New driver/Vibe gets new lease on life
Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2021 3:38 pm
We have owned our 2006 Vibe (Base) since 2015 and it has been my husband's daily driver. It fit our requirements at the time...in reasonable shape, based on a Toyota, and under $4000. I loved it from the start.
My 17 year old is finally getting their license, so it was time for a new car for hubby and passing down the Vibe to the kiddo.
It has not been particularly well loved these last five years. She has almost 230K miles, and other than regular oil changes and a new alternator a couple years ago, it has been sadly neglected. I can't even remember the last time he washed it.
So now the Vibe is finally getting some love. My teen and I replaced all the door pulls, the driver's side door lock actuator, polished the headlights, replaced the fog lamps, emptied and reseated the A/C blower motor, and today finally dealt with the dreaded P0171. We pulled the intake manifold and replaced the gasket. While we were at it, gave the old girl some new spark plugs too. RPMs at idle dropped from 2K to 1K, and she runs smooth and clean.
We ordered some touchup paint but they sent the wrong color (got black pearl with blue granite label), but in the meantime the rest of the body looks pretty good. I'm absolutely thrilled for them to have this baby as their first car. And I'm an awfully proud mom that they have taken ownership by doing so much themself.
I got a lot of info from this forum, so thank you all, and thanks in advance for all the help I anticipate getting her to 299,999.
Ali
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It has not been particularly well loved these last five years. She has almost 230K miles, and other than regular oil changes and a new alternator a couple years ago, it has been sadly neglected. I can't even remember the last time he washed it.
So now the Vibe is finally getting some love. My teen and I replaced all the door pulls, the driver's side door lock actuator, polished the headlights, replaced the fog lamps, emptied and reseated the A/C blower motor, and today finally dealt with the dreaded P0171. We pulled the intake manifold and replaced the gasket. While we were at it, gave the old girl some new spark plugs too. RPMs at idle dropped from 2K to 1K, and she runs smooth and clean.
We ordered some touchup paint but they sent the wrong color (got black pearl with blue granite label), but in the meantime the rest of the body looks pretty good. I'm absolutely thrilled for them to have this baby as their first car. And I'm an awfully proud mom that they have taken ownership by doing so much themself.
I got a lot of info from this forum, so thank you all, and thanks in advance for all the help I anticipate getting her to 299,999.
Ali
Oh, and welcome to GenVibe 
What took you so long to join up with us? Anyways the Vibe is a great starter car for the newer drivers. My son got his 2009 Vibe Gt 10 years ago and is still driving it today with practically ZERO issues! Extremely dependable little cars. Hopefully he takes very good care of it and drives it for several more years.