2006 Pontiac Vibe

After the demise of my Toyota Camry at 247,000 miles, I needed a car that could measure up to the standards of my old car. My mechanic recommended another Toyota car, but with a Pontiac label - the Pontiac Vibe. Sure enough, when I opened the hood, I found Toyota-labeled parts. It is a Toyota Matrix with a Pontiac label and priced a few thousand dollars less. Hey, I'll take that.

This little 4-cylinder car with 126 hp and approximately 30 mpg has a surprising amount of pep and acceleration. And with the back seats flipped down, it can haul a lot of stuff.

While it is rated to carry 5 people, it's not comfortable. I would say 4.5 passengers is the maximum.

The ventilation is Japanese-style - you have full control over fresh air or recirculate, AC or no AC. Many American vehicles turn on the AC if you recirculate air and other lame-brained assumptions.

I like the interior lights - one for the driver and the front passenger located on the rear-view mirror itself. Storage areas are also well designed - cups, maps, change, pens and other stuff. The front passenger seat flips down to expose a small "table" suitable for a laptop or meal.

The car does not have any appearance of cheapness. The doors slam shut with a solid sound. The visibility through the windshield is great. The anti-lock braking system works very well and its rear-wiper enhances visibility during rainy conditions. The legroom is okay for the backseat passengers.

As with all hatchbacks, it makes an attempt to conceal the contents by providing a flexible cover that stretches over the back. With the back seats up, no one can see what you have there. The only problem is, thieves will probably conclude that you only put it up when you have something to hide. Thus, I minimize storage of valuables in the car.

With a small car like this, there is only a doughnut spare tire. I like full-size spares. Oh well. While the road noise is a little higher than my Camry, the wind noise was less, and I found myself driving faster than usual.

I like to think I know what's best for me, but apparently Pontiac decided otherwise. It locks the doors when I start driving and it turns on the headlights no matter what. I cannot turn off the headlights when I am operating the vehicle. So what? Well, I think I know when to lock the doors and turn on the headlights.

Even more exasperatingly, the thinking behind the seatbelt warning is to annoy you into putting on your seatbelt. It gives you a mere 15 seconds or so before it starts beeping loudly and at an ever-quickening pace. It eventually stops beeping, but usually long after I get tired of hearing the beeping and put the seatbelt on.

It even goes so far as to detect if a certain amount of weight is on the passenger seat and will beep if the passenger belt is not buckled, whether it is a person or a bag. How stupid is that? I keep the passenger seat belt buckled to get around this.

But that's not all: as soon as you disconnect the driver's seatbelt, you get the familiar warning, even if I am backing the car up! Sheesh, how much danger could I possibly be in while in reverse? Apparently I might just fly around the car if I back up too fast and hit something.

If you need a car that is great on mileage, doesn't take forever to accelerate, does nimble short-radius u-turns, can transport a group of people or a roomful of stuff, won't break your bank account and has the reliability of a Toyota, the Pontiac Vibe (aka Toyota Matrix) is for you.