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Anyone own either Pontiac Vibe or Jeep Liberty?

A

AndrewR

Lifer
I probably won't be able to test drive unless I get the States very soon, but I can buy either of these through the US military Overseas Sales program for a decent price.

I like Vibe because it has decent gas mileage, and the fact that Toyota has put their mark on it does much to offset the GM manufacturer name on it. It seems decent, but I'm worried about the amount of interior space with a child in a carseat and an 85lb dog plus luggage on a roadtrip. We could fit, but the dog might be unhappy.

The Liberty is obviously larger but not too large. The lower gas mileage is my biggest concern, but the interior is well appointed. Plus, I should be able to get the A-plan pricing on it so there may be around the same price.

Pros and cons of each, especially if you drive one?
 
I don't like the Liberty simply because they discontinued the Cherokee and made that soccer mom thing. That's a con for me.


The Vibe looks alright, especially considering it's a Pontiac. So............I'm no help to you, unless you wanted to know that I will absolutely despise you in a Liberty, and I've only seen females drive the Vibe.











Er...........how about the Escape? Same style of vehicle (largish station wagon/smallish SUV type). Or one of the Subaru's?


Haven't driven those either (though I will be renting an Escape over the holidays, I'm looking forward to it as an extended test drive).
Good luck.


Oh, and one more question for you. Wouldn't shipping be an absolute bitch on one of those? Or would it be staying in the US waiting for you?

Make sure to get the free shipping option. Does Fedex deliver cars? 😛
 
The Liberty just seems like a SUV wanna-be. Not knocking the Jeep, but just look at it for what it's worth. In day-to-day driving, the Vibe would be easier to handle and park - not to forget the better gas mileage that you mentioned.

 
I just bought a 2005 toyota matrix 2 months ago and looked at the Vibe since I hav e like $2400 in GM card points. What turned me off is the $1000 advantage that Toyota has in resale value, slightly lower price on the toyota, the matrix has slightly more room and I think it looks a lot better from the outside.

going to save my GM points for when I get a second car. going to go for something like a cavalier from the year before when they can't give them away. Vibe is one of the very few cars that are worth buying from GM. It's resale value doesn't tank after you drive it off the lot.
 
Originally posted by: alent1234
I just bought a 2005 toyota matrix 2 months ago and looked at the Vibe since I hav e like $2400 in GM card points. What turned me off is the $1000 advantage that Toyota has in resale value, slightly lower price on the toyota, the matrix has slightly more room and I think it looks a lot better from the outside.

going to save my GM points for when I get a second car. going to go for something like a cavalier from the year before when they can't give them away. Vibe is one of the very few cars that are worth buying from GM. It's resale value doesn't tank after you drive it off the lot.
Click to expand...

That's funny, the toyota has a higher resale value and it's the same car.
 
my mom has a 2004 AWD Vibe. It's good for her, but it is underpowered. but she doesnt need power, she wanted the AWD for nastee michigan winters. It's good though. I like it.
 
Forgot to mention -- if it's a chick car (the Liberty), that's fine because it'll be the wife's vehicle most of the time. Since we're about to be a family of three (not including the dog), she needs a safe vehicle with enough maneuverability for Ohio winters (we'll be moving to Dayton in late Spring).

The big reason for looking at the Jeep as opposed to anything from Ford or Subaru is the fact that I can get it on the employee pricing plan through my father (sort of -- too long to explain). Anyway, for a comparable model from another manufacturer, I can get the Liberty at a cheaper price. That's a huge incentive.

Just trying to decide if it's worth the gas costs compared to the Vibe.
 
Oh, and one more question for you. Wouldn't shipping be an absolute bitch on one of those? Or would it be staying in the US waiting for you?
Click to expand...

The program is for people returning from overseas and is through the military exchange service (basically, the base Wal-Mart). So, I can plop down $300 on the Liberty to lock in the price and the model and then pay the balance (or down payment plus financing) when we are closer to leaving. When we arrive in the States, we can pick up the car at just about any dealer we specify from what I understand. So, theoretically, we could get the car in Seattle or LA (wherever our return flight takes us) and drive to Ohio instead of flying.

The cool thing is that if the incentives go higher, we get the higher rebate. If they go lower, we keep the higher rebate. There's also a very low profit margin since the exchange is forbidden from profiting too highly from anything they sell, which is why scuba equipment here is so cheap compared to most other places. The car guy said that they charge about 2-3% over invoice cost before rebates.
 
just between those two, id say the liberty.
if you can go for something else, id recommend a subaru of some kind. theres really something for everyone with those.
 
love the matrix

people are surprised at how much room is inside. wife and i can go to costco with my mom buy $500 worth of stuff and everything will fit in the car along with 3 people. And the MPG is great being just under that of the 2003 civic we traded in. In NYC wife and I pay $1600 a year for full coverage.
 
My Grandpa has a Vibe that is several years old. I do not know if this has been fixed for the current models, but his dashboard is HORRIBLE. All the gages are this dark red on black, along with the stereo. It is IMPOSSIBLE to see in the daytime if you are wearing sunglasses.
 
the vibe is roomy and it has a reliable toyota engine in it. friend has a metrix XRS and it's very roomy and comfortable to sit in for a couple of hours.

however the interior materials are not as good as some other japanese cars... hard hallow plastic door panels... hard to read cluster...

but mechanically it is more fuel efficient and would be more reliable than the liberty. i think the liberty stands too tall and i don't really like that...

how about read about both of them on edmunds?
 
I'm not sure about the Vibe, but the Matrix has cheesey "chrome" trim surrounding the guages. The Sun's glare off that trim was enough to make me pass on the Matrix.
 
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