2005 Pontiac Vibe GT from North America - Comments

The air conditioning did not work when we picked up the car. The dealer said it was low on coolant. 4 months later the air conditioning was not working again. It was a bad seal this time. The dealer fixed both problems under warranty.

The clutch pedal needs lube to keep from squeaking every couple of months. The dealer cannot prevent the squeak from coming back.

The power window motor squeaks when the window goes down when it is cold out side. The dealer cannot find the problem.

One of the narrow trim pieces on the roof of the car fell off. The dealer replaced under warranty.

The manual transmission is sloppy. It will not always go into 1st gear when at a stop. I have to be completely stopped, put the car in 2nd gear and then go to 1st. The dealer cannot find the problem.

The tires are almost worn out at 31,000 miles.

Overall, this is a decent car with a few minor problems. Being 6-1, I do not have enough leg room on long drives, but my wife drives the car most of the time so it’s no big deal. The stock 17 inch tires on the GT are absolutely horrible in the snow. I'm glad there is a recover hook on the front of the car so I can use my Silverado to pull the car up my driveway in the winter. The driveway has an elevation change of 15 feet over a distance of 275 feet. The Honda Civic we owned several years ago never had a problem, but its tires were much narrower and the car was lighter. The fuel mileage on the Vibe GT is better than I expected; 32mpg on the highway and 27 just driving around.

My biggest complaint with this car is the paint. It is chipping off the bumper and hood like no other car I have ever owned. My '93 Z/28 with 113,000 miles has fewer chips in the paint than this car. Pontiac needs to get better blue paint.

I would expect more from this car considering it's a Toyota Matrix in disguise.

As a follow up to my first posting about the Vibe GT, I need to report the battery just failed. The car had 33,600 miles on it. The Pontiac dealer replaced this under the 36k mile warranty. They put in another AC Delco battery so in 2 years, I'll be replacing it again, but with a Napa battery so it will last longer.

This is a second follow up for my Vibe GT. The check engine light came on last week. The dealer replaced Oxygen Sensor under warranty, but I had to wait 5 days for the part to come in.

This is a 3rd follow up to my original posting:

38,000 miles on my GT and my wife was stuck along the interstate with my 8 month old son in 98 degree heat. Once at the dealer, we were told it was a bad fuel pump.

Just another reason to NEVER buy another GM.

So far we have had the following problems:

Battery failure

O2 failure

Warped brake rotors

Roof trip falling off

Very poor paint

Pontiac emblem falling off

A/C failure 3 times

Fuse for EFI blew for no reason (3 weeks ago) ~ dealer couldn't figure out why

And now the fuel pump is dead

38,000 miles, and my wife has been stranded 3 times. Good job GM!

Sounds like you bought a lemon. I have 115k on mine with not one problem. I replaced the front pads twice and the back once. I think your car is a rare find.

Had my Vibe for three years. Last year the heating and air kept shutting down. Now it will not come back, but I can't find the fuses anywhere. I don't want to take it to the dealer, but what else can I do? I need the heater in the winter time.

My wife has been driving a 05 for 2.5 years with 0 problems so far with over 60000 miles on it, she really puts the miles on it. I have to say I am very pleased considering I am a Ford person from a young age. Will be giving it to our daughter to drive and getting a new one for her.

I like how you say "I'll never buy a GM again". What exactly is GM about the Vibe? The red triangle? That's about it...

20th May 2008, 22:13

I like how you say "I'll never buy a GM again". What exactly is GM about the Vibe? The red triangle? That's about it...

I did some more reading - you are right. The Toyota made Vibe is junk. The clutch started slipping under full throttle acceleration and I didn't want to pay to have that fixed, so I traded it in on a Buick Rainier. The last car we had with a manual transmission went over 150k miles on the original clutch, this Toyota didn't make 50k miles. Yeah, the Buick gets poor mileage but the ride is very nice and we have a lot more room for the second baby on the way.

The GM is a lousy car to the Toyota version... period.

Only parts they share are engine and tranny. Tie the electrical, shocks, brakes, etc to the engine and tranny you get a lousy car...

2009 ford fusion owner+driver+carsurveyblogger.

CHAMBERS.

Chevy bought this car from Toyota because they cannot make a quality car of there own. However, they obviously scaled down the quality because the Toyota Matrix, The Vibe's mechanical twin, runs much better and gets much better reviews.

I have had a 03 Vibe for 2.5 years. I love my car. I live at the top of a VERY long and steep driveway, so I use the AWD every day. No other two wheel drive car will make it. I haven't had any problems and love it. Knock on wood...

Someone correct me if this info is wrong... I was told that the biggest difference between the Toyota Matrix and the Pontiac Vibe is the fact the Matrix is built in Canada and the Vibe is made in the US, ie. not assembled together in the same plant. Apparently the quality control at the Canadian facility is better than the US counterpart, hence the difference in reliability reports, despite the fact they are essentially the same vehicle.