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Thread: Anyone own a Pontiac Vibe?

  1. #1
    Lover of Trivialities Doc. Scott's Avatar
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    Anyone own a Pontiac Vibe?

    I just bought a 2004 Vibe this weekend, and I was wondering what other people's experiences have been.

    Got it for just over $12,000 with under 30,000 miles. (Cars do cost about 5-10% more in Oregon versus Ohio for several reasons.)

    Since it's the same car as a Toyota Matrix (from what I understand), I'd love to hear about that as well if you've got that one.

    Thanks!


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  3. #2
    Member pedro's Avatar
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    Re: Anyone own a Pontiac Vibe?

    looks like a nice car doc.
    School's out. What did you expect?

  4. #3
    Titanic Struggles Caveat Emperor's Avatar
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    Re: Anyone own a Pontiac Vibe?

    I bought a 2006 Pontiac Vibe at the end of last summer.

    So far I've really enjoyed owning the car. Its amazingly roomy on the inside and folding down the back seats really gives a lot of room for hauling stuff. It handles like a champ around turns and is peppy enough for the most part (though sometimes it can be a bit of a drag trying to get quickly up to speed on a highway, but thats the price you pay for having a 4 banger). In the winter it was really good in snow and ice as well.

    I've also gotten very nice fuel mileage out of it. I bought the automatic and I routinely get between 30-32 MPG with a mix of city and highway miles.

    So far, I have nothing but good things to say about the car.
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  5. #4
    Lover of Trivialities Doc. Scott's Avatar
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    Re: Anyone own a Pontiac Vibe?

    My automatic 2004 model is rated by the gub'mint at 29 city/34 highway. So hearing that you get 30-32 is great. Especially since my lowest local gas price is $3.27 per gallon.

    I have to drive 13 miles each way to work every morning, but most of my nonwork destinations are fairly close to home (we Portlanders can be pretty parochial about our 'hoods, right Pedro?).

    CE, how do you feel about the lack of all-wheel/four-wheel drive? I had originally been looking for a Subaru, but the lower gas mileage and higher price drove me to other alternatives like the Vibe, the Mazda Protege5, etc.

    Subarus are so popular in these parts that for my budget I'd have been lucky to get one with under 80,000 miles. Plus I wasn't terribly enamored with the aesthetics of turn-of-the-decade Subarus. They've improved immeasurably in the looks department the past couple of years.

  6. #5
    Titanic Struggles Caveat Emperor's Avatar
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    Re: Anyone own a Pontiac Vibe?

    Quote Originally Posted by Doc. Scott View Post
    CE, how do you feel about the lack of all-wheel/four-wheel drive? I had originally been looking for a Subaru, but the lower gas mileage and higher price drove me to other alternatives like the Vibe, the Mazda Protege5, etc.
    I got turned off from the AWD/4WD when car shopping as well -- mostly because it seemed to add multiple thousands of dollars to the bottom line price.

    I also realized that I probably didn't need it at all. I owned a 1993 Jeep Cherokee for 5 years, through most of college and all 3 years of law school in Northern Ohio. Those cars are RWD until you engage the 4WD and, in the entire time that I owned the car, I maybe went to 4WD 7-10 times in that span. Half those times were in 1 snowstorm where I needed the extra traction to back over snow that had been plowed up onto my driveway. Basically, I'd be sacraficing mileage and adding cost 360 days per year just so that I could make it around 5 days that the weather got real bad (and, in weather that bad, 4 wheel drive only saves you from you, it doesn't protect you from the wanker out in his Kia, white knuckles on the wheel, who can't control HIS car and plows into you).

    Last year in the snow, I thought the car performed admirably. It has a nice, wide wheelbase and seems to grip the road pretty sturdily with the FWD. As long as I kept my speed reasonable, I never noticed any major loss of traction or problem with the car.

    Pontiac doesn't really advertise the car, but its a fantastic machine. I give it nothing but my highest reccomendation.
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  7. #6
    Lover of Trivialities Doc. Scott's Avatar
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    Re: Anyone own a Pontiac Vibe?

    Portland has maybe a handful of days per year where the weather's bad enough to require extra muscle on the roads. Sure, it's pretty wet several months a year, but well-maintained brakes aren't going to skid in a drizzle all that often.

    Sweet, CE, thanks for the info. It's good to feel like you made a good decision- and this was the first car I've ever bought on my own.
    Last edited by Doc. Scott; 05-08-2007 at 06:12 PM.

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    Member pedro's Avatar
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    Re: Anyone own a Pontiac Vibe?

    Quote Originally Posted by Doc. Scott View Post
    I have to drive 13 miles each way to work every morning, but most of my nonwork destinations are fairly close to home (we Portlanders can be pretty parochial about our 'hoods, right Pedro?).
    word.

    as for AWD, it's really useful id you're going up the mountain in the winter. My next car will have it.
    School's out. What did you expect?

  9. #8
    Are we not men? Yachtzee's Avatar
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    Re: Anyone own a Pontiac Vibe?

    Quote Originally Posted by pedro View Post
    word.

    as for AWD, it's really useful id you're going up the mountain in the winter. My next car will have it.
    That's pretty true. Up here in the "secondary" snow belt, you're probably better off getting a front wheel drive car with a good set of snow tires than buying a AWD/4WD. As the saying goes, when the road gets icy, 4WD just means you're spinning on 4 instead of two. Of course 4WD can help when you've got to push through the deep snow, like when you're going up into the mountains, or if you live somewhere where snow plows are few and far between.

    I will say that my wife's Pontiac G6 has that nice traction control feature that helps out a lot on her car.
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