2003 Pontiac Vibe problems
Owners have filed 341 complaints with NHTSA about the 2003 Pontiac Vibe. Wipers, windshield & visibility is the most reported problem area, at 24% of complaints. After that come air bags (19%) and transmission (8%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 341 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Wipers, windshield & visibility 24% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 35 and 0
- Injuries and deaths
- 50 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 60,000 miles 221 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 39 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 30 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 40 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 28 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 25 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 19 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 13 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 14 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 4 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 8 |
What the data shows
Among the 221 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 60,000 miles. For wipers, windshield & visibility specifically, the median reported mileage is about 59,000 miles (65 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 35 complaints mention a crash; 50 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2003 ranks 1st most-complained-about out of 8 model years of the Pontiac Vibe with enough data (194 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 8 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
2003 pontiac vibe was hit head on by another vehicle and then hit the side guard rail and another car. No air bags (front and sides) deployed, and one back seat passenger's seat belt failed. There were five people in the complainant vehicle were injured.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 pontiac vibe. The contact stated that while traveling 25 MPH, the air bags erroneously deployed. The contact was able to merge to the shoulder. The passenger sustained a headache from the failure. The contact also stated that the air bag cracked the windshield. The manufacturer was contacted about the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle was not included in NHTSA campaign id number: 13v029000 (air bags). The failure and current mileages were 81,000.
I have a 2003 pontiac vibe with 40,000 miles and the engine threw a rod. The dealership claimed that sludge in the oil caused by improper maintenance was the reason the engine failed. I believe this is the same engine that is in the toyota vehicles that had the problem with sludge in the oil. Toyota has agreed to repair engines in toyota's damaged by sludge in the oil. Pontiac stated they will not fix this problem. I beleive this was caused by an engine deect and is not due to poor maintenance.