2006 Pontiac VIBE: complaints, problems and recalls

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED AFTER HEARING A RATTLING NOISE FROM THE LEFT REAR SEATBELT BUCKLE AND THE BUCKLE ASSEMBLY NOT LOCKING, THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALER. THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT DISCOVERED THERE WERE MISSING BOLTS IN THE BUCKLE ASSEMBLY AND WITHOUT THOSE BOLTS; THE BUCKLE ASSEMBLY WOULD NOT LOCK. ALTHOUGH THE VEHICLE WAS SEEN BY A DEALER, THE BUCKLE ASSEMBLY WAS NOT REPAIRED.

Owner-reported narrative. 5,600 miles reported. Look up ODI 10149129 at NHTSA ↗

2006 PONTIAC VIBE WITH HIGHLY REFLECTIVE DASHBOARD**CC THE CONSUMER STATED THE VEHICLE HAS CHROME AROUND THE GAUGES LOCATED ON THE DASHBOARD. *JB

Owner-reported narrative. Look up ODI 10181637 at NHTSA ↗

ENGINE ACCELERATES WHEN BRAKE IS APPLIED. INTERMITTINT PROBLEM. *TR

Owner-reported narrative. 8,000 miles reported. Look up ODI 10207504 at NHTSA ↗

NO WARNING. DRIVING ON HWY. WHEN I THOUGHT I SEEN THE DASH FLASH, WENT OVER HILL LOST ALL POWER & ABILITY TO MANEUVER VEHICLE ON ICY HWY. VEHICLE HAD SHUT DOWN. WAS ABLE TO USE FOUR WAYS TO SIGNAL TRAFFIC I WAS HAVING AN EMERGENCY & COAXED CAR TO SIDE OF THE ROAD WITH MY VEHICLE STILL IN THE LANE OF TRAFFIC. NEEDED TO BE TOWED. TOTALLY INOPERABLE. I FOUND OUT THE PROBLEM IS A POWERTRAIN CONTROL MODULE (PCM) WHICH HAS A SERVICE BULLETIN OUT ON IT, #050604074; NHTSA ITEM # 10020810. THIS IS A SAFETY HAZARD AS IF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED FURTHER I…

Owner-reported narrative. 40 miles reported. Look up ODI 10218590 at NHTSA ↗

OVER THE PAST FEW MONTHS, THE DRIVER'S SIDE WINDOW WOULD RATTLE GOING UP OR DOWN AND THEN PROGRESSED TO NOT GOING COMPLETELY UP OR COMPLETELY DOWN WHEN I PRESSED THE BUTTON. ON 3/7/2008 I ROLLED DOWN MY WINDOW IN THE EVENING AND WHEN I WENT TO ROLL IT BACK UP IT APPEARED 'OFF IT TRACK.' IT WOULD ROLL UP PARTIALLY AN IT WAS AT AN ANGLE. I DID NOT WANT TO FORCE IT BECAUSE IT APPEARED THAT THE GLASS WAS STRESSED AND WAS CLOSE TO SHATTERING. *TR

Owner-reported narrative. 17,251 miles reported. Look up ODI 10220544 at NHTSA ↗

I WAS DRIVING MY 2006 PONTIAC VIBE SOUTH ON INTERSTATE 79 IN RURAL PENNSLVANIA WHEN THE BRAKES SOUNDLY FAILED TO RESPOND. I STEPPED ON THE PEDDLE BUT THE CAR FAILED TO SLOW, AND THE CRUISE CONTROL FAILED TO DISENGAGE. TO AVOID AN HITTING THE CAR IN FRONT OF ME, I SWERVED INTO THE SHOULDER, CONTINUING TO APPLY THE BRAKES. AS I TRIED TO SLOW, THE CAR FISHTAILED AND I SKIDDED INTO THE INTERSTATE AGAIN AND HIT THE OPPOSITE GUARDRAIL. ANTILOCK BRAKES DID NOT ENGAGE. FINALLY, WHEN I CRASHED, THE CAR'S AIRBAG FAILED TO DEPLOY, DESPITE THE ENTIRE FRONT…

Owner-reported narrative. 25,235 miles reported. Look up ODI 10227900 at NHTSA ↗

THE DRIVERS SIDE WINDOW DOES NOT ROLL DOWN ALL THE WAY, AND WHEN YOU ROLL IT DOWN AS FAR AS IT GOES, IT SEEMS TO INTERFERE WITH THE DOOR MECHANISM SO YOU CANNOT OPEN THE DOOR (IT FEELS LIKE THE WINDOW WILL BREAK IF YOU FORCE THE DOOR OPEN). I HAVE TIGHTENED THE SCREWS THAT HOLD THE DOOR HINGE ONTO THE DOOR, AND THAT SEEMED TO HELP, BUT STILL HAVE A PROBLEM. *TR

Owner-reported narrative. 40,000 miles reported. Look up ODI 10239148 at NHTSA ↗

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2006 PONTIAC VIBE. THE CONSUMER STATED THE TIRE PRESSURE MONITORING SYSTEM WAS DEFECTIVE WHEN HE FIRST PURCHASED THE VEHICLE. THE SERVICE DEPT. TOLD HIM IT WOULD RESET ON ITS OWN. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 100 AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 9,300. UPDATED 02/24/09. *LJ UPDATED 02/25/09. *JB

Owner-reported narrative. 100 miles reported. Look up ODI 10256485 at NHTSA ↗

Reported: 2010-08-26 (August 26, 2010)

GM IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2005-2008 PONTIAC VIBE VEHICLES. THE ENGINE CONTROL MODULE (ECM) FOR THE SUBJECT MODELS EQUIPPED WITH THE 1ZZ-FE (LV6) ENGINE AND TWO-WHEEL DRIVE MAY HAVE BEEN IMPROPERLY MANUFACTURED. THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT A CRACK MAY DEVELOP AT CERTAIN SOLDER POINTS OR ON VARISTORS ON THE CIRCUIT BOARD.

Consequence: THERE ARE A VARIETY OF WARNINGS AND CONSEQUENCES ASSOCIATED WITH THE DEFECT. THE ENGINE WARNING LAMP COULD BE ILLUMINATED, HARSH SHIFTING COULD RESULT, THE ENGINE MAY NOT START, OR THE ENGINE COULD SHUT OFF WHILE THE VEHICLE IS BEING DRIVEN. AN ENGINE SHUTOFF WHILE THE VEHICLE IS BEING DRIVEN INCREASES THE RISK OF A CRASH.

Remedy: DEALERS WILL INSPECT THE PRODUCTION NUMBER OF THE ECM AND REPLACE THE ECM IF NECESSARY. THIS SERVICE WILL BE PERFORMED FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON FEBRUARY 8, 2011. OWNERS MAY CONTACT GM AT 1-800-620-7668.

Reported: 2015-05-13 (May 13, 2015)

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) notified the agency on May 13, 2015 that they are recalling certain model year 2004 Sequoia vehicles manufactured August 18, 2003, to August 19, 2004, and 2003-2004 Tundra vehicles manufactured March 18, 2003, to August 25, 2004. On June 16, 2015, Toyota expanded the recall to include an additional 1,270,468 vehicles, including model year 2002-2003 and 2005-2007 Sequoia, 2005-2006 Tundra, 2003-2007 Corolla, 2003-2007 Corolla Matrix, 2003-2007 Pontiac Vibe and 2002-2007 Lexus SC vehicles. This is to address a safety defect in the passenger side frontal air bag inflator which may produce excessive internal pressure causing the inflator to rupture upon deployment of the air bag. This recall addresses both the passenger side frontal air bags that were originally installed in the vehicles, as well as replacement air bags that may have been installed as replacement service parts. A replacement air bag may have been installed, as one example, if a vehicle had been in a crash necessitating the replacement of the passenger side frontal air bag.

Consequence: In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants potentially resulting in serious injury or death.

Remedy: 2003-2004 Corolla and Corolla Matrix vehicles that are recalled under both 15V-043 and 15V-285 are under a Do Not Drive advisory. Owners of these vehicles are advised not to drive their vehicles until the recall remedy has been completed. Toyota will notify their owners. Pontiac Vibe owners will be notified by GM. Dealers will replace the front passenger air bag. The recall began on July 13, 2015. Toyota owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Pontiac owners may call 1-800-762-2737. NOTE: This recall supersedes recall 14V-312 in its entirety.

Reported: 2015-05-13 (May 13, 2015)

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) notified the agency on May 13, 2015, that they are recalling 2005-2007 Lexus SC, Toyota Corolla, Corolla Matrix, Sequoia, and Pontiac Vibe, and 2005-2006 Toyota Tundra vehicles that were originally sold, or ever registered, in Florida, along the Gulf Coast, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Saipan and American Samoa. On June 16, 2015 Toyota expanded the recall to cover an additional 769,055 vehicles, including certain model year 2002-2004 Lexus SC, Toyota Sequoia, 2003-2004 Toyota Corolla Matrix, Toyota Corolla, Pontiac Vibe, and Toyota Tundra vehicles, as well the vehicles covered by the May 13, 2015 notification in the portions of Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas that were not previously included. The inflators in the front passenger air bags are susceptible to rupture in the event of a crash necessitating the deployment of the front passenger air bag.

Consequence: In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants potentially resulting in serious injury or death.

Remedy: 2003-2004 Corolla and Corolla Matrix vehicles that are recalled under both 15V-043 and 15V-286 are under a Do Not Drive advisory. Owners of these vehicles are advised not to drive their vehicles until the recall remedy has been completed. Toyota will notify their owners. Pontiac Vibe owners will be notified by GM. Dealers will replace the passenger side front air bag, free of charge. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota began the recall on July 13, 2015. Pontiac Vibe owners may contact GM at 1-800-762-2737. GM began the recall on June 29, 2015. NOTE: This recacll supersedes recall 14V-655 in its entirety. For vehicles located in the U.S. states not listed above, please see Toyota recall 15V-285 which covers all other U.S. states.

Reported: 2018-12-12 (December 12, 2018)

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2002-2005 Lexus SC and Toyota Sequoia, 2003-2005 Toyota Corolla and Tundra, and 2003-2007 Pontiac Vibe vehicles. These vehicles are equipped with certain air bag inflators assembled as part of the passenger frontal air bag modules used as original equipment or replacement equipment. In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger frontal air bag, these inflators may explode due to propellant degradation.

Consequence: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

Remedy: Toyota will notify the Toyota and Lexus owners. General Motors will notify the Pontiac Vibe owners. Depending on the vehicle model, dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator with an alternate inflator, or replace the air bag assembly that includes an alternate inflator, free of charge. The recall began January 23, 2019. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371, Lexus customer service at 1-800-255-3987 or Pontiac customer service at 1-800-762-2737. Toyota's numbers for these recalls are J0A (Zone A Toyota), J0B (Zone B Toyota), J0C (Zone C Toyota), JLI (Zone A Lexus), JLJ (Zone B Lexus), and JLK (Zone C Lexus). Note: This recall includes vehicles that have had their air bag previously replaced under an earlier air bag campaign.

Reported: 2019-08-28 (August 28, 2019)

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2003-2008 Corolla, 2005-2008 Corolla Matrix, and Pontiac Vibe vehicles equipped with a front passenger air bag assembly replaced under a prior recall. The air bag may not unfold as designed during inflation under high temperature conditions, possibly resulting in the air bag not inflating properly.

Consequence: An improperly inflated air bag increases the risk of injury during a crash.

Remedy: Toyota will notify their owners. Pontiac Vibe owners will be notified by GM. Dealers will replace the front passenger air bag assembly or sub-assembly, free of charge. Toyota owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371. Toyota's numbers for this recall are K1Q and K0Q. Pontiac owners may contact GM customer service at 1-800-762-2737. GM's number for this recall is N192273760.