Carlexica

2006 Pontiac Vibe: problems, recalls and reliability

5 recalls and 177 owner complaints on record; the weakest area is air bags (65% of complaints); the 2008 model year looks more trouble-free.

Data updated weekly · latest recall Aug 2019

5
recalls
177
owner complaints
0
fire reports
83,000
typical failure mileage, mi

All counts are reports filed with NHTSA in the United States - US market only, not worldwide totals.

No fire reportsProblems tend to appear late (median 83,000 mi)Weak spot: air bags (65%)

Common problems

Computed from 177 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for this exact model year.

Air Bags (airbags and crash sensors)65% · 114 complaints
Engine And Engine Cooling (engine, radiator, overheating)10% · 18 complaints
Power Train (transmission, axles, driveline)5% · 9 complaints
Electrical System (battery, wiring, electronics)4% · 7 complaints
Engine (engine mechanics)3% · 6 complaints
Vehicle Speed Control (unintended acceleration, cruise control)3% · 5 complaints
Hello, My drivers side front left window goes up and down awkwardly, almost like it's going to brake the glass when I use it. If there's a recall on this I will gladly like to know. Thank you.Owner report · Unknown Or Other · Nov 2025
I had my valve cover gasket replaced fuel injectors serviced and transmission serviced on 12/26/2022. When I picked my car up on 12/29/2022, I was checking my brake lights when the car started Idling up and down on it's own and the check engine light came on. I called the dealer and was asked to bring the car in and they would check it out. I returned on Jan. 2nd 2023 to address the concerns with my car. I arrived at approximately 0730 am. I WAS IN FORMED THAT MY ECM/PCM WERE FAULTY AND HAD TO BE REPLACED. I was my understanding that the 2005-2008 Pontiac Vibes were under recall for this issue. Would like confirmation on this subject. Concerned Owner.Owner report · Electrical System · Dec 2022
My vehicle was parked, I cranked my engine up, and it ran for a few minutes and then shut off. I am unable to crank my vehicle up at all now. Light pink fluid is leaking out of the throttle body.Owner report · Fuel/Propulsion System · Nov 2020
Show 7 more owner reports
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 pontiac vibe. The contact stated that the driver's side air bag warning light illuminated while the seat was occupied. The vehicle was taken to apple chevrolet (8585 w 159th st, tinley park, il 60487, (708) 429-3000) where it was determined that the steering wheel air bag was defective and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure recurred. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The contact was referred to NHTSA to file a complaint. The failure mileage was approximately 81,350.Owner report · Air Bags · Sep 2020
Passenger side airbag was replaced with the same recalled airbag by dealer saying the recalled problem was repaired. Now I find out 4 years later that the problem still has not been remedied.Owner report · Air Bags · Jul 2020
I received a recall notice for the august 2019 front passenger airbag assembly. I have called the dealer several times, my last call today 7/6/2020 and I am always told they do not have the parts to fix this safety defect. When I called gm's customer assistance center I was given the same answer. I believe that 11 months is an unreasonable amount of time to wait for a repair of a safety defect. Are you aware that gm is not fixing these problems?Owner report · Air Bags · Jul 2020
We own a pontiac vibe, my friend owned a toyota matrix. These cars were built side by side by gm. This is why the gm's of the usa will lose to toyota in sales because the matrix recall was finished in feb 2020. My vibe is still waiting for the new air bag. I went to toyota dealer and they agree the matrix and vibe use same parts. They can not perform recall because gm has to do it. Why do we have to wait years for a fix.nysi states toyota. When I try to sell or trade car, they want recalls fixed. Terrible customer service. *trOwner report · Air Bags · Jul 2020
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 pontiac vibe. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 19v627000 (air bags) however, the parts to do the repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. An unknown dealer was contacted and confirmed that the parts were not available. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.Owner report · Air Bags · Mar 2020
Hello, I tried calling my local dealership today to replace my airbag, which was recalled by takata. Gm notified me that the recall was issued on may 13, 2015, but the recall is still incomplete and the remedy is not available as of today. I verified that this statement was correct using the NHTSA website. I'm writing today because I don't understand how a remedy hasn't been identified by gm after five years of knowing that the airbag was recalled and needed to be replaced. This is unacceptable. Thank you for taking the time to read this message, I would greatly appreciate your help. Best, jocelynOwner report · Air Bags · Feb 2020
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 pontiac vibe. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 15v286000 (air bags). The contact stated that dixie buick gmc (located at 14565 s tamiami trail, fort myers, fl 33912, (239) 489-0600) exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not notified of the issue. The part was not available for the repair. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.Owner report · Air Bags · Dec 2019

When filing, owners marked a crash in 6 of these complaints and injuries in 4 - self-reported to NHTSA, not verified accident statistics.

Recalls - 5 campaigns

AIR BAGS15V285000 · May 2015

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 Pontiac Vibe and 2002-2007 Lexus SC vehicles. This is to address a safety defect in the passenger side frontal air bag inflator which may produce excessive internal pressure causing the inflator to rupture upon deployment of the air bag. This recall addresses both the passenger side frontal air bags that were originally installed in the vehicles, as well as replacement air bags that may have been installed as replacement service parts. A replacement air bag may have been installed, as one example, if a vehicle had been in a crash necessitating the replacement of the passenger side frontal air bag.

Remedy: 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 1-800-762-2737. NOTE: This recall supersedes recall 14V-312 in its entirety.

AIR BAGS15V286000 · May 2015

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 year 2002-2004 Lexus SC, Toyota Sequoia, 2003-2004 Toyota Corolla Matrix, Toyota Corolla, Pontiac Vibe, and Toyota Tundra vehicles, as well the vehicles covered by the May 13, 2015 notification in the portions of Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas that were not previously included. The inflators in the front passenger air bags are susceptible to rupture in the event of a crash necessitating the deployment of the front passenger air bag.

Remedy: 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. Pontiac Vibe owners may contact GM at 1-800-762-2737. GM began the recall on June 29, 2015. NOTE: This recacll supersedes recall 14V-655 in its entirety. For vehicles located in the U.S. states not listed above, please see Toyota recall 15V-285 which covers all other U.S. states.

AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE18V883000 · Dec 2018

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.

Remedy: 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's numbers for these recalls are J0A (Zone A Toyota), J0B (Zone B Toyota), J0C (Zone C Toyota), JLI (Zone A Lexus), JLJ (Zone B Lexus), and JLK (Zone C Lexus). Note: This recall includes vehicles that have had their air bag previously replaced under an earlier air bag campaign.

AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE19V627000 · Aug 2019

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.

Remedy: 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.

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING10V387000 · Aug 2010

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.

Remedy: 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.

Trouble codes owners mention

OBD-II codes that appear in NHTSA complaints about this car.

Specifications

Factory options offered for the 2006 model year, decoded from the NHTSA vPIC database. Individual vehicles have one of each.

Drive typeAWD/All-Wheel Drive

How other years compare

Check your exact Vibe by VIN

Recalls and equipment differ between individual vehicles. Decode your VIN to see what applies to yours.

Open VIN decoder

Frequently asked questions

Is the 2006 Pontiac Vibe reliable?

NHTSA has 177 owner complaints and 5 recall campaigns on record for the 2006 Pontiac Vibe. The most complained-about area is air bags (65% of complaints).

At what mileage do 2006 Pontiac Vibe problems usually appear?

Half of the complaints that mention mileage were filed at 83,000 miles or less.

Does the 2006 Pontiac Vibe have open recalls?

5 recall campaigns have been issued, the latest concerning air bags. Check your specific vehicle by VIN - recall repairs are free at franchised dealers.

Source: NHTSA recall campaigns and owner complaints (public domain). Counts reflect reports on file and are not a defect rate.