the factory fog lights.

tpollauf wrote:Florida car ??? Now it needs the factory fog lights! Looks very clean. Why the extremely low mileage, if legitimate? Private seller or dealer?

Yep, Florida. I got it from someone on Craigslist so I was able to save some money on dealers fees. She was an older lady and only drove it to her school and back with is only a few miles a day commute. The engine looks new now after I cleaned it from being dusty, no evidence that she was lying or anything. The miles on the odometer matched the wear on the engine. Clean car fax report. I paid $7000 for it because of the low miles. The only issue was badly faded paint and clouded headlight lenses because it was never garage kept. The Florida sun did a number on it. And the tires were original 8 years old. They still had alittle bit of tread left but had some dry rot so I wanted to replace them. Got a great deal online for $50 per tire with free shipping from walmart.com . I picked up a cheap polisher from harbor freight along with some meguiar's ultra cut compound m105 to restore the showroom shine and a headlight restore kit. The fog lights will come in time. It's more of a headache to find the parts online along with trying to install it to make them functiona after I looked aroundl. Right now I'm focusing on the engine and replacing the fluids. I just changed the oil andI want to drain and refill the tranny with clean fluid and replace the coolant since it's 8 years old. The front brake pads will need replacing soon so. I already picked up a set of akebono ceramic brake pads to install when I get a chance. I also got the windows tinted. I went with 30% on the front and 18% for the back windows and rear window to stay legal in Florida.

runningslow wrote:Yep, to confirm what you've learned:
All 09-10 2.4L Vibes are 5x114.3
All 03-10 1.8L Vibes are 5x100

Also, nice looking 10 Base. How thick are the wheel spacers? Do the wheels stick out from the fender at all? They look pretty flush.

I agree with tpollauf... needs the factory fog lights.

1 inch spacers. Just thick enough to clear the factory lug studs. I got lucky, the tires are flush to the fenders and don't look bad at all. I hated having to use spacers, but after spending so much time and money getting wheels and tires I had to try them. I screwed up and got regular spacers not knowing that the wheel lug nuts aren't self centering like the steel wheel lug nuts are. So I had to get hubcentric spacers so that the wheels are better centered on the hub. I also found a shop that installed my tires with regular rubber valve stems so I don't have to deal with the cost and hassle of the tire sensors. I never had a car with sensors, so I was shocked to find out how expensive each one was along with having to program them to your car. Screw that, I'm good with checking my own tire pressure monthly I don't need them. Just had to use alittle piece of black electrical tape to cover the tire pressure light til I can figure out how to disable it. haha

Nice! and very good deals all the way around! Congrats!

Very sharp. That pin stripe detail really looks nice on your car.

I'd enjoy learning more about all the differences you are noting between this car and your Gen1.

Jbenrod wrote:Very sharp. That pin stripe detail really looks nice on your car.

I'd enjoy learning more about all the differences you are noting between this car and your Gen1.

I like the pin strips too. I'm assuming it was done at the original dealership and not by the owner by the way it was perfectly applied tastefully and not overdone and tacky looking. I had to remove the 3m clear door edge protectors that were installed because they were all moldy looking and ugly from exposure to our Florida rain and humidity over the years. That was a pain, my hands are still sore from trying to carefully scrape it off with goo gone to get the sticky residue off.

One difference off the bat I noticed was when I was first going through the car to top off the fluids was no power steering reservoir. I was looking everywhere for it. Come to find out it has electric power steering and not your traditional hydraulic power steering pump connected to the engine. I never heard of such a thing. Too funny, hope they're reliable. Also, after driving this new car for a while, I definitely feel like my 04 vibe had much more comfortable seats and better quality interior. This newer one has firmer seats to the point I've already had to buy a memory foam seat cushion to make it a bit more comfortable. And also the plastics used in the interior are harder and feel cheaper than my 04 vibe. The center consul arm rest is as hard as a rock. On the plus side, the engine is super quite smooth running when idle, and the automatic transmission shifts much smoother than my old vibe. You can barely feel it shifting into gears. I also like the exterior, much cleaner lines visually without looking so busy. And no roof rack, since I never used it, I didn't care for the look of it much. Oil changes are a little different as well. I had to buy a special wrench to remove a plastic oil filter housing that contains a paper oil filter, not your regular spin on metal canister oil filter type like you see in the 03-08 Vibes. I plan on keeping this one for a while, so I'm using Mobil one synthetic 0W20 and changing it every 5,000 miles along with using Toyota oil filters.

Props on posting a picture right away! It looks great with the OEM 17s!

Fog lights actually aren't that bad to install.

Disabling the Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) is also super easy.

You should consider starting a thread in the Garage Forum to document any future modifications, etc .

That is one clean Vibe. I've always liked those rims. Had no idea about the wheel adapters. Where did you purchase them from? Can you tell me what part # and make they are?

Capt.Vibe wrote:That is one clean Vibe. I've always liked those rims. Had no idea about the wheel adapters. Where did you purchase them from? Can you tell me what part # and make they are?

I purchased them off Ebay. $100 for a set of 4 with free shipping. below is a link if your interested.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2pc-25mm-1-Whe ... 3850!US!-1