[oldsmaniac]

I am looking into buying a Pontiac Vibe. I absolutly love the looks and I believe that it would also be a very practical car for me, as I am a college student and tend to drive quite a lot to and from home (600mi round trip). So the gas mileage, room and, I hate to admit it, but quality of a Toyota, would be a great benifit. But, the major set back is that everyone that I seem to ask about the Vibe, hate it. They think it looks too much like a station wagon and is ugly. Of course, living in Texas where the trucks are supreem, people tend to not like the Vibe as much. What do you guys think? Should I go with my instincts and get one?

 

[Ming]

I say get what you like, you'll be much happier with it in the long run and less likely to want to trade it in 2 years later. For me the 'Toyota quality' thing isn't such a big draw, but I love the functionality of it, the high revving engine mated to a 6-speed manual (on the GT), and the fold flat seats including the front passenger seat with plastic on the backs of the seats making one very large functional load floor for a hatchback.

The Vibe is a great selling vehicle - one of Pontiac's best.

Check out the fanatic owners at: GenVibe

As far as "ugly" goes, I think the unpainted lower body cladding trim level is tacky. The monochrome painted cladding Vibes look good to me. And Texas, yeah, everyone is supposed to drive a pickup or an F-body to be cool, but at least you'll have an Arrowhead on the back of your car, and not a "Toy-yoda" or "Hahn-duh" emblem for them Texans to hate.

I also like the looks of the upcoming 2005 Vibe, with the smoothed out grille:

 

[oldsmaniac]

Thanks a lot. I agree that the monotone body is the only way to go. I would never get the black plastic molding. I guess I'll never understand why automakers are insistant on putting ugly pieces of black plastic on thier cars, along the sides of the doors, on the bumpers, etc. Think of some of the Cavaliers from 95-99 or so. WHY Black Bumpers????

 

[TaHoE]

Well in the J-Body perspective its to save money. In both the J-Body and the Vibe, they are to set apart trim levels.

 

[bobo]

For a starter vehicle, a Vibe would be great. It's extremely practical and should be reliable. I think it looks great too. There have been some complaints about rattles, though. The engines don't feel very strong because they don't have much torque down low, so you will feel like you are constantly working the engine to get the thing moving. However, the engines are smooth.

 

[MelvinJ]

We've had a Vibe for about a year now, and we really like it. It's primarily my wife's car, and she loves the higher seating position, the ride, and the vesatility. Plus of course, the mileage is great. 28-30 mpg in warmer months, and 26-28 in the winter.

Ours is a base automatic, and I would want the supercharger if this was to be my primary car. I'm very impressed, however, at how it holds speed on the freeway. Taking hills at 75-80 mph in a headwind, I would expect a lot of downshifting, but it doesn't. It just maintains the set speed. It's a better than expected highway cruiser.

For me, the worst aspect of the car is the position of the steering wheel in relation to the seat. It's way to far away. I always have to drive with my arms completely extended. A telescoping wheel would be nice, but really not necessary. Just extend the steering column out as far as virtually every other car has it. I don't know what the designers were thinking on this one.

Other than that, the seats are comfy, and in 16,000 miles, absolutely no trouble so far.