2009 Pontiac Vibe Unveiled

I thought the last generation looked great. The new model pictured above looks great too.

I don't get people sometimes... they go and say things like the current model is ugly when in fact they're just bored with the current style because it hasn't been changed for a few years... and they say this as they get in their Pontiac Aztek or Ford Excursion.

The current Vibe is ugly. It looks like several independent designers each had a chunk of the car and no one communicated with each other. This model at least looks like the team met once or twice.

I participated in a couple of marketing research studies a few years ago which I thought had been for a Pontiac Vibe overhaul. I didn't believe it was a Matrix because it had the wide D-pillar of the Vibe, not the glass-encased version found on the Matrix.

The preproduction samples at the marketing survey looked infinitely better than this! This is a step in a good direction from the current Vibe.

I've been a much bigger fan of the Matrix over the Vibe. I own a first gen Matrix, my mom bought one a few years later.

Being that the Vibe and Matrix are still the "same" car, I prefer Toyota's exterior styling.

I always thought it would be fun to rape all the posers in their non-DOHC VTEC Hondas with the last generation model that had the Celica GTS's 1.8L/6spd combo.

Only complete losers waste their time racing each other in cars whose stock speed is something on the order of 7+ seconds 0-60. Really, it's just sad, all you fast and furious wannabes.

#1, don't bother racing if you aren't going to mod your car. #2, race at a track, not your next to your high school or down the middle town, #3, learn how to drive. Had 7 teenagers killed in the last month up on the east coast because you all think your little tin cans are hot crap. Wake up.

"...you all think your little tin cans are hot crap. Wake up...."

Well put.

Everyone and their dog now are adding stupid looking, cheap add-ons to their cars now. Adding a body kit or a muffler used to have a bit of glamor associated with it, but now it's just incredibly lame. Everyone does it, not to mention that in 99% of the cases it adds nothing to the function or performance of the car.

And I agree, the Celica's 1.8/6spd. platform is not terribly fast. As with many of the cult classic street cars, it's not terribly fast out of the box. Sure it adds a bit of spunk to a Matrix, but it's still not terribly fast.

I liked the last generation Vibe. It was a suprising sales leader for Pontiac. I just hope the new Vibe has more standard power then last generation.

@Shawn:

I completely agree with your earlier post. I understand people want to customize their cars (I'm not that old) for their own unique styling and performance. But please people, race at approved tracks or drag strips. We have several top notch drag strips in Maryland, a local road course in WV (Summit Point) and in VA. Learn to drive in that controlled environment. I was passed the other day on the shoulder by some punk kid (No older than 17) w/ an older Honda Civic HB with a tin can and a bumpersticker stating "Street Racing is not a Crime".

Hello it is. Driving is not a right. It is earned and can legally be taken away. Also Mr Snotty 17 year old, you Mommy/Daddy's insurance company can be sued for your actions. (because you are under the age of majority). Think about that before you cause a senseless accident.

Sorry for the rant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and this is for 2009?
Goodness, it looks a lot like the 2005 Toyota Wish.

The only positive here is that in the states, 2009 starts somewhere in february 2008.

looked it up in the dictionary:

vibe (noun)
(1) a distinctive emotional aura experienced instinctively; "that place gave me bad vibrations"; "it gave me a nostalgic vibe" [
(2) Vibration

It has to be the second meaning.

Doesnt look much different than whats out there now.
Just new headlights... but thats typical of GM and Pontiac.
Keep the same lame design for 10 years and wonder why no one wants to buy their crap.
Pontiacs look dated within 2 years of being released.

I would rather have the Toyota version, looks better and atleast i know GM didnt have their union ridden hands on it.

Plazma:

For your information they are both built at the same assembly plant in Freemont California. It is a GM facility with GM Employees building the vehicles. The plant is under Toyota management, and uses Toyota production techniques. So even your Toyota Matrix will have been touched by "GM Union Ridden Hands"

I hate the unions.. i live here in Detroit and if it was up to me, i would abolish the unions, cause it protects lazy degenerates that are drinking and doing drugs on the line.
The unions have hurt the automakers.
They are greedy and they make the cars cost more every year. No one needs to be paid $18+ an hour to put lug nuts on a car, you can get a monkey or migrant worker to do it for minimum wage, even better, built a robot and it will work better and faster than any union yahoo.

How much has GM/Pontiac's philosophy changed in the last 5 years regarding quality? I have a 2002 Pontiac Grand Am and would NEVER buy another Pontiac (or likely GM) based on this car alone. It not that its horrible - I feel the drivetrain is pretty solid, but its the little things that keep going wrong. I have had to fix the driver's side window 3 times in the last year alone! The reason it keeps breaking? Because the entire weight of the window ultimately rests on a $0.10 plastic clip. When the clips breaks, boo-ya, Pontiac just scores another $400 for a window repair since the entire window regulator and motor must be replaced! That is probably one of/if not the worst piece of engineering I have ever seen.

Don't believe me? Just google for Pontiac Grand Am window regulator clip. You will literally find entire forums dedicated to the window regulator. Fortunately, you can buy the part for about $60 and do-it-yourself, but still $60 and an hour of my time is a lot to spend several times a year for a problem that could have been entirely prevented by just using METAL.

Pontiac can kiss my business good-bye unless they have some serious quality changes.

The plant where the Pontiac Vibe is manufactured, NUMMI (New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc), is located in Fremont CA and a joint venture between Toyota and GM. It used to be a GM plant that closed down back 1982'ish, then reopened under Toyota management in 1984. The Toyota production method mentioned above is called "TPS", where the workers learn about "Kaizan" and "Muda", among other things.

The Vibe and Corolla are manufactured on the same assembly line, one right behind the other, and share many of the same components! The Matrix is NOT produced at NUMMI. However, if you open the hood of your Pontiac Vibe and start poking around, you will find many parts labeled "Toyota". NUMMI also builds the various models of the Toyota Tacoma truck, including the X-Runner.

If you plan to visit the San Francisco Bay Area or are a resident, go to the NUMMI website and arrange to take the free guided tour.

www.nummi.com

Click on "tours" and schedule a date. Right now NUMMI is booked up to the end of the year but sometimes drop in's can be accomodated and cancellations do occur.

How do I know all this? Simple. I work at NUMMI.

At for the new Vibe and Corolla, all I can say is they both look better than their predecessors. Take one for a test drive when they hit the dealerships and see what you think.

Sweet, GM finally adopted the five year old style of the Matrix for their Vibe. Awesome.

For the record, bensen408 got it right. I too used to work at the plant. I was very closely tied to the vehicles in the position I used to work in and was privy to information about them before they hit the markets.

The Matrix, just so you know, is built by Toyota Team Members in Canada. So are some of the Corollas. The way to tell if your Corolla was built in Canada (as opposed to Fremont, CA or Japan) is to look at the VIN and VIN plate. If the VIN starts with a 1 or says NUMMI all over it, it was built in Fremont by UAW local 2244 workers. If the VIN starts with a 2 or has TOYOTA written all over it, it was built in Canada by non-union Toyota Team Members. If it starts with a J or has TOYOTA written all over it, it was built in Japan, also by non-union Toyota Team Members.

What does this have to do with the '09 Vibe? Nothing. The Vibe has always been, and will always be, made by UAW workers in Fremont. I don't think GM is stupid enough to try to build that car anywhere else in their system. I am surprised they have stayed with it as long as they have, what with the way their production numbers have dropped since its inception. But something is working for them in their setup with Toyota at NUMMI, so they will keep producing something there until they choose to pull out of their agreement with TMC.

Anyway, to finish this up, GM is not known for quality. I will be the first to admit that. And as a former worker at the plant (non-union, salaried member of management there) I really have no problem talking dirt about the company. But when it comes to quality, the Toyota half of the house has really stepped it up and has pushed the quality concept into every phase of work at the plant. Unfortunately GM hasn't wrapped their minds around building quality in station, keeping mishaps from shipping and keeping the customer in mind as they build in their other plants. But at NUMMI it is a way of life and I would buy just about anything they produced. In fact, I have. All three. And have assisted many others in buying NUMMI products as well.

This looks better than the 09 Matrix imo. Pontiac seems to be on the right track with their new designs. Toyota... not so much...

I own an '03 Vibe and there is nothing wrong with it or the way it looks, which in my opinion is second only to the new design (finally lost the roof rack- yay). The original- not ugly. When they changed the front end in '05 or '06, I think at the same time they killed the AWD and GT, they made it ugly. As for "GM quality", what the hell are you people smoking? It's a TOYOTA, built by Toyota Team Members at the aforementioned NUMMI. There is very little GM involved, so I don't think GM quality is such an issue. I do agree that hopefully this gen will have a little more pep out of the box. And for the guy and his Honda street racing: find a track, it's where racing belongs; and SOHC engines weren't made to be fast, so if you win in a GT that runs on premium, you shouldn't feel special. My friend has a modded D15 and it still only runs a 17.2 1/4.

Boy-American thinking (which is not bad) is sure hard to change. GM BRAGS about THEIR Vibe, This is one incidence where many have a blind eye. Toyota puts out good cars and it makes me smile when an American manufacturer takes one of these good cars, redesigns some of the gingerbread on the body i.e. GMUTIZED and then sells it to the public as one of their own. As it so happens, the parts changed by GM are the parts that have to be replaced down the line. Yes, I am speaking from first hand knowledge and not hearsay. GM started doing this way back when the GEO Prism came to being. Yep folks that was a Toyota Corolla. The GM Saturn put Honda engines in some of their vehicles. Nope they didnt advertise that either. I can drive into a GM plant with a Pontiac Vibe and get the thumbs up but let me drive in with a Toyota Matrix-well you get the picture. Stupido