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New Vibe Owners - Give Us Your Report

66 messages,  Last post on Nov 06, 2009 at 4:47 PM

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What is this discussion about? Pontiac Vibe, Car Buying, Wagon

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#57 of 66 2009 AWD by bills350 Feb 08, 2009 (10:07 am)
We purchased a red AWD in December. Excellent car!! Drives well in the bad western PA ice and snow.   GM needs to add a remote start option to the Vibe.
#58 of 66 09 Troubles by bossman141 Mar 26, 2009 (1:26 pm)
From what I can gather this seems to only be happening to my Vibe as neither the dealership service dept nor pontiac engineers can diagnose the problem.   When coming to a full stop, I can feel the car downshift and when the car finally comes to a full stop the tranny then drops into first and physically jerks the car. This is a 2.4 Auto BTW. No one can figure out the problem and have been told to basically drive the car till the engineers can figure out a fix.   I already have a call in to Pontiac and they have taken a report.   Just wondering if anyone else out there has experienced this. Dealer swears it's not the transmission but it sure feels like it to me.   Otherwise its a great car. Replies to this message: maxx4me (Mar 27, 2009 12:47 am) bossman141 (Mar 30, 2009 9:26 am) maxx4me (Mar 30, 2009 2:20 pm)
#59 of 66 Re: 09 Troubles [bossman141] by maxx4me Mar 27, 2009 (12:47 am)
Replying to: bossman141 (Mar 26, 2009 1:26 pm) Unless they are lying, I think everyone is experiencing the same thing. I have the '09 1.8 liter Corolla engine. I'm unsure whether the tranny is any different for the "Camry-Vibe" as it is the "Corolla-Vibe." You won't get any good answers out of your Pontiac dealer since they have been clueless about this car since the first Corolla-Vibe was built in 2002 (2003 model year). Either way, it is almost like a brake assist function, but is definitely the tranny downshifting. You should also feel it when you are giong around 50mph down a hill and tap your brakes. The tranny likes to downshift to help slow the car down. Good luck getting an answer from GM. I think they'd rather go out of business than help their loyal owners. I wish them well in that regard, which is why I own two Vibes (which means I own two Corollas). I can always get service and parts from Toyota should GM's "fantastic" business model finally drag them out of business where they belong. Replies to this message: bossman141 (Mar 30, 2009 9:26 am) maxx4me (Mar 30, 2009 2:20 pm)
#60 of 66 Re: 09 Troubles [maxx4me] by bossman141 Mar 30, 2009 (9:26 am)
Replying to: maxx4me (Mar 27, 2009 12:47 am) Thanks so much for the reply. So, you have the same problem? Have you taken the car in to the service dept. for the problem?   They basically just threw their hands up and left me hanging.   Is this normal on the vibes and corolla/camrys? I have a 2004 sienna and it does not down shift like this.   any further info would be appreciated.   Thanks Replies to this message: maxx4me (Mar 30, 2009 2:20 pm)
#61 of 66 Re: 09 Troubles [bossman141] by maxx4me Mar 30, 2009 (2:20 pm)
Replying to: bossman141 (Mar 30, 2009 9:26 am) No, I have not taken it in because I have heard the same story reported over and over on genvibe.com. It is a bit annoying to tap on your brakes while going downhill at 40 mph+ and have the tranny automatically assume you want some brake assist while it throws it into 3rd gear. As for my "service department", I'd rather trust my car to a chop shop in the slums of Calcutta before I'd every take my car to the dealer for service.
#62 of 66 Re: 09 Pontiac Vibe AWD [vibeguy37] by snackbar May 19, 2009 (5:31 pm)
Replying to: vibeguy37 (Oct 06, 2008 7:52 am) Hello Vibeguy.   What RPM is the engine running at around 60 mph (or 100kmh) ?   Shocking as it may seem, I took an AWD out for a test run, and the engine was running about 4000 RPM at 60 mph (100K) in the shift position the dealer told us to use. We figured out the shifter has to be in the location to the right of D3 to let the tranny shift to 4th. Revs then dropped to 2400 or so.   Sales says this often happens , silly as it may sound. Makes a big difference to your mileage.
#63 of 66 AWD MPG by amphibious_one Nov 05, 2009 (10:49 pm)
i own a 2010 2.4 lit. AWD and i get 28 mpg all the time driving rural/highway....is this that uncommon? love my Vibe btw... Replies to this message: maxx4me (Nov 06, 2009 1:02 pm) laserblue (Nov 06, 2009 3:41 pm) maxx4me (Nov 06, 2009 4:47 pm)
#64 of 66 Re: AWD MPG [amphibious_one] by maxx4me Nov 06, 2009 (1:02 pm)
Replying to: amphibious_one (Nov 05, 2009 10:49 pm) that is pretty high gas mileage for a Camry Vibe. You must be doing a whole lot of highway driving. I get 30 mpg overall in suburban city driving with my Corolla Vibe. I chose the smaller engine for the gas mileage, and I'm still glad I did. Replies to this message: laserblue (Nov 06, 2009 3:41 pm) maxx4me (Nov 06, 2009 4:47 pm)
#65 of 66 Re: AWD MPG [maxx4me] by laserblue Nov 06, 2009 (3:41 pm)
Replying to: maxx4me (Nov 06, 2009 1:02 pm) Alright! Finally someone who has a 1.8 L engine.   I'm interested in buying a Matrix but can't decide on which engine 1.8 L or 2.4 L   Is the 1.8 L powerful enough?   My wife and I got to cross the U.S. and the Rockies once a year to go see our daughter, so it's going to be loaded with luggage after coming back home from that 6,000 miles trip it's going to be almost city driving. Replies to this message: maxx4me (Nov 06, 2009 4:47 pm)
#66 of 66 Re: AWD MPG [laserblue] by maxx4me Nov 06, 2009 (4:47 pm)
Replying to: laserblue (Nov 06, 2009 3:41 pm) Is the Corolla engine as powerful or enjoyable as the Camry engine???? I think not. However, the current Corolla Vibe is significantly more refined and peppy than the first generation; I own both. Next question: is 20 mpg in the city as enjoyable as 27 with gas at $3 or more a gallon? The Camry engine is not efficiently mated to the Vibe. I find getting 20 mpg on such a small car an outrage in this day and age. I'm very glad I went with the Corolla engine. My car loves 85 mph on the highway (not gas mileage mind you), and is very quick off the line. You simply need to decide what is more important (mileage or power). If you don't mind throwing a lot of extra money away on gas, buy something other than the Camry Vibe. I really don't understand why people would buy such a small car on a Corolla platform (the Vibe), and then throw it all away on a Camry engine to kill your gas mileage. Unless you live in Montana and have laws that allow you to show off your sped, the cops are everywhere, and blowing away people on the road everywhere else is just not an option. If you live in the Rockies, I would recommend you buy a manual. While I always buy auto trannies, I live in the city and don't want to be shifting every 10 seconds. To end this rant: if you want power and a wagon, buy the larger Toyota Venza or even Rav-4 or Highlander. I laughed when they decided to put the Camry engine in the Vibe. Bulletproof engine for sure; but at the end of the day, the Vibe is still just a Corolla. Why sacrifice gas mileage on such a small car??

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