Problems · by component

2005 Pontiac Vibe air bags problems

174 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2005 Pontiac Vibe cite air bags, 58% of all 301 complaints for this model year. NHTSA also lists 4 recalls on this component.

Complaints
174
58% of all complaints
Crashes
9
Reported by owners
Fires
0
Reported by owners
Injuries
8
Reported by owners
01 —Owner reports

What owners say about the air bags

Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“The contact owns a 2005 Pontiac Vibe. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V285000 (Air Bags); and would like to be removed from the recall distribution list. The local dealer and manufacturer were contacted.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Sep 27, 2024Air bagsODI 11616932
“The contact owned a 2005 Pontiac Vibe. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V883000 (Air Bags) and would like to be removed from the recall distribution list. The local dealer and manufacturer were not contacted.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Aug 27, 2024Air bagsODI 11611091
“The contact owns a 2005 Pontiac Vibe. The contact received a recall notification of the NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V883000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. An undisclosed dealer was contacted and confirmed that the part was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and advised the contact to locate a different dealer. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Oct 6, 2023Air bagsODI 11548717
“The contact owns a 2005 Pontiac Vibe. The contact stated that the air bag warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was diagnosed at a local dealer with air bag coil wire failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The VIN was not included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 14V168000 (Air Bags). The approximate failure mileage was 199,850.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jun 7, 2022Air bagsODI 11468054
“THE AIRBAG IN MY VEHICLE ARE FAULTY AND HAVE NOT BEEN REPLACED. THE SAFETY CODE FOR AIRBAG IS SHOWING ON THE DASHBOARD OF MY VEHICLE.. I WAS ALERTED TO THIS WHEN I DROVE MY CAR TO A REPAIR GARAGE FOR A SMOG INSPECTION ON 5/4/21. THE AUTO MANUFACTURER HAS NOT MADE ANY EFFORT TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM WITH THE FAULTY AIRBAGS.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled May 10, 2021Air bagsODI 11415921
“I RECENTLY TOOK MY VIBE IN FOR AN AIR BAG RECALL. THEY REPLACED THE PASSAGER SIDE AIR BAG MODULE BUT DID NOTHING WITH THE DRIVERS SIDE. I'VE HAD AN AIRBAG WARNING LIGHT ON FOR SEVERAL MONTHS AND I THOUGHT THIS WOULD ALSO BE FIXED. THEY INFORMED ME IT WASN'T PART OF THE RECALL. WHAT I DON'T UNDERSTAND IF THE PASSAGER SIDE AIR BAGS ARE FAULTY CAN CAN CAUSE BODILY HARM OR EVEN DEATH WHY WOULD THE DRIVERSIDE AIR BAG BE ANY DIFFERENT. I FEEL IT SHOULD HAVE ALSO BEEN REPLACED. PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHY IT WASN'T OR AT LEAST THE WARNING LIGHT FIXED.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jan 20, 2021Air bagsODI 11388975

Showing 6 of 174 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.

Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Nov 10, 2026NHTSA vehicle page
02 —Related recalls

4 recalls on this component

Air bags: inflator module

Free remedy

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.

Air bagsReported Aug 28, 2019NHTSA 19V627000

Air bags: inflator module

Free remedy

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.

Air bagsReported Dec 12, 2018NHTSA 18V883000

Air bags

Free remedy

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.

Air bagsReported May 13, 2015NHTSA 15V286000

Air bags

Free remedy

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.

Air bagsReported May 13, 2015NHTSA 15V285000
Data from NHTSA Recalls API · synced Nov 10, 2026

Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.