Pontiac Vibe - Good Vibrations Still Come from California
Have you got the Vibe? If you watched the winter Olympic Games you couldn't have missed the groovin' commercials. Soul-stirring riffs hypnotically pulse TV viewers into a trance while members of the too-cool-to-look-like-they-care snowboard crowd bob their dread-locked heads up and down while cruising behind the wheel of their Vibes. Good car or good marketing?
For one the marketing is very good. While Pontiac attempted to lure in this crowd with last year's radically styled Aztek, its price point was, and still is - at $27,295 to $38,715 - outside their financial ability. The Vibe homes in on this youth target audience with a much more accessible $19,150 base MSRP. Even when completely done out its only $31,360.
Its price point isn't its only appealing attribute either. The Vibe looks great from every angle. Its aggressive, tall stance is capped with angular sheetmetal and tough looking, truck-like gray plastic lower trim. If the rugged theme isn't your style a monotone, body-color paint scheme is optional on all models. Like the ride height its roofline is tall, adding another SUV-like styling cue while increasing visibility and headroom.
But headroom is only part of the story. Despite its compact outward appearance, interior space is large. With four adults sitting comfortably, there are still 868-litres of cargo space in the back. The rear seats split 60/40 and fold flat for up to 1,621-litres of hauling flexibility. Pontiac took a unique approach by giving the Vibe a tough plastic cargo floor, with twin tracks running parallel from front to back. Adjustable sliding anchors fit into the tracks to make securing loose objects easy.
Have you got the Vibe? If you watched the winter Olympic Games you couldn't have missed the groovin' commercials. Soul-stirring riffs hypnotically pulse TV viewers into a trance while members of the too-cool-to-look-like-they-care snowboard crowd bob their dread-locked heads up and down while cruising behind the wheel of their Vibes. Good car or good marketing?
For one the marketing is very good. While Pontiac attempted to lure in this crowd with last year's radically styled Aztek, its price point was, and still is - at $27,295 to $38,715 - outside their financial ability. The Vibe homes in on this youth target audience with a much more accessible $19,150 base MSRP. Even when completely done out its only $31,360.
Its price point isn't its only appealing attribute either. The Vibe looks great from every angle. Its aggressive, tall stance is capped with angular sheetmetal and tough looking, truck-like gray plastic lower trim. If the rugged theme isn't your style a monotone, body-color paint scheme is optional on all models. Like the ride height its roofline is tall, adding another SUV-like styling cue while increasing visibility and headroom.
But headroom is only part of the story. Despite its compact outward appearance, interior space is large. With four adults sitting comfortably, there are still 868-litres of cargo space in the back. The rear seats split 60/40 and fold flat for up to 1,621-litres of hauling flexibility. Pontiac took a unique approach by giving the Vibe a tough plastic cargo floor, with twin tracks running parallel from front to back. Adjustable sliding anchors fit into the tracks to make securing loose objects easy.