2008 Pontiac Vibe Consumer Reviews
Most Helpful Reviews
Positive Review
I purchased this car new in November of 2002 as a good all wheel drive call for my wife to commute 40 mi each way to work. After about 3 years and 60,000 miles my job changed and so I started driving this car since. It is a FANTASTIC car for somone who is in rep for their company and does alot of driving. Since the beginning i have changed the oil around 3000 to 3500 each time, transmission fluid 50,000, first tune up came at 190,000 i tried to get a tune up at 100,000 but the mechanic at the dealer said the plugs looked like they were new. Let me talk about the AWD this car is like a tank, i have driven to make appointments in unplowed driveway (mine - flat) thru 12 inches of snow and looked back and could see the outline of the under carriage, my job takes me to construction sites and i have amazed contractors with f-350 what i can drive thru. I have not done any major work on this car just the normal stuff tires, brakes, struts, i am now having to replace the caalytic converter (231K), i am not buring any oil, tranmission shifts good and I plan on driving this car a long time 300 miles. I average about 30k a year for work.
VS
Critical Review
I have a 2005 Vibe AWD that I bought new. It was, I think, expensive for what it is. Mine is metallic gray and is a goodlooking car. I have another car (a new Mercedes CLS), so the Vibe is my cargo-hauler and winter-weather car. For those two purposes, it's very utilitarian. On the other hand, I'm disappointed that I didn't realize that a $22K car should have side airbags. It's a small car and I'd feel a lot safer if it had them. It's underpowered, and VERY loud on rough pavement or at high speeds. The weight alone of the AWD saps MPG, and I average only 26 MPG in mixed driving. Also a disappointment since I drive this car pretty conservatively. Most disturbing is the fact that, even though Consumer Reports warned that "some drivers cannot find a comfortable seating position," I bought the car thinking I just had to fiddle with the seat and steering wheel, and it would be fine. Now Consumer Reports says, "Steering wheel is too far away." It sure is. I'm reaching out with extended arms to steer constantly, yet my right knee (and I have shortish legs!) is bumping the base of the steering column, even when it's more than halfway up the tilt. I'm sure that if I were in any significant frontal collision, that would break my knee, or even my leg. My arms and shoulders ache for hours or even days after a long drive. There is ABSOLUTELY NO combination of steering wheel and seat positions that is comfortable and relaxed. A replacement, aftermarket seat would void my warranty. The Vibe definitely needs a telescoping steering wheel. I don't compare my two cars; they're entirely different types of vehicles and I use them for different things. But never again will I ignore a specific Consumer Reports warning if it applies to comfort or safety. After 2 years and 8 months, my Vibe has only 22K miles on it, because I only drive it when I absolutely have to, or to keep the battery charged. But I will say I'm glad it's in the garage for when I DO have to drive it. It's great in snow, it gets moderately better gas mileage than my Benz, and I don't worry about it breaking down or getting scratched (meaning I wouldn't be heartbroken about a scratch or ding like I would if it happened to the other car). Bottom line: I was about to trade the Vibe on a leftover 2007 Civic with a stick shift and eight airbags, which sounded fun and safe. After reading all the raves in these reviews, I've changed my mind. I'm glad nearly everyone else loves their Vibes! That kind of satisfaction is hard to come by regardless of what kind of car is involved! Thanks, everyone, for changing my mind.
2008 Vibe Reviews
Showing 8 of 826 reviews.
Longevity
Ignition coils
My wife has a 2004 vibe. It is based off a Toyota. I have fixed the following issues repeatedly: coils- every one of the four coils has burned out several times. It is a good idea to replace coils with aftermarket lifetime warranty coils. I would never replace 1 coil with a lifetime warranty and then when the next factory coil burns out- remove it, place it in the box of the lifetime warranty coil and go exchange it. That would be dishonest. I have a theory as to why the ignition coils burn. There is a cover over the engine (like all cars today have) this was not a new concept in 2004 but... I took the cover off and although it still burns coils- it does so far less often. As far as the rest of the car is concerned, very few problems. My wifes Vibes odometer stopped at 300k. That was 5 years ago. She is still driving it as of the day of this review. It does have problems stemming from abuse. Her daughter slid sideways over a median and bent all 4 rims! Since then there have been front end issues that I can not fix. Had professionals replace entire front end - same issue. I replaced struts- same issue. Overall this car is a trooper if you don't hit anything and can keep up with ignition coils. A bad coil will cause the engine to skip and will give you a misfire code on specific cylinders. I just fixed it last week. "Misfire - cylinder #1" "cylinder 1 too lean"
I bought this car used in 2014 with ~83,000 miles on it. I have driven it for over 10 years and it reached 300,000 miles last year. Still has most of its original parts, only had very minor repairs over the years - can’t think of a better vehicle. Problems only started last year when alternator, throttle and wheel bearing finally wore out and had to be replaced. Most people own 3-4 cars in the time I owned this one. It’s great on gas, fits a ton of stuff without being too big. I loved it.
Reliable, fuel efficient, excellent cargo space
None
First car was a 2006 vibe and have since owned two 2008’s. By far the best vehicles I’ve owned for the price - amazingly reliable, fuel efficient, easy to maintain/work on and great cargo space especially with seats down. All that I’ve owned have done well over 300,000 km (odometer maxes at 299k) with zero issues. Highly recommend - Toyota reliability at a fraction of the cost.
Reliability and a cute car
The steering wheel was a little shakey
I bought this car from my uncle (who's a micanic) and it was my first car and it lasted me until 297000 miles and then it failed emissions, an evap leak and the catolitic converter was kuppoot i would fix it but she's getting old and I have the money saved to get a down-payment on a used car, who knows if I get a hold of my uncle i might put in the money to fix it
Excellent 2008 Pontiac Vibe!! Great on gas mileage, engine has great "pick up". Apparently the engine in Vibes is a Toyota Corolla engine!! No problems, has over 106,000 miles.
It's got a lot of room in the back that I sort of use as a truck. I like to tow my utility trailer and it does good at that too. Love my car!
I have on and its been the best vehicle of over a dozen different cars Ive owned in my life. Reliability is number 1 and the gas mileage is about 27 mpg average .. the car is roomy and has fold down back seats for even greater carrying capacity. Nice dash layout and very comfortable.
Excellent car
None
I bought my Vibe brand new and have had 18 years of of happiness. The Vibe is easy to get in and out of, gives good gas mileage, and has only cost me for routine maintenance. After 18 years and 117,000 miles, the Toyota engine will give me another 200,000 miles for which I'm very satisfied 😌.
