Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| POWER TRAIN | |||
| 08/31/2010 | 14908 | ||
| On tues. morning, aug. 31, 2010, at 6:51 a.m. (per receipt), i was stopped at the precinct line & hwy 183 starbucks drive-through window. my 2009 pontiac vibe was in drive & my right foot was on the brake as it would be at a stop light. as my transaction proceeded, i heard a terrific, loud racing of an engine that sounded like a race car & then felt my car begin to move forward. i thought it was the car behind me doing something weird or being somehow out of control. i pushed harder on my brake to protect myself, but my vibe started to surge forward. i then realized that this was the toyota problem happening to me & i, therefore, put the car in park & turned the engine off. as i put the vibe in park, the engine raced wildly & i noticed the tachometer bouncing crazily up the scale. i exclaimed to the workers that my car was doing the toyota thing. they just stared at me with wide eyes. i tried turning the car on again, this time with both of my feet on the brake; the engine raced wildly once again, & the tachometer bounced wildly. my feet remained extremely firm on the brake pedal. the brake pedal felt strangely weak, as though i was able to push it further to the floor than normal. i turned the vibe off a second time & told the starbucks workers that i didn't know what to do, in that i was in their drive-through lane & i was afraid to turn the engine on to try to move away. i was panicked; they remained wide-eyed and speechless at the noise and spectacle. i decided to try a third time; this time the engine acted normally but sounded and acted weak. i was very scared as i drove away & was unsure of what the car would do next. i called my husband to meet me at work a few miles away to pick up the car that i no longer trust to drive. the starbucks manager and drive-through window barista who witnessed this event gave their names & phone numbers to us & are willing to confirm the event. recall 10038 was performed 6 days prior to this occurrence. | |||
| 06/04/2010 | 50000 | ||
| Tl- driver owns a 2009 pontiac vibe. the contact stated that on june 4, 2010, while the driver was at a stop light the vehicle accelerated on its own and crashed into a wall. the driver sustained major injuries and was hospitalized. the vehicle sustained major damages and was towed from the scene. a police report was filed. the contact stated that she had been complaining about the transmission but the dealer refused to repair it. the manufacturer was contacted and refered her back to the dealer. the failure and current mileage was 50,000..mr | |||
| 01/15/2010 | 20000 | 1 | |
| Car has the accelerator problem and the brake problem the odometer reads that the car is traveling 50 mph and the car is really doing 42 mph, the passenger seatbelt turns off with passenger. *cn | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION | |||
| 07/13/2009 | 9500 | ||
| I have a 2009 awd vibe which will, at times, upshift after braking causing the car to lurch forward for a second due to the upshift and upon taking my foot off the brake and then applying the brake again apparantly does the same thing again. it only does this at about 30 to 40 miles an hour and mostly when going down a moderate hill i come upon no my way home from work. i have advised the dealer of my concerns but they seem to be unable to duplicate the problem and have no idea how to address it. the problem is concerning enough to me that i won't let anyone else drive the vehicle. i have not had the transmission reprogrammed as it doesn't seem to help from what i have read on other complaints. i have had all the other unintended acceleration issues addressed and it is not related to that problem. | |||
| 03/17/2010 | |||
| I have a 2009 pontiac vibe. i have noticed that the car double accellerates. when you press the accelerator it revs up and the car lurches forward. it doesn't matter how soft or hard you press. i took my car in after the recall and had the accellerator altered but i still notice the problem. i asked the dealer to check the brakes also and they said it is fine. i don't know if its an engine problem but i have always noticed it. now that these issues have come to light i am validated that my concerns and others who have driven my car are real. i am afraid to have an incident which could potentially lead to injury or death. my five year old rides in the car on a daily basis with me. please advise me on what to do. thank you. | |||
| 02/10/2010 | 5000 | 1 | |
| I drive a 2009 pontiac vibe (essentially a toyota matrix) and under the right circumstance the vehicle will upshift right after you put on the brake causing the vehicle to surge ahead for a moment due to the upshift. it only happens at around speed of 25-35 mph. this is obviously not a pedal issue but a transmission programming and or solenoid valve issue in the transmission. the car has been reprogrammed per the tsb for harsh shifting. i will admit that some of the harshness has gone away but the upshift issue while slowing down still remains. from what i have read many others have had this issue as well, even after the reprogramming of the transmission (check out genvibe.com, you will find other owners suffer from this as well). the issue is especially noticeable while coming down a hill and it happens to me almost daily because i go down a large hill outside of my house daily. i am very careful while going down this hill to have my foot on the brake at all times as the car can upshift at anytime causing a brief forward surge. there are always children waiting at the bottom of the hill for the school bus when i leave in the morning so i am concerned for there safety more than mine at the moment but as i said, i am always extremely aware of the issue and very careful while descending the hill. i would be willing to demonstrate this issue to anyone if needed. *tr | |||
| 02/19/2010 | 12301 | 3 | |
| 2009 pontiac vibe. when the car is in drive and the car is stopped or nearly stopped, the engine races to 7000 rpm. this causes the vehicle to suddenly move forward into an intersection. to regain control i must shift to n and continue to apply the brakes as hard as possible. this occurs at random intervals. after i turn the engine off and back on it seems to work ok till the next time. i took the car to the dealer three times. the first and second trips to the dealer they said they found no trouble vehicle met specs. no parts replaced. the third time the dealer kept the car for two weeks, the car was returned on feb 19 2010. the dealer performed a two modifications to the vehicle. 1. accelerator modification, and 2. they removed the driver floor mat. today 02/22/2010 the car malfunctioned again, causing a near collision. *tr | |||