GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

just bought a 07 vibe fwb 1.8 auto trans. lil' history i'm a cheap/budget minded guy that doesn't like making payments on cars, also a pretty big fan of Toyota's reliability with a lot of there vehicles. which led me to the Pontiac vibe aka the uglier version of the Toyota matrix. car has 86k miles on it and minimal to no rust which is surprising for being in Michigan, car came from Ohio. no codes, no leaks. car does need front rotors/pads, tires (came with two steel and two nasty aluminum rims) and came with a pretty high idle when cold started but i read that's pretty common. only interior problems were dome light doesn't work and the passenger driver side window stops about 3 inches to bottom and wont open further and sadly didn't come with the cross bars for the roof rack. the rear heat shield on the rear end seems to have lost a bolt or two and rattles every once in a while. and the rims are half steel half (old not taken care of) original aluminum.

mostly just looking for experienced maintenance advice/incite. plan on changing the engine oil immediately, serpentine belt which looks cracked but isnt whining yet. flush radiator,check hoses, air filter, cabin filter, front brakes and rotors.trans looks clean and red is it worth a drain and fill? i read the fuel filter is in the tank and doesn't really need to be changed? would love to get a another two steel rims and a good set of aluminum for winter and summer, any tire recommendations? anyone use cheap aftermarket cross bars, i see a few on amazon haven't had much luck finding used ones.

murdermitten99 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 12, 2019 1:27 pm just bought a 07 vibe fwb 1.8 auto trans. lil' history i'm a cheap/budget minded guy that doesn't like making payments on cars, also a pretty big fan of Toyota's reliability with a lot of there vehicles. which led me to the Pontiac vibe aka the uglier version of the Toyota matrix. car has 86k miles on it and minimal to no rust which is surprising for being in Michigan, car came from Ohio. no codes, no leaks. car does need front rotors/pads, tires (came with two steel and two nasty aluminum rims) and came with a pretty high idle when cold started but i read that's pretty common. only interior problems were dome light doesn't work and the passenger driver side window stops about 3 inches to bottom and wont open further and sadly didn't come with the cross bars for the roof rack. the rear heat shield on the rear end seems to have lost a bolt or two and rattles every once in a while. and the rims are half steel half (old not taken care of) original aluminum.

mostly just looking for experienced maintenance advice/incite. plan on changing the engine oil immediately, serpentine belt which looks cracked but isnt whining yet. flush radiator,check hoses, air filter, cabin filter, front brakes and rotors.trans looks clean and red is it worth a drain and fill? i read the fuel filter is in the tank and doesn't really need to be changed? would love to get a another two steel rims and a good set of aluminum for winter and summer, any tire recommendations? anyone use cheap aftermarket cross bars, i see a few on amazon haven't had much luck finding used ones.

Well, I have the same make, model, and features, roughly. The cross bars weren't on a lot of the vehicles. In fact, some people go for the older models that did have them standard. I'm not too fussed - I've been meaning to buy an aftermarket set, but hadn't gotten a circular TUIT.

I would strongly recommend getting the wheels looked over, and probably replaced. (With factory wheels) My original 03 had factory steels, and three out of the four were warped. The aftermarket aluminums require the stupid hub centric rings, which are annoying as SNOT. You'd think that they'd make _some_ wheels for the standard Toyota hub diameter, consider it was in the Corolla, Matrix, Vibe, and a half a dozen other vehicles.

Tranmission.. You never know, so a drain and fill shouldn't hurt at all, since you're at the right point for it, mileage-wise. Definitely change the belt, and be ready for it to take a while. Watch out for the tensioner; they're prone to cracking (according to what I've seen here). There's a thread in this (maintenance) section (I think) where one of the members just got a good set of Coopers, and he's been very pleased with them.

When you do the front brakes, be sure to clean and lube the caliper slide pins as well.

Flushing radiator - I've given a breakdown on how I do it in other threads; I can repeat here, but you definitely need to do that. You might, at the same time, replace the upper radiator hose and thermostat (use the Aisin that's for the 2007 Toyota Matrix. Rockauto doesn't list it for the Vibe, oddly enough, but it's the OEM) Maybe lower at the same time.

With that few miles, you're at a GREAT place to get ahead of all of the creaky things that happen in the next 50k miles.

If you want expert advice, though, you'll probably have to hit up one of the ASE schools

Welcome to GenVibe. Glad you found us here as we'll help you out with anything/everything pertaining to these great little cars!

murdermitten99 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 12, 2019 1:27 pm the Pontiac vibe aka the uglier version of the Toyota matrix

Actually I think it's the reverse. The Pontiac Vibe is the more sportier looking hatchback

murdermitten99 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 12, 2019 1:27 pm being in Michigan, car came from Ohio

What part of Michigan? If it has the front license bracket there may be folks here who need it.

thanks for the through reply. found some same sized rims from a older calavier? size is the same with an 47 offset for 100$ id like to do those for summer tires and steel winter tires/rims.

i come from a long line of guys that dont service auto trans fluids with problems. so im getting alot of weird looks but yea i want this vibe to last as long as possible.
putting fully synthetic engine oil in now and ill probably buy the toyota trans fluid for it soon. doing belt tonight too. cant find a good bolt kit for the back heat shield yet though.

warren/detroit

yea i do have that front one

def wanted the roof rack over a matrix

Wife just left Dearborn Heights after close to three months of dealing with FIL death and getting the house sold. She's in Tennessee right now, will be heading to Mississippi, then home to Houston.

murdermitten99 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 13, 2019 2:28 pmcant find a good bolt kit for the back heat shield yet though.

Honestly, I'd just remove the rear heat shield right over the muffler. It's bound to continue to rattle. I have removed it on 3 of our 8 Vibes. It's been several years with no adverse effect.

https://imgur.com/gallery/YkNm9zK

Seems like got too much of a “tick” on the top end. What do you think?