Margaret saw one of these not long ago in our neighborhood and really liked the look of it. I think we both like it even more after seeing one up close.
We've decided not to do any test driving until we first look at all the cars that meet our criteria and eliminate the ones we have no interest in, so today was just a looking expidition.
The Vibe is what I would call a station wagon. It's built to compete against the Subaru, the Toyota Matrix, etc. You can get it with all wheel drive, but that pulls the price up and the gas mileage down and so that's a feature we won't be looking at. The model we want is front wheel drive with automatic transmission and cruise control, power locks, and anti-lock brakes (anti lock brakes spared me from a very bad crash once and I'm a believer). The car prices at $18,365.00 and is rated at 29mpg city and 34mpg highway. Those are very good numbers for the size of the car.
We both found it to be roomy inside front and back and really liked the roominess of the trunk area. Margaret was very struck by the look of the car and felt it fit her like a glove. I think the car looks good but felt a little crammed in not by the seat but by the design of the dashboard. We were both very happy with the space in the trunk and back seat although I was a bit disappointed there was no privacy cover that we saw for the trunk.
Though it is the priciest of the cars on our list it will definitely be moving onto the next round because of it's looks and space.
