2009 Pontiac Vibe problems
Owners have filed 601 complaints with NHTSA about the 2009 Pontiac Vibe. Air bags is the most reported problem area, at 59% of complaints. After that come cruise control (10%) and engine (6%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 601 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 59% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 26 and 4
- Injuries and deaths
- 14 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 56,000 miles 243 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 | 57 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 44 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 25 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 33 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 31 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 19 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 17 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 10 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 3 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 2 |
| 200k+ miles | 2 |
What the data shows
Among the 243 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 56,000 miles. For air bags specifically, the median reported mileage is about 93,000 miles (53 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 26 complaints mention a crash; 4 complaints mention a fire; 14 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2009 ranks 2nd most-complained-about out of 8 model years of the Pontiac Vibe with enough data (178 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 9 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.
Tl*the contact owns a 2009 pontiac vive. While driving into a parking space attempting to park the vehicle at 5 MPH when the gas pedal was engaged, the vehicle accelerated and crashed into a fence. She received a ticket for careless driving. The insurance company towed the vehicle to the body shop. The vehicle will be repaired. She sustained fractured bones and the passenger received injuries to their chest, ribs and knee. The failure and the current mileage were 3,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 pontiac vibe. The contact stated that the air bag warning light illuminated. In addition the contact stated that when coming to a stop, the vehicle slid on black ice and crashed into a traffic sign. The contact stated that the front drivers side of the vehicle was damaged and that the air bags failed to deploy. A police report was filed and both the driver and passenger sustained minor injuries. The vehicle was taken to a dealer but the repairs were unknown. The vehicle was repaired.
Various lights come on in the dashboard, I forget now exactly which lights, but I think it was the ABS light, the vsc light, and the traction control light. This happens only for a few minutes in a month or so. When it happens, the abc, vsc, and traction control do not work (I tested it in a snowy parking lot). I went to salentine pontiac a couple years ago, and they said that since it is so intermittent, they are not really likely to be able to find the source of the problem, nor know if they would have fixed it.
Pulling out of the firestone parking lot, looked both ways; nothing coming from the right or the left, began to pull out, and almost hit a guy on a motorcycle. There is a very poorly designed trait in my pontiac vibe with the side mirrors blocking your view.... Can the mirrors be changed to a smaller (height) mirror? This had actually happened to me twice since I've owned this car.... Never buy another one. Thank you - [xxx]