2005 Pontiac Vibe problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Air Bags (165) · Engine And Engine Cooling (15) · Power Train:automatic Transmission (12)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Pontiac Vibe model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
🛣️ Complaints by mileage
147 NHTSA complaints that reported an odometer reading.
Safety recalls (5)
Air Bags:frontal:passenger Side:inflator Module 2019-08-28 · campaign 19V627000 · 229,460 vehicles
Defect: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2003-2008 Corolla, 2005-2008 Corolla Matrix, and Pontiac Vibe vehicles equipped with a front passenger air bag assembly replaced under a prior recall. The air bag may not unfold as designed during inflation under high temperature conditions, possibly resulting in the air bag not inflating properly.
Risk: An improperly inflated air bag increases the risk of injury during a crash.
Fix: Toyota will notify their owners. Pontiac Vibe owners will be notified by GM. Dealers will replace the front passenger air bag assembly or sub-assembly, free of charge. Toyota owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371. Toyota's numbers for this recall are K1Q and K0Q. Pontiac owners may contact GM customer service at 1-800-762-2737. GM's number for this recall is N192273760.
Air Bags:frontal:passenger Side:inflator Module 2018-12-12 · campaign 18V883000 · 168,993 vehicles
Defect: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2002-2005 Lexus SC and Toyota Sequoia, 2003-2005 Toyota Corolla and Tundra, and 2003-2007 Pontiac Vibe vehicles. These vehicles are equipped with certain air bag inflators assembled as part of the passenger frontal air bag modules used as original equipment or replacement equipment. In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger frontal air bag, these inflators may explode due to propellant degradation.
Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Toyota will notify the Toyota and Lexus owners. General Motors will notify the Pontiac Vibe owners. Depending on the vehicle model, dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator with an alternate inflator, or replace the air bag assembly that includes an alternate inflator, free of charge. The recall began January 23, 2019. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371, Lexus customer service at 1-800-255-3987 or Pontiac customer service at 1-800-762-2737. Toyota
Air Bags 2015-05-13 · campaign 15V285000 · 1,973,468 vehicles
Defect: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) notified the agency on May 13, 2015 that they are recalling certain model year 2004 Sequoia vehicles manufactured August 18, 2003, to August 19, 2004, and 2003-2004 Tundra vehicles manufactured March 18, 2003, to August 25, 2004. On June 16, 2015, Toyota expanded the recall to include an additional 1,270,468 vehicles, including model year 2002-2003 and 2005-2007 Sequoia, 2005-2006 Tundra, 2003-2007 Corolla, 2003-2007 Corolla Matrix, 2003-2007 Po
Risk: In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants potentially resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: 2003-2004 Corolla and Corolla Matrix vehicles that are recalled under both 15V-043 and 15V-285 are under a Do Not Drive advisory. Owners of these vehicles are advised not to drive their vehicles until the recall remedy has been completed. Toyota will notify their owners. Pontiac Vibe owners will be notified by GM. Dealers will replace the front passenger air bag. The recall began on July 13, 2015. Toyota owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Pontiac owners may call
Air Bags 2015-05-13 · campaign 15V286000 · 1,069,055 vehicles
Defect: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) notified the agency on May 13, 2015, that they are recalling 2005-2007 Lexus SC, Toyota Corolla, Corolla Matrix, Sequoia, and Pontiac Vibe, and 2005-2006 Toyota Tundra vehicles that were originally sold, or ever registered, in Florida, along the Gulf Coast, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Saipan and American Samoa. On June 16, 2015 Toyota expanded the recall to cover an additional 769,055 vehicles, including certain model yea
Risk: In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants potentially resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: 2003-2004 Corolla and Corolla Matrix vehicles that are recalled under both 15V-043 and 15V-286 are under a Do Not Drive advisory. Owners of these vehicles are advised not to drive their vehicles until the recall remedy has been completed. Toyota will notify their owners. Pontiac Vibe owners will be notified by GM. Dealers will replace the passenger side front air bag, free of charge. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota began the recall on July 13, 2015. Po
Engine And Engine Cooling 2010-08-26 · campaign 10V387000 · 161,754 vehicles
Defect: GM IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2005-2008 PONTIAC VIBE VEHICLES. THE ENGINE CONTROL MODULE (ECM) FOR THE SUBJECT MODELS EQUIPPED WITH THE 1ZZ-FE (LV6) ENGINE AND TWO-WHEEL DRIVE MAY HAVE BEEN IMPROPERLY MANUFACTURED. THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT A CRACK MAY DEVELOP AT CERTAIN SOLDER POINTS OR ON VARISTORS ON THE CIRCUIT BOARD.
Risk: THERE ARE A VARIETY OF WARNINGS AND CONSEQUENCES ASSOCIATED WITH THE DEFECT. THE ENGINE WARNING LAMP COULD BE ILLUMINATED, HARSH SHIFTING COULD RESULT, THE ENGINE MAY NOT START, OR THE ENGINE COULD SHUT OFF WHILE THE VEHICLE IS BEING DRIVEN. AN ENGINE SHUTOFF WHILE THE VEHICLE IS BEING DRIVEN INCREASES THE RISK OF A CRASH.
Fix: DEALERS WILL INSPECT THE PRODUCTION NUMBER OF THE ECM AND REPLACE THE ECM IF NECESSARY. THIS SERVICE WILL BE PERFORMED FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON FEBRUARY 8, 2011. OWNERS MAY CONTACT GM AT 1-800-620-7668.
Service bulletins (503)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Unknown Or Other 2025-07-18 · PIP5601C · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this pi communicates the requirement to provide a pico file to receive diagnostic assistance from tac.
Unknown Or Other 2025-05-30 · PIT5074R · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information communication provides information to the technician about the use of j-35616-64b and mini 50 terminal test probe, replacement terminals, and terminated leads.
Unknown Or Other 2025-05-30 · PIT5074R · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information communication provides information to the technician about the use of j-35616-64b and mini 50 terminal test probe, replacement terminals, and terminated leads.
Unknown Or Other 2025-05-30 · PIT5074R · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information communication provides information to the technician about the use of j-35616-64b and mini 50 terminal test probe, replacement terminals, and terminated leads.
Unknown Or Other 2025-02-20 · PIP5358D · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information communication provides information to the technician about vehicles that have an unusual noise and is difficult to identify, isolate or pinpoint. technician should get record a sound clip or take a video of the noise for assessment by engineering. technician will need to
Unknown Or Other 2024-12-07 · PIT5074Q · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information communication provides information to the technician about the use of j-35616-64b terminal test probe, replacement terminals, and terminated leads. the j-35616-64b is the latest test probe released for checking tension or probing the .64 series terminals. the test probe
Showing the 6 most recent of 503 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2025-03-19 · Tether, Lower Anchor (On Car Seat Or Vehicle)“product safety alert: mar 19, 2025 stop using the following item because of a potential safety issue. visit the public recall notice for more guidance. evenflo gotime lx booster car seat (chardon black) important safety information we write to notify you of a potential safety concern with a product that you purchased on amazon.com. please review …”
2024-09-27 · Air Bags“the contact owns a 2005 pontiac vibe. the contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 15v285000 (air bags); and would like to be removed from the recall distribution list. the local dealer and manufacturer were contacted.…”
2024-08-27 · Air Bags“the contact owned a 2005 pontiac vibe. the contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 18v883000 (air bags) and would like to be removed from the recall distribution list. the local dealer and manufacturer were not contacted.…”
2024-07-09 · Latches/Locks/Linkages:doors:lock · 195,000 mi“the contact owns a 2005 pontiac vibe. the contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, the doors locked independently. the contact stated that the failure had been reoccurring. the contact stated that on the last occasion, the doors locked independently while her daughter was inside the vehicle. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an …”
2023-10-06 · Air Bags“the contact owns a 2005 pontiac vibe. the contact received a recall notification of the nhtsa campaign number: 18v883000 (air bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. an undisclosed dealer was contacted and confirmed that the part was not yet available. the contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable…”
2022-06-07 · Air Bags:frontal:driver Clockspring/Spiral Cassette · 199,850 mi“the contact owns a 2005 pontiac vibe. the contact stated that the air bag warning light was illuminated. the vehicle was diagnosed at a local dealer with air bag coil wire failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the vin was not included in nhtsa campaign number: 14v168000 (air bags). the approximate fail…”
2021-05-10 · Air Bags · 151,515 mi“the airbag in my vehicle are faulty and have not been replaced. the safety code for airbag is showing on the dashboard of my vehicle.. i was alerted to this when i drove my car to a repair garage for a smog inspection on 5/4/21. the auto manufacturer has not made any effort to correct the problem with the faulty airbags.…”
2021-01-20 · Air Bags“i recently took my vibe in for an air bag recall. they replaced the passager side air bag module but did nothing with the drivers side. i've had an airbag warning light on for several months and i thought this would also be fixed. they informed me it wasn't part of the recall. what i don't understand if the passager side air bags are faulty can can…”
2020-10-19 · Other/I Am Not Sure“2005 pontiac vibe. consumer stated that the dealership was an unsafe environment to have recall repairs completed. *ld the consumer stated the dealership did not enforce mask wearing indoors. *js…”
2020-09-10 · Air Bags · 160,000 mi“tl* the contact owns a 2005 pontiac vibe. the contact stated that the passenger's side air bag warning light was illuminated. the contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 19v627000 (air bags). the contact called smart chevrolet located at 4417 wesley d webster hwy, nc-704, madison, nc 27025, where the front passenger's side air bag w…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.