Dear General Motors,

For the record, I do quite like my 2005 Pontiac Vibe. I like the way it handles and I like the cargo capacity. I like the sunroof and power features. I like that it’s cute and zippy. The gas mileage is superb.

But really, what were you thinking when you made a car where you have to buy the rear windshield wiper blade right from the dealer because it simply does not exist at AutoTire, O’Reilly’s, AutoZone, Midas, or any other auto parts store on the planet (or at least the Metro St. Louis Area)? Why on earth do you think it’s okay to make it so that only the factory blade attaches correctly and all other blades are too small to fit into the clip? And why, above all, must said wiper blade cost $30 when any other 11″ blade would cost $6?

Furthermore, why do you make the stereo such that the Pontiac Vibe is the ONLY GM vehicle that requires a $110 harness to install a new stereo? You read that right. The Vibe is the only vehicle in the entire GM lineup that has this problem. Trust me. I asked. A wiring harness like this for everything else costs $22. And when I say everything else, I do mean everything else, from Acura to Yugo. For the Vibe it costs $110 – before, of course, the cost of the stereo itself and the fee for installation. The people at Best Buy actually said “Yeah, your car sucks for this stuff. You’re pretty much screwed, price-wise. And by the way, no one has that $110 harness and it’s on backorder.”

Now I am forced to use an inferior FM transmitter in order to listen to my iPod. I have a road trip coming up and this situation is unacceptable.

All I want to do is buy a windshield wiper and install a stereo that has an auxiliary jack for my iPod, both at a reasonable cost comparable to what I might pay for these additions on any other vehicle made by any other manufacturer on earth. Or even any other vehicle made by GM, come to think of it. I don’t think this is too much to ask of you, especially since all of your other models accept standard wiring harnesses and wiper blades.

For this reason, I vote against Washington bailing your ass out (you know, if I had a vote in that) because it’s brainless moves like these that incline your would-be customers toward smarter manufacturers. Had I known about them, these would have made me much more inclined to purchase the competing Toyota Matrix than my little Vibe.

All the best in your bankruptcy proceedings,

Rebekah