When the original Pontiac Vibe hit dealer showrooms for the 2003 model year, it was a different kind of General Motors vehicle in just about every way. Sure, it wore a Pontiac badge and had that horrible plastic cladding hanging off its sides, but the vehicle's basic shape was unlike anything else in the General's lineup. There was a very good reason for this, as the Vibe is produced by GM's joint venture with Toyota called NUMMI, or the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. This JV currently produces the Vibe, Corolla and Tacoma pickup for both automakers, and the new Vibe is basically the ... Read More

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Report: Toyota says Corolla/Matrix steering issue not a defect, will offer fix to complainers 1279034940

Back in February, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration initiated an investigation of 749,685 2009 and 2010 model year Corolla and Matrix vehicles for a potential steering issue. And while we haven't heard much from the government agency regarding this issue, the Detroit Free Press reports that Toyota has indicated that the problem is not a ...
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Consumer Reports may restore Toyota "Recommended" ratings next week 1267475400

Consumer Reports may be ready to offer a vote of confidence in Toyota, depending on the outcome of the Japanese automaker's current Congressional Hearings on Toyota Safety here in the United States, says CR Senior Director David Champion. At the end of January as news was starting to pile up regarding reported cases of unintended acceleration and the ...
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GM tests Pontiac Vibe brakes against unintended acceleration in wake of Matrix recall 1265133480

Determined to allay any concerns that the Pontiac Vibe – a clone of the recalled Toyota Matrix – has safety issues with its brakes, General Motors conducted its own vehicle tests over the weekend at its Milford Proving Grounds. "We ran the Vibe wide open at 60 miles an hour and the brakes were able to bring the vehicle to a safe stop within ...
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BREAKING: Toyota adds another 1.1M cars to floor mat recall 1264683660

If you need to announce another recall around the same time a controversial president is making his highly anticipated State of the Union address, you probably won't curse that particular luck. That is exactly what Toyota felt it needed to do, revealing yesterday evening that it's recalling a further 1.1 million cars to fix "pedal entrapment problems" ...
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Report: Toyota was legally required to stop selling recalled models 1264613280

Toyota has quite the PR nightmare on its hands. The boiling cauldron of complaints surrounding unintended acceleration issues bubbled over this month with two separate but giant recalls. The latest involves eight Toyota models that contain defective accelerator pedal mechanisms that could stick over time due to wear. There is no fix available for the ...
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Don't Forget Me! Pontiac Vibe also included in Toyota recall 1264428060

It is easy to forget that among the debris swirling in the tornado of claims against Toyota, the Pontiac Vibe is really a Toyota Matrix. Hence, the Vibe is also included in Toyota's recent recall of 2.3 million vehicles to repair accelerator pedal mechanisms that could stick and cause unintended acceleration. The Vibe was built at the NUMMI plant in a ...
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Kicking the Dead: Pontiac recalls 10k 2009-2010 Vibes over cold-weather braking 1255446000

General Motors is recalling 10,119 units of the Pontiac Vibe due to cold weather-related brake problems. The vehicles subject to the recall are all fitted with the 1.8-liter four-cylinder powerplant, and were sold or are currently registered in one of about two dozen snow belt states. According to the recall campaign, very low ambient temperatures may ...
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Dampened: Pontiac Vibe production ends this August 1245677220

It was originally thought that the Vibe would be the terminal Pontiac, but now that we've learned that the Excitement runs out of the NUMMI plant by the end of August we're not so sure. While the curtain will drop on the Vibe, General Motors hasn't totally ruled out future co-production with Toyota at its joint venture in Fremont, CA. The Vibe is the twin ...
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Last Call: Pontiac Vibe final consumer model for dead brand 1244662140

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Last Pontiac Standing will be the nearly new Vibe. The compact hatchback was the predictable pick not just due to its young age, but because it is part of General Motors' longstanding NUMMI joint-venture plant with Toyota.Understandably, the Vibe isn't set to get a big update for 2010, but according to GM's 2010 Product Guide, ...
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Pontiac Vibe to be replaced with another shared Toyota model? 1240867680

There are a lot of questions left unanswered after General Motors announcement this morning that its Pontiac division was not long for this world. One of those is what will happen to GM's joint venture agreement with Toyota to produce models at the New United Motor Motor Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI) facility in California. The Pontiac Vibe is currently ...