In reply to 17th Jan 2014, 13:24

18th Jan 2014, 13:06

The Pontiac Wave is a rebadged Daewoo.

The Pontiac VIBE is a hatchback that shares the chassis, engine and transmission with the Toyota Corolla and Matrix.

The Pontiac Wave, Chevrolet Aveo and Suzuki Swift from 2004-2012 are some of the worst modern cars available.

In reply to 17th Jan 2014, 13:24

18th Jan 2014, 14:18

The Pontiac Vibe was built off the Matrix platform. We had one in our family, and it blew the motor at 48k due to Toyota's legendary sludge problem.

In reply to 17th Jan 2014, 13:24

11th Mar 2014, 21:31

It is a belt. My daughter's 2005 Wave timing belt came off while the vehicle was driving, and when that happens the valves and pistons smash into each other. There are 4 valves per cylinder; 2 intake and 2 exhaust. In other words the engine is toast.

You can thank the so called engineers at GM for that; if they would have used a chain instead of a belt, you would never need to replace it, probably for the life of the vehicle. Anyhow it was GM's fault for using the crappy Daewoo engine from Korea.

In reply to 18th Jan 2014, 13:06

24th Mar 2014, 06:31

I appreciate everyone's time in adding these comments. I especially appreciate knowing that the Vibe has the Toyota engine, but the Wave does not. Never again will I buy a Pontiac actually made by Pontiac!! Not after 2 Pontiac lemons I've owned before. THANKS!!! I can't afford to purchase a mistake.

In reply to 17th Jan 2014, 13:24

13th May 2014, 22:04

The 2005 Pontiac Wave does have a timing belt, I just replaced mine by myself, so please check it. My belt was OK, but the idler pulley was very badly damaged!

In reply to 17th Jan 2014, 13:24

7th Oct 2014, 14:49

I think you are mistaken, the Vibe is the same as a Matrix, not the Wave. Just sayin'.

In reply to 11th Mar 2014, 21:31

8th Feb 2017, 00:01

I totally agree! A timing belt is like a rubber band, it can break at any time! When it does it can trash an interference engine in an instant!

We have had a 2005 Pontiac Wave since new, and have had scheduled servicing.

The timing belt broke at 50K, resulting in bent valves, smashed pistons, etc.

NO DEALER SUPPORT WHATSOEVER! Cost to repair by an independent garage was $3600.00 Cdn.

Same thing occurred again at 110K (60K since 1st repair) with the same results.

This time we replaced the engine with a used one that had 105K. The engine had a new timing belt kit already installed. Cost for the engine was $1200.00 Cdn. We swapped it out ourselves to save money!

The car now has 117K on it... We'll see how it works out!