Owners have filed 1,635 complaints on the Pontiac Vibe, covering 2000–2014. The system named most often is Air Bags (915 reports). Worst years by volume: 2009, 2005, 2003; cleanest: 2000, 2002, 2014. 86 reports describe a crash, 5 a fire, 1 a death. On average the car was 7.4 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Pontiac Vibe
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 1,635 Vibe complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Air Bags 915 Read
The contact owns a 2004 pontiac vibe. While driving 25 mph, the tires made contact with the sidewalk. The contact lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a pole. The air bags deployed and emitted flames and metal fragments. The contact mentioned that the windshield shattered. Due to the flames, the seats and…
Driving in a light rain, I lost control at 75mph and hit the rear of a semi trailer. The car started to slide sideways and I pressed the brakes hard and the car began to skid. The skid continued until my car reached the shoulder, whereupon it began to roll. The car rolled a total of three times and came to rest on its…
The contact owns a 2010 pontiac vibe. The contact stated that while driving approximately 15 mph, a second vehicle crashed into the driver side rear door of the vehicle. The contact indicated that the front, side curtain and seat air bags all failed to deploy. A rear passenger sustained injuries to the head and face.…
Visibility 134 Read
The contact owns a 2009 pontiac vibe. The contact was driving at low speeds in a parking lot when she reversed and crashed into another vehicle. The contact stated the vehicle was in her blind spot. In addition, the contact stated when attempting to change lanes, she was unable to see clearly through the rear view…
The contact owns a 2010 pontiac vibe. The contact was driving 65 mph in rainy weather when the windshield wipers failed. The wipers remained stuck in position for approximately thirty minutes before resuming normal operation. The failure recurred and the wipers remained stuck in position for one hour. The contact was…
Takata recall. The contact owns a 2009 pontiac vibe. The contact received recall notifications for NHTSA campaign numbers: 10V024000 (vehicle speed control), 12V491000 (visibility), 14V168000 (air bags), and 16V340000 (air bags); however, the parts needed for the repairs were not available. The contact stated that the…
Power Train 96 Read
The contact owns a 2009 pontiac vibe. The contact stated that on june 4, 2010, while at a traffic light, the vehicle suddenly accelerated and crashed into a wall. The contact sustained major injuries and was hospitalized. A police report was filed. The contact had previously been complaining about the transmission but…
Dt: the consumer owns a 2003 pontiac vibe that experienced sudden acceleration when placed in reverse. The consumer placed the vehicle in reverse and it accelerated backwards into a tree. The consumer did not have her foot on the brake or the accelerator pedal at that time. This has happened again when placed in…
The clutch in my 2010 pontiac vibe gt failed while driving at 45 mph. The car would rev but with virtually no acceleration ability. Luckily I was on a rural road and able to pull over. My vehicle has 36k miles on it. I have 31 years of manual transmission driving experience and I have never had to replace a…
Vehicle Speed Control 80 Read
The contact owns a 2009 pontiac vibe. While driving approximately 5 mph into her garage the vehicle accelerated although pressure was applied to the brake pedal. The vehicle crashed into the garage door and the roof collapsed. There was an estimate of $9,000 for property damages. The driver sustained no injuries. The…
I was in the process of pulling into a parking space with my 2009 pontiac vibe. I had my foot on the brake pedal , within a foot of coming to a complete stop, the vehicle accelerated suddenly. The sudden acceleration jerked my wife's head and my head back. As the vehicle accelerated I pressed down on the brake pedal…
2009 pontiac vibe. Consumer states unintended acceleration. *tgw the consumer stated the vehicle accelerated out of control which caused her to crash into a light pole. The consumer stated when the vehicle was first purchased, it accelerated while she was driving into a garage. She was able to get the vehicle under…
Engine And Engine Cooling 75 Read
The contact owns a 2007 pontiac vibe. The contact stated that the wires that connected from the fuse box to the electronic control module were melted and causing the exterior parking brake to become inoperative. The contact referenced NHTSA campaign id number: 10V387000 (engine and engine cooling) but was advised by…
The contact owns a 2010 pontiac vibe. While traveling 70 mph the contact noticed that the vehicle had suddenly shut off without warning. The vehicle was taken to the dealership where the contact was informed that the failure could not be reproduced; however, the contact continued to experience the failure. The failure…
Exhaust smell inside passenger compartment. This is an ongoing problem. Dealership states there is no problem
Electrical System 63 Read
Power window master switch failure. Shorted and caught on fire. Fire was isolated to switch and door panel, however interior of car did fill up with smoke. Power window master switch was previously addressed as per bulletin 15791a however recall did not remedy defective part/hazard
Air bags failed to deploy and vehicle is not available for inspection. Vehicle was a total loss and is in the proces of becoming proprty of Copart.com for auction (I assume). I hit my head very hard from the T-bone type of collision and my side airbags did not deploy. I have a severe concussion and internal brain…
The contact owns a 2009 pontiac vibe. While driving 15 mph, after opening the driver side window via the power window controls located on the driver's side door panel, smoke appeared from the door panel. There were no warning indicators illuminated. When the contact restarted the vehicle, the smoke disappeared. An…
Steering 50 Read
The contact owns a 2010 pontiac vibe. While driving approximately 40 mph and accelerating around a curb the vehicle jerked to the right violently. The contact was able to control the vehicle, it was taken to the dealer where the technicians were unable to duplicate or diagnose the failure. The contact stated the…
The contact owned a 2004 Pontiac Vibe. The contact stated that the wife was driving approximately 70 MPH when suddenly the vehicle erroneously turned to the right and drove across multiple lanes of traffic before crashing into a curb and flipping over, landing back on its wheels and stopping. The Highway Patrol was…
I was driving my 2003 pontiac vibe in cleveland, oh when the brakes and steering suddenly went out on the vehicle. I had no indication whatsoever that there was a problem with my car. This resulted in an accident. The police agreed with me that I was not at fault and it was the vehicle. I was not cited
Service Brakes 34 Read
The contact owns a 2008 pontiac vibe. While driving 50 mph, the contact was involved in a head on crash with a semi truck. The air bags failed to deploy. Prior to the crash, the vehicle was taken to the dealer on four occasions regarding the ABS. When the vehicle was retrieved, the contact heard a squeaky noise and…
The contact owns a 2007 pontiac vibe. While driving 70 mph at night, in dry weather conditions, the contact depressed the brake pedal and the vehicle spun around. He lost control of the vehicle and crashed. While accelerating from a stop, the tires and wheels spun around dramatically. He notified the manufacturer, but…
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…
Vibe years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Air Bags | — | — | |
| 2010 | Air Bags | 5 | — | |
| 2009 | Air Bags | 17 | 2 | |
| 2008 | Air Bags | 3 | — | |
| 2007 | Air Bags | 12 | 1 | |
| 2006 | Air Bags | 3 | — | |
| 2005 | Air Bags | 8 | 1 | |
| 2004 | Air Bags | 15 | 1 | |
| 2003 | Air Bags | 22 | — | |
| 2002 | Air Bags,seat Belts | 1 | — | |
| 2000 | Air Bags | — | — |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 334 |
| Average complaints per series | 4.9 |
| Worst single series | 26 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 7.4 years |
A model average of 4.9 hides a worst series at 26. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
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- No ads, no tracking — and much more
How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Vibe?
By complaint volume, 2009, 2005, 2003 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Vibe years are the cleanest?
2000, 2002, 2014 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Pontiac Vibe have?
1,635 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2000–2014. Of those, 86 describe a crash and 5 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.