NHTSA — Electrical System Problems

CarComplaints.com Seal Of

CarComplaints.com Notes: The Pontiac Vibe is the mechanical twin of the Toyota Matrix.

Both models were a joint GM-Toyota venture, manufactured together at a NUMMI production facility in Fremont, CA. Only the heating & A/C systems are different.

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
37,477 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2007 Pontiac Vibe electrical problems

electrical problem

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2007 Pontiac Vibe Owner Comments

problem #15

Aug 192010

Vibe

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2007 Pontiac Vibe. The contact stated that the vehicle was included in NHTSA campaign number: 10V387000 (engine and engine cooling) before the contact owned the vehicle. The contact stated that the service engine light illuminated, the vehicle was slow to accelerate, and the vehicle stalled several times. The vehicle was taken in for an annual inspection and a code indicated a failure or malfunction with the ECM. The vehicle was taken to a repair shop and the code was reset more than once. The code continued to display and the vehicle was not able to pass an inspection a second time. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was not available.

- Plano, TX, USA

problem #14

Jun 022014

Vibe 4-cyl

  • miles
2007 Pontiac Vibe. Consumer writes in regards to power failure while driving. The consumer was able to put the vehicle in park and re-start the engine. The consumer has since sold the vehicle, after being involved in an accident, in which the air bags did not deploy.

- Lakeland, TN, USA

problem #13

Jun 072012

Vibe 4-cyl

  • 96,000 miles
Ntsb campaign 10V387000 we bought the car used. Within a week ck engine light came on. Scan returned code P0741. Possible cause defective ECM which controls torque cov solenoid. Took to GM dealer. They said a recall and tsb showed the ECM should be replaced. When they looked at ECM, said it had already been replaced under recall campaign, and they would only replace one time. Reset code, came back on a few weeks later. Is there any way ntsb can require they repair same defective part required under recall a second time" especially if causing same problem and code as the recall was required for"

- Vine Grove, KY, USA

problem #12

Nov 022012

Vibe 4-cyl

  • 65,284 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

This vehicle was driving down the road at highway speed and failed to respond to throttle. There was lots of traffic and this nearly caused an accident. The part that failed is the ECM/PCM and gave a code: P0604 and P0607. This part has recalls which apply to it, however, our manufacturer says the vehicle is not covered by this recall. If there is a recall on some of the vehicles how can the others be perfectly fine" the year coverage is from before and after this model year and yet only certain cars of this time frame are covered" stay away from these vehicles. They will kill you, they are unsafe and unreliable. Major safety hazard.

- Dubuque, IA, USA

problem #11

Feb 092007

Vibe 4-cyl

  • miles
After 27 September 2010 "Pontiac" finally "officially" advised of "important safety notice" regarding my 2007 Vibe, equipped with 1.8L mfi engine and 2 wheel drive transmission. On 3 December 2010, GM issued a "parts availability update" to dealers that replacement parts would not be available until mid-January and advising dealers they would be advised just before "recall notification letters" are issued. On 11 January 2011, the NHTSA ODI website indicated the safety recall is expected to begin on or about 14 jaunary. Contacted my dealer 11 January 2011 who advised that my VIN is "not currently listed a part of a recall." Found this odd since my vehicle has one of the recalled engine control modules (ecms), specifically part number 89661-02K30, which is one of two part numbers found on essentially all 2007 Pontiac Vibes and Toyota matrixs with above engine and transmission. Contacted GM customer no service at 1-800-762-2737 and received an incredibly self-serving line of "double-speak" clearly designed to not address my complaint. Essentially, the way this "game" works is that no vehicle already known to have a defective ECM is "official" identified in GM's database as "recalled" until they actually send out the second "recall" notices - notices that have been delayed over 4 months. GM won't even admit to their own dealers, much less their customers, that a GM vehicle with a defective ECM is in fact defective until they have parts in had to affect the repairs. Meanwhile they are deliberately leading their "customers" to believe they have a "safe" vehicle, knowing full well this is not the case. It is now 9 April and the notices for 2007 and 2008 Vibes have still not been issued, a delay that is now seven (7) months and counting. Again request a criminal investigation into unconsciousness practice and appropriate action take to compel GM to cease and desist this despicable, if not criminal behavior!

- Williamsburg, VA, USA

problem #10

Mar 152011

Vibe 4-cyl

  • 120,000 miles
I own an '07 Pontiac Vibe. On March of 2011 the car stalled pulling into a turning lane. Took a minute then started back up and drove about 5 miles. Later that day, the car stalled coming to a stop with all lights still on. Would not start at all that night and had to leave it stranded on the side of the highway. Next day, the vehicle started then made it about three miles to the nearest mechanic shop. They informed us that we would need to get the vehicle taken to a official GM dealer. That our PCM was the problem. The car did not start up again after that and had to be towed there for the cost of 65 dollars. I started doing my research on this part to get a better handle on the problem and what is would cost. I found that the "recall" for this part on '05 through '08 models was taking place. When I contacted to dealer about this they had no idea about the issue, and GM said my VIN number was not part of the recall. After contacting customer service about this (a very time consuming procedure) they admitted that there was in fact a recall. After the car had been at the dealership for a week I finally get a phone call telling me the PCM has been replaced but that my throttle positioning sensors were "off" and that it was to cost $864. Frustrated with the situation and still wanting to educate myself I kept doing research and calling mechanics (specifically my trusted mechanic, not con-artists) concluding that the PCM fails at its soldering points and creates a gap in the metal creating an arc destroying the next in line, which is the throttle positioning sensors. So I contact GM further to get that replace being as the bad PCM is the cause. Now the customer service agent has passed the case to her service manager. Now I am receiving nothing but a runaround and do not understand how they can conduct business in this way. My hopes are pretty low about the outcome.I have been car-less for two weeks now and yes it is my only one. I will never buy a GM vehicle again.

- Marietta, GA, USA

problem #9

Sep 012010

Vibe 4-cyl

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

My 2007 Pontiac Vibe's check engine light came on back in September of 2010. I took it to my local dealership and the mechanics told me it was a PCM module. I was told that a recall was going to happen in October. October came and went and when I called GM they told me it would be in November. Each month I am told it will be the following month. Here it is, March and still no recall. I am paying insurance, registration and payments on a car I can"T drive.the symptoms are hard shifting and some Vibe owners have reporting stalling while driving 40 miles per hour. I commute 70 miles round trip and am afraid that it will stall so I have had it parked at work these seven months. I don't understand why the part is not available for GM but was available for Toyota. I feel GM should have taken care of this along time ago.

- Gonzales, CA, USA

problem #8

Feb 072011

Vibe

  • 6,000 miles
Sudden acceleration when I slow down to stop for a red light with my foot on the break pedal. Suddenly, the car roared up to around 5000 RPM. I shifted the gear to neutral, but the engine was still roaring loudly for at least 3 to 5 seconds before it returned to normal. I have reported this problem to the dealer within the first year I bought the car. However, they could not find the problem. It seems that this only occurs 2 or 3 times per year. But this time it lasted more than 10 seconds and I noticed the RPM went up to around the 5000 mark. Cars that are stopped alongside my car can also hear the engine roaring very loud.

- Wheaton, IL, USA

problem #7

Feb 092007

Vibe 4WD 4-cyl

  • 0 miles
After 27 September 2010 "Pontiac" finally "officially" advised of "important safety notice" regarding my 2007 Vibe, equipped with 1.8L mfi engine and 2 wheel drive transmission. On 3 December 2010, GM issued a "parts availability update" to dealers that replacement parts would not be available until mid-January and advising dealers they would be advised just before "recall notification letters" are issued. Today, 11 January 2011, the NHTSA ODI website indicates that safety recall is expected to begin on or about 14 jaunary. Contacted my dealer 11 January 2011 who advises that my VIN is "not currently listed a part of a recall." Found this odd since my vehicle has one of the recalled engine control modules (ecms), specifically part number 89661-02K30, which is one of two part numbers found on essentially all 2007 Pontiac Vibes and Toyota matrixs with above engine and transmission. Contacted GM customer no service at 1-800-762-2737 and received an incredibly self-serving line of "double-speak" clearly designed to not address my complaint. Essentially, the way this "game" works is that no vehicle already known to have a defective ECM is "official" identified in GM's database as "recalled" until they actually send out the second "recall" notices - notices that have been delayed over 4 months. GM won't even admit to their own dealers, much less their customers, that a GM vehicle with a defective ECM is in fact defective until they have parts in had to affect the repairs. Meanwhile they are deliberately leading their "customers" to believe they have a "safe" vehicle, knowing full well this is not the case. Request a criminal investigation into this unconsciousness practice and appropriate action take to compel GM to cease and desist this despicable, if not criminal behavior. Please do post this on your website!

- Williamsburg, VA, USA

problem #6

Nov 012010

Vibe

  • 60,000 miles
Check engine light on, transmission fluid black, and hard shifting of the automatic transmission, diagnostic code P2716.

- Duluth, MN, USA

problem #5

May 302010

Vibe

  • 75,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

2007 Pontiac Vibe has continuously produced a check engine light with code P0741-torque converter clutch. The vehicle acceleration is sluggish at times. This check engine light has come on at least 5 times, at which time I sent the vehicle to a GM dealer for repair. The vehicle was repaired twice under warranty and is in the shop a second time out of warranty for the same check engine light. Recently the GM dealer has been keeping the vehicle for at least one work week and has never produced any document showing any work was completed on the vehicle. Whenever I complete a longer trip I.e. 60+ miles the cel will come back on. I am not getting a straight answer on what is wrong with my vehicle. I have been assured that all parts and labor related to this error code will be taken care of free of charge because the preliminary incidents happened under warranty. I fear the check engine light will continue to come on, forcing me to lose a vehicle for a week in what seems like once a month. My car had a 5 year 80,000 mile warranty. The first cel came on at or around 75,000 miles.

- Fort Polk, LA, USA

problem #4

Jul 222010

Vibe

  • 26,400 miles
I was driving my 2007 Pontiac Vibe. I had just started to accelerate when the car stalled. It would restart and then die. I had the car towed to the dealer from whom I purchased the car. They diagnosed the problem as an internal short in the ECM. The ECM was replaced and I have had no problems since. I was not given the old part.

- Houston, TX, USA

problem #3

Aug 302009

Vibe

  • 35,065 miles
I was following a bicyclist going about 20mph when my engine cut off and wouldn't restart. It was fortunate that I was able to coast into a driveway because I had just rounded a curve and any following vehicle would likely have run into me. The problem was computer failure and has been corrected.

- Virginia Beach, VA, USA

problem #2

Sep 302008

Vibe

  • 39,200 miles
Driving to work one morning my car engine died, as I rolled to a stop by the curb I tried to restart the engine (no good). Now that my car is in the shop, I am told the throttle body has gone out and this is in combination of the computer needing to be replaced also. I have just over 39,000 miles and warranty out @ 36,000. Miles.

- Friendswood, TX, USA

problem #1

Sep 302008

Vibe

  • 39,200 miles
Driving to work one morning my car engine died, as I rolled to a stop by the curb I tried to restart the engine (no good). Now that my car is in the shop, I am told the throttle body has gone out and this is in combination of the computer needing to be replaced also. I have just over 39000 miles and warranty out @ 36,000. Miles.

- Friendswood, TX, USA

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