Things to look for when buying a vibe in 2023?

[512green]

Hi. Im looking for a replacement vehicle as my only car. I am looking for a vibe automatic. It would be nice to find one for 4k or less, but willing to spend more for the right deal. What are some things to look for when trying to find a good deal on this car? I am in East Central Texas. Also, where is the best place to look to find a good deal? What mileage on this car would still be a good deal? I mean if I bought one with 150k miles would it still last another 10 years? What is the best mileage to look for?

[VibeNation2024]

Know that I'm late with my reply but since I was just in the same situation, I figured that I would add my input. I will start off by saying that finding a Vibe even in 2024 is possible. I recently purchased a grey 2008 Vibe with 67,670 miles for $8,000. (Some might say this is high for a 2008 but it checked all the boxes with extremely low mileage, great mechanical condition, good cosmetic condition with no rust, etc). After searching for a while and as a current Vibe owner, I knew I could perform the maintenance, make any needed repairs, detail the car, etc with minimial expense and have a great car for years to come!

You might have also noticed this recent post: viewtopic.php?p=537427#p537427 on a proud new Vibe owner. However, I can tell you if you are looking for 4k or less, you will have to settle on ones that have higher mileage, need repairs, have accidents, or other issues. I started my search with google which led me to sites like Edmunds, autolist, carfax and autoblog. I was then able to find the dealer website or private party listings. I ended up expanding my search and found "the one" on facebook marketplace.

As far as your mileage questions, it is not just the amount of miles but the maintenance performed and type of miles. For example, was it a fleet / rental car that was constant stop and go driving, did not have oil changed at regular intervals, or highway miles, etc. As you probably know / could easily find out with searches and / or can read from the "how many miles..." forum (viewtopic.php?t=2058), a Vibe can last over 100,000 with just regular basic maintenance. There are Vibe's for sale with 200,000 miles and even ones that have hit the 299,999 max miles for the odometer!

Another thought is that you can expand your search outside of Texas since there are numerous and low cost (in the hundreds) shipping options to have your car delivered if you find the right deal. You can get quotes but a word of warning that some sites have you put in contact info to receive the quote and you will get spammed with follow up emails, texts, calls, etc.

I'm attaching a screenshot of the spreadsheet that I put together and would recommend doing the same since there will be pro/cons with each Vibe that you will have to decide on. Let me know if you needed any of the vehicle links or if you had other questions.