GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I was just wondering what made you all buy the Vibe over the Matrix? And of course to you Matrix owners why the Matrix over the Vibe? Myself, I really like the look and styling of the Vibe over the Trix. I also love the 0% financing for 60 months, 1000.00$ cash back, my discount via my brother at GM, basically the price and for the base Vibe I felt I was getting more bang for the buck. I drove both models and for the strangest reason I just felt better in the Vibe and of course my brother said I looked better in the Vibe LOL So tell me why? PS I used the search feature and could not find this topic, if it does already exist please moderator delete it

well, i test drove all of them. i went with the vibe because i still wanted the toyota but without the space pod look. i also was enticed by the special financing and dealer rebates. honestly, i liked the look better with the vibe than i did with the matrix. just my opinion tho.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$Discount.

I just wasn't a fan of the look of the matrix... It looks too...squat? Maybe.. But yeah, I loved the look of the Vibe back when it was the Aztek concept..

The good ol' GMO discount is one factor, but I really just do not like the look of the Matrix overall. It looks squatty to me, and I think the Vibe looks more sporty.

because I'm a huge pontiac fanatic, and the Vibe is the perfect car. It also helps that I get the GM discount

Style and price.

i was just looking at vehicles one day after i got my "real" job. i wanted some type of suv, but i also wanted a new car, so a new suv was too expensive. i saw the vibe, so the price, and fell in love. i had never even seen one, but i knew i wanted one after that. so i got one.

I picked the Vibe over the Matrix because I prefer the styling of the Vibe and I have a GM credit card, so I got a $1000 redemption from that, plus the $2k GM discount, plus invoice pricing, plus a good interest rate. Got over $4,500 off sticker, plus a great interest rate. I don't think you can pull that off on a Matrix and they're the same car!!

100% because of the Styling.I was actually gonna get an Automatic XRS most likely, but I really just loved the Styling of the Vibe better

Hey Arc, take a look herehttp://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=2146

I looked at both the Matrix and the Vibe. I took about two or three weeks before I determined the sheetmetal design of the matrix looked kinda funky to me. Still, I didnt rule it out because the Toyota will always have the better resale value(I always have an exit strategy when I buy anything significant). When I discovered that there were no rebates available on the Toyota and they dont deal as aggressivly as GM dealers I felt the $3300(GM In the Drive price + $2000 rebate) off sticker more than made up for the lower resale the Pontiac will come resale time. Decision made.....Vibe not only looks better but is better financially.

Sorry people did not realize that it was already asked a while back..... I thought I had used the search function properly

Lets see....Looks for one. I love the front end of the Vibe over the Matrix by a long shot. It's more aggressive looking. I like Pontiac, even though it is a Toyota in actuallity. GM had the 0% financing, so it was much cheaper to get my Vibe than the Matrix.

I prefer the looks of the Vibe also I think at the time I was soo turned off by the Toyota Sales department..RK Toyota Mercury BLVD, Hampton VA. (Horrible sharks)

I didn't know the Matrix excisted when I got the Vibe (removed). I still like the Vibe better though

Toyota quality with American style. Need I say more.

Funny thing about that quote that is the exact thing the salesman told me when I was looking at the Vibe LOL

I agree with the other statements. The Vibe will be worth less later, but I paid SO much less than a Matrix would cost. I am guessing the Vibe plant has a higher capacity than the Matrix plant, hence more Vibes are sold and for less money.

matrix over vibe-warranty toyota powertrain goes to 60k, and ok i work at the toyota dealer.

Several things for me:StyleRebateGM Card

i didnt know about the matrix when i bought the vibe. well i didnt really buy it my parents did, and they have bought cars from that dealer before, and they got a good deal.

Um,my father-in-law owns the dealership that I work at and of course I got the discount.Did toyota have envy?lol Plus the nearest toy dealer is probably 100 miles away

$2000 RebateGM Employee discount from Grandfather50 miles to the nearest Toyota DealerStyling

This may sound strange coming from Canada but the Vibe, when I bought mine, was actually more expensive than the Matrix by about $1200 Cdn. I still went with the Vibe because I liked the sytling better and at the time you couldn't get the sunroof option on the Matrix.In Calgary, Matrix is outselling the Vibe by a long shot. Everywhere you look you see the Matrix in all sorts of colours. I'm starting to see more Vibes but it still seems to be a bit of a rare car up here.

At one point this summer in Montreal, they had a clearance sale for the Matrix, they were selling them at 16 600.00$CAN, it was alot cheaper than my Vibe ( even with the GM discount and all )Didn't like the Toyota way of selling cars ( push the options like crazy, worse than the GM guys ) and I still preferred the look of the Vibe, just wanted confirmation of that fact.I still say I got more bang for the buck with my base model than the Trix IMHO.

Never considered the matrix.All my family has ever driven were Pontiacs. It was between the Vibe and a Sunfire. I liked the new Sunfire look outside, but tehy made the dash look too grand-amish, and because I had just been in a bad accident, safety was huge, and the sunfire had a poor safety rating.When I saw the look of the vibe, and it had 5 stars all around, it was a done deal.

Hey Mike!Very true! I sold my 96 Cavalier because of the poor safety rating....never thought I would buy a "wagon" but I sure don't regret it

I never really considered the Matrix either. Gowing up my family was pure American: Jeep Cherokee, Ford Explorers & Chevy Vans. Never cared for Asian cars at all. For that matter, never cared for front wheel drive. The Vibe is a nice compromise - still an American brand, but with the Toyota motor (which yes, I do like) and engineering I can make myself think that foreign cars are nice.Now, if they only made the Vibe a RWD V8! Lol.J/K I my Vibe!

I don't like the front end styling on the Vibe but I prefer the rest of the vehicles styling over that of the Matrix so I call it a draw on looks.I started out looking to get a Vibe GT but the only two that I could find anywhere near me were black and I don't ever want to have to keep a black car washed and waxed again -- been there done that -- don't wanna do it again. I couldn't find a GT or XRS anywhere in the state. None of the 7 local Pontiac dealers that I talked with seemed the least bit interested in finding me a GT elsewhere. I then turned to Toyota. The very first Toyota dealer that I went to found me a car immediately. It was in Louisiana but they did a dealer swap and had it here within a couple of days. At the time, Toyota did have a cash back program and I found financing for 3.5% so the Toyota actually came out cheaper than the GT would have been. If any of the Pontiac dealers had been willing to find me a car, I'd have a GT now but I'm happy the way things turned out.. I get more compliments on this car than I've ever gotten on any vehicle I've ever owned.

I decided to go with the Vibe because of the styling. I ordered my Vibe from the factory in February of 2002. They had just come out and were so hard to find. I ended up paying more for my Vibe than I would have for a Matrix, but I like GM & Pontiac and I do not care for the Matrix design. The Matrix looks too much like the Corolla and it's too plain. You could easily buy a Matrix back then, but Vibes were so rare and still are pretty rare here in northern VA.

There are Vibes EVERYWHERE here! Just today, I took a trip to Meijer and I saw 6 Vibes! 6! And one Matrix. The GM rep told me they couldn't hold on to them for a day before someone would come in and buy one. I know there are more Matrixes out there, but not here (probably because the nearest Toyota dealer is a half hour away).I would call it a draw between the looks of the Matrix and Vibe, but for me the Matrix won out mostly because of every one of my friends remarking that the Vibe is a chick car, and every person I see driving one is a woman. Plus, the Matrix is a bit cheaper.

quote:I would call it a draw between the looks of the Matrix and Vibe, but for me the Matrix won out mostly because of every one of my friends remarking that the Vibe is a chick car, and every person I see driving one is a woman. Plus, the Matrix is a bit cheaper.I would have reached a different conclusion, if all I see are chicks driving Vibes, then I'd get a vibe instead of a Matrix because then I'd have a great opener, start up a conversation about the car. The average vibe or matrix owner doesn't feel the kinship to the other one. As a Matrixer, do you wave at every Corolla? I never get waved back by anyone in a Matrix, but almost every Viber waves back.Really though, I didn't care what anyone else thought when I bought mine. I'm glad the vibe was cheaper for me, because I preferred the look of the vibe, but if a similarly equipped matrix had been cheaper, then I would have gotten one of those.

Well see, I'm 16, so image is important. If the Matrix didn't exist I would have definitely gotten the Vibe, chick car or not.I keep saying "have gotten" like I own one but sadly, I don't...yet. I'm looking for a used one, the right one.

I got waved at by a guy in a Matrix the other day...that was the first time that had ever happened. I usually make it a point to make at least eye contact with other Vibers, though.

I always flash my lights to other vibers, but no one ever acknowledges.And I see 'em everywhere now.

I try not to flash my headlights at people...heard a few too many horror stories about people getting mad over that and going off the handle....heh.

I usually will honk at another Vibe driver and 50% of the time they honk back....trying to get that number higher though

I bought the Vibe for 3 reasons:1. Styling2. Colour ( Sunburst Orange or Fusion in USA )3. Pontiac is a GM product

Dealer close byroof rack, always used mine on the Pathfinder.stylingbuy American-made in California!

because my wife said so

I started out looking at the Toyota RAV4 (preferred) and Matrix (just curious). The Toyota dealership acted as if they could care less if I bought a $25K vehicle from them, and I don't beg people to take my money. From there I went to a Pontiac dealership that knew how to treat customers and had an 04 Fusion GT the next day.

Styling, color, package, family discount, 0% plus I got 100k warrantee for nothing.

West Bloomfield Toyota dropped the ball and Auburn Pontiac picked it up. Everything worked out for the best, as I have a larger vehicle that looks better than either the RAV4 or Matrix.

Wanted the Vibe: roof racks always come in handy, and I have a friend at GM who might've been able to pull strings. Plus, it says Pontiac on it, and if I end up with another union job, driving a "foreign" car might be hazardous to my health. (morons.)Test-drove a base Vibe, loved the handling, couldn't stand the acceleration. Decided I couldn't live without the beefy engine. But I take a lot of roadtrips, and I can't ask all my friends (co-drivers) to learn stick, so I needed an automatic. Pontiac claims that putting an automatic transmission on a 2ZZ engine would be roughly equivalent to cat-dog cohabitation. They won't do it, they can't do it, such a thing has never been done and shouldn't even be considered. Shame on you for ever thinking of it.Headed to the Toyota dealer: Found out that the XRS Auto is a rare beast but does exist, and there were 22 in the region at the time they ran the query. They treated me well and answered all my questions, including the suspicion that it's just a Corolla in drag. (as confirmed later by the owner's manual.)Bought a Matrix within the hour.It wasn't until 4 days later that my low fuel light came on and I discovered, much to my shock and horror, that the 2ZZ won't drink regular fuel. After doing the math I've realized that it's not that big a deal (less than two grand over the expected life of the car) but it was still a rude awakening. Dealer claims it was the first XRS they sold and they didn't even know about the fuel thing, that ALL of Toyota's other vehicles do just fine on regular. Hmmph.If I had it to do again, I'd probably put a few grand worth of work into my old car. It was comfier, roomier, simpler to work on, got better mileage, AND it had cupholders that worked. For what I paid for the Matrix, I could've probably kept that '90 wagon running for at least as long as my new toy will be on the road. Don't like woodgrain paneling? Tough.In exchange for an absurd quantity of my hard-earned cash, I've got a bunch of "intangible benefits". There's that new-car feeling, which definitely wore off before I hit the 60,000 mile mark. There's the knowledge that my Toyota is unlikely to leave me stranded, unless of course the temperature is low and the battery is feeling unmotivated. There's the plethora of storage compartments, which aren't that much more useful than the ammo box under the seat of my last car but they sure are fun to play "where's the checkbook hiding?" with. There's the joy of finding out Murray's doesn't have a clue what sort of air filter would go in a car less than 3 years old, and don't even think about buying oil filters or T-IV ATF. And of course there's the horrified look on the faces of the folks at the GenVibe rally and the dealer service shop, when they see that I've massacred my roof paint with a magmount antenna. I think that one right there makes it worth it.The vehicle curmudgeon will refrain from extended comment about the styling of this particular line of vehicles. As the Aztek owner put it: "It's functional, and from the driver's seat, I don't have to think about how ugly it is!"(In a different mood, I'd answer this question totally differently. I honestly like the Matrix a lot, it's a blast to drive and my friends love it. I'm just feeling cantankerous tonight.)

Price, styling, more options are standard.Dax

I have a Pontiac dealer with in 10 min. of my house. Close for service but they are not open on Sat. I liked the styling better and it has a roof rack. Use full for putting dog pens on the roof. Try that in a Matrix!

Quote, originally posted by Myself » Don't like woodgrain paneling? Tough.I actually love the woodgrain paneling. I almost bought a PT Cruiser, just because I could get that paneling on a new car....then I saw the sticker and what I had to go through to get one with a manual transmission.

It is just funny how many little differences there are between the Trix and Vibe!Glad to see people are happy with their Vibes

Quote, originally posted by trocar »because my wife said so The best reason of all!