[justincampbell]

Don't know where the appropriate place for this is. It's mostly just to vent. Although, if you have anything helpful to add, please do. Been reading the hype on the Vibe for years. So when our Hyundai was totaled in the Derecho this year, we found an '05 Vibe to replace it. Should have been a sweet car(one owner, relatively low miles - 106k, well optioned, etc). But, it has definitely not lived up to the hype.

What I like - Handy as heck for hauling. Great heater and sound system.

Some of the "bad" things are just personal preference(ex. - IMO the shifter is way to close to the fan control). The big things though(and IMO they are huge) are poor mileage and handling on snow/ice.
The mileage when we got it averaged 25-26 mpg which was a lot less than I expected from what I had read. Worse yet, since it got really cold(20s or less), it has gotten closer to 20mpg. WTH?
The biggest thing is handling though. I have never owned a vehicle that was more pathetic on slick roads than this. In the past the only time I spent this much time sideways was if it was intentional. My 2wd '72 C20 with 25 year old tires - much better on the slick stuff. My 2000 Hyundai with bottom of the line tires on the rear and 30% tread Douglas on the front - 10x better on the slick stuff. The '87 Chevy Sprint that Dad used to have - way better on the slick.
Get the picture?
I'll admit that part of it is tires(these are 50%-60% tread cheaper tires). But, there is no way that can account for all of it.

[Chief of the 60's]

Is it a GT?

[455Grandville]

My oldest daughters boyfriend has one as a knock around beater and says it’s been very reliable. But yea, that fuel economy doesn’t sound good.

[mgarblik]

Originally Posted by justincampbell

Don't know where the appropriate place for this is. It's mostly just to vent. Although, if you have anything helpful to add, please do. Been reading the hype on the Vibe for years. So when our Hyundai was totaled in the Derecho this year, we found an '05 Vibe to replace it. Should have been a sweet car(one owner, relatively low miles - 106k, well optioned, etc). But, it has definitely not lived up to the hype.

What I like - Handy as heck for hauling. Great heater and sound system.

Some of the "bad" things are just personal preference(ex. - IMO the shifter is way to close to the fan control). The big things though(and IMO they are huge) are poor mileage and handling on snow/ice.
The mileage when we got it averaged 25-26 mpg which was a lot less than I expected from what I had read. Worse yet, since it got really cold(20s or less), it has gotten closer to 20mpg. WTH?
The biggest thing is handling though. I have never owned a vehicle that was more pathetic on slick roads than this. In the past the only time I spent this much time sideways was if it was intentional. My 2wd '72 C20 with 25 year old tires - much better on the slick stuff. My 2000 Hyundai with bottom of the line tires on the rear and 30% tread Douglas on the front - 10x better on the slick stuff. The '87 Chevy Sprint that Dad used to have - way better on the slick.
Get the picture?
I'll admit that part of it is tires(these are 50%-60% tread cheaper tires). But, there is no way that can account for all of it.

The two items that have a drastic effect on fuel mileage of an otherwise good running engine are the engine temperature and the cycling speed of the front O2 sensor. If you have access to a scan tool with live data stream, check the following: Get the engine up to temperature and in closed loop. With the engine at a steady 2000 RPM's or so, watch the O2 sensor voltage. It should cycle from low, (.300mv) to high (.800 mv) every 2 seconds or so. Rapidly cycling low to high. If it's lazy, replace it. Also look at the long and short term fuel trims. They should be 0+- 10% If more than that either way, replace the O2 as a starting point. Make sure the engine temp sensor is working correctly and the engine operating temp is 190 degrees F or higher. If not, replace the sensor or possibly the engine thermostat. As far as handling, they did make a AWD version of this car. So my guess is the FWD version would suck in the snow. May need some more aggressive winter tires. It's a Toyota Matrix with a Pontiac badge on it. They were decent little econo-boxes, not much more. They tend to sell for more than they are worth IMO, so if you really hate it, I bet you can get your money out of it if resold

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

You won't get good fuel economy if it is a GT
And those also require premium fuel.

Majority of slick road handling has to be due to the type tires you bought , and air pressures. Drop some air is about all you can do for them.
The only thing between you and the road is the tires

Sorry that the ownership hasn't been pleasant.
The folks around my area who own them have all been delighted.
Not much snow/ice here very often.
Front wheel drive should do pretty well though

[Dennis H.]

My go to work car is a 2010 Chevy HHR with the 2.2 Ecotech, a rock solid engine. I just love it, it hauls a lot of stuff, gets 32-34 MPG all day long, and is excellent in the snow. Just got home driving 32 miles from work in 6 degrees and snow and slick roads, it did not miss a lick. I really would like to find a nice panel version if it, they make a nice parts getter.

[poncho-mike]

My beater is an 02 Saturn Vue with a 5-spd manual. 298K miles on the original motor, the clutch went out at 200K miles (slave cylinder, not the actual clutch). The 2.2 Ecotech is awesome, and the Vue has lots of room for hauling. Other than oil changes and spark plugs every 75K miles, I haven't done anything to the engine except an O2 sensor. The BCM went out at 180K and I've done all of the wheel bearings once. I bought it with just over 48K miles on it, and I've put most of that 250K miles on it myself. I put a 2" receiver hitch on it and tow up to 2000 lbs occasionally.

[66sprint6]

A friend in Calgary had one. It was the most basic car that I've ever seen. No options and a stick. Front wheel drive, which I would never own in this country, although many people do. But he loved that car. It was his faithful companion through some brutal winters and he always bragged about how cheap it was to buy

[justincampbell]

Originally Posted by Dennis H.

My go to work car is a 2010 Chevy HHR with the 2.2 Ecotech, a rock solid engine. I just love it, it hauls a lot of stuff, gets 32-34 MPG all day long, and is excellent in the snow. Just got home driving 32 miles from work in 6 degrees and snow and slick roads, it did not miss a lick. I really would like to find a nice panel version if it, they make a nice parts getter.

I had a '03 Cavalier with the 2.2 and a 5 spd. That thing was incredible. The worst I ever got with it was 38mpg average. Always got 40s on the highway. Have a friend who bought an '03 Cav with an automatic new. He has around 260k on it now. If I could have found a Cavalier that wasn't clapped out, I would have thought serious about that. But, being a cheaper car, most that I come across are used and abused.

[justincampbell]

FYI it is not a GT

[keith k]

Echo'ing what BVZ said a bit...Snow traction / handling is almost entirely down to tires, mass and mass distribution. And the Vibe is like hundreds of other cars on those last two. Go buy a set of four dedicated winter tires. It will be a night and day difference.

[Sirrotica]

Originally Posted by Chief of the 60's

Careful..... Last time I stated the same fact, the NCRS numbers matching nutjobs gave me crap and told me it wasn't.

(I sold tons of these things when they were a hot item)

I've owned one since 2008 brand new, and the HVAC isn't the same as Toyota, the rest is pretty well interchangeable, Corolla and Matrix both.

You need the skinny tire option for snow,205/55/16, the optional 215/55/17 tires are too wide for slippery conditions. The last set of tires we put on hers were Continentals. Mileage is around 29/30 highway summer gas. They're about as reliable as an anvil, ours has 320,000 miles on it (odometer won't exceed 299,999 miles) since new, my wife just drove it from OH to AL, and back last month (1600 miles), not a hint of anything wrong with it. Engine hasn't even had a waterpump on it yet. I'm not fond of the auto shifter position, not a deal breaker though.

I offered to buy her a Solstice recently, but she declined, loves her Vibe, BTW, she is the one who put all the miles on it while working as a traveling nurse. We've actually toyed with the idea of looking for another low mile one.

My stepsons GF just sold her 2006 with roughly 340,000 miles on it for $900, still going strong, but it's been rode hard, and put away wet.

[Keith Seymore]

Just chiming in to say we had an '06, since new. We loved it. It was able to manage loads of furniture that I thought would never fit, did fine in the ice and snow, and my wife routinely pulled down mid 30's for fuel economy (4 cylinder stick).

Finally had to scrap it at about 200k miles.

We still go all "fan girl" when we see another one on the road, to the point of embarrassment. Funny thing is - usually the other Vibe owner reciprocates.

K

[justincampbell]

Originally Posted by keith k

Echo'ing what BVZ said a bit...Snow traction / handling is almost entirely down to tires, mass and mass distribution. And the Vibe is like hundreds of other cars on those last two. Go buy a set of four dedicated winter tires. It will be a night and day difference.

For it to improve enough that I would find it tolerable on the slick stuff, it would need to be more than a night and day difference... more like a Apocalypse vs Garden of Eden difference. LOL

I'm thinking the only hope of finding it tolerable is new tires AND putting a few hundred pounds of extra weight in back... although that won't exactly help the mileage.

[justincampbell]

Originally Posted by Sirrotica

You need the skinny tire option for snow,205/55/16, the optional 215/55/17 tires are too wide for slippery conditions.

It already has the "skinny" tires. If it would've been 17", we likely wouldn't have bought it due to tire cost. That has become a huge factor when looking at vehicles as I don't generally spend more than $100 a tire on a daily vehicle. It's getting tougher, but I have still been able to find pretty good tires without breaking my budget.

[Chief of the 60's]

Originally Posted by justincampbell

For it to improve enough that I would find it tolerable on the slick stuff, it would need to be more than a night and day difference... more like a Apocalypse vs Garden of Eden difference. LOL

I'm thinking the only hope of finding it tolerable is new tires AND putting a few hundred pounds of extra weight in back... although that won't exactly help the mileage.

You never stated what trim level it was other than, "it is not a GT".

With that said I'm betting it has alloy wheels with wide, low profile tires. That type of tire sucks in any condition outside of dry roads, snow tires or not.

Get a set of stock "base model" steel wheels and stock "base model" skinny tires and you, like thousands of other Vibe owners, will be just fine unless you are driving through the Alps.

[justincampbell]

Originally Posted by mgarblik

The two items that have a drastic effect on fuel mileage of an otherwise good running engine are the engine temperature and the cycling speed of the front O2 sensor. If you have access to a scan tool with live data stream, check the following: Get the engine up to temperature and in closed loop. With the engine at a steady 2000 RPM's or so, watch the O2 sensor voltage. It should cycle from low, (.300mv) to high (.800 mv) every 2 seconds or so. Rapidly cycling low to high. If it's lazy, replace it. Also look at the long and short term fuel trims. They should be 0+- 10% If more than that either way, replace the O2 as a starting point. Make sure the engine temp sensor is working correctly and the engine operating temp is 190 degrees F or higher. If not, replace the sensor or possibly the engine thermostat. As far as handling, they did make a AWD version of this car. So my guess is the FWD version would suck in the snow. May need some more aggressive winter tires. It's a Toyota Matrix with a Pontiac badge on it. They were decent little econo-boxes, not much more. They tend to sell for more than they are worth IMO, so if you really hate it, I bet you can get your money out of it if resold

I don't have any access to a scan tool... other than the basic ones the parts stores will check for customers.

[justincampbell]

Originally Posted by Chief of the 60's

You never stated what trim level it was other than, "it is not a GT".

With that said I'm betting it has alloy wheels with wide, low profile tires. That type of tire sucks in any condition outside of dry roads, snow tires or not.

Get a set of stock "base model" steel wheels and stock "base model" skinny tires and you, like thousands of other Vibe owners, will be just fine unless you are driving through the Alps.

I didn't know there were any options other than base and GT. All it says is "vibe". It is the "nice one" with everything painted as opposed to the matte trim on the lower body.

Yes, it has alloy rims. But the tires are the size that Sirrotica said are the skinny ones(205/55R16).

[mgarblik]

OK, understand. In that case, if your willing to take a shot, here is a simpler approach but a bit of a guess. Make sure the temp gauge runs at a minimum just below the center, (middle ) of the scale at a minimum. If lower, replace the engine thermostat. Go ahead and replace the front O2 sensor. They are easy to get at on that car and are not too expensive. Without any hard data, assuming the engine runs good otherwise, that's your best shot at greatly improving your mileage. From your comments, it sounds like you, "just don't like the car". Every car is not right for every owner. It also sounds like the AWD version would have been a much better choice for you. But buying used, you don't have as much choice. With all the passionate endorsements on this thread, it seems you would have no problem selling it and moving on.

[Chief of the 60's]

Originally Posted by justincampbell

I didn't know there were any options other than base and GT. All it says is "vibe". It is the "nice one" with everything painted as opposed to the matte trim on the lower body.

Yes, it has alloy rims. But the tires are the size that Sirrotica said are the skinny ones(205/55R16).

There is a base model that has steel wheels with wheel covers. I don't recall the tire size but they're not the wide, low profile ones. But yes, if driving through deep snow and crappy roads is the norm then an AWD version is what you need but fuel economy sucks on those.

If you need AWD and fuel economy, get a Subaru Outback.