Hi! I've had my Vibe for 9 months and have browsed these forums off and on. I thought it's about time I make an account and join the community. This is the first vehicle I've owned outright.
Here she is (hosted images to get around size limit) : http://imgur.com/a/PJtRC
This was my parents car until my dad slid into a tree, putting the gash in the rear passenger door/ fender. It's also rear ended at least one car. The car was "totaled" and they bought it back from insurance, and I took it off their hands for $900. 130k miles, engine runs great! It's been my daily driver for 9 months.
Work I've done myself so far:
- a lot of troubleshooting the headlights when I first bought it, took a lot of trial and error to get them working. cleaned grounds, swapped fuses, bulbs, but what finally did it was some patchy electrical work with the cracked fuse box (more on this below)
- new battery
- changed serpentine belt
At the shop:
- had front brakes done
- had coolant flushed first thing, regular oil changes since
- new tires
There are a few "cosmetic" things that have been nagging at me.
- the engine fuse box is cracked into 2 pieces, which are held together by a large piece of wire (how serious is this? I've driven for 9 months with no major electrical problems)
- the left headlight assembly was cracked (reflector hanging loose) and glued back together. It works, but points down too low
- the bumper cover is broken in a couple places and held on with the help of 2 drywall screws
- the fog lights are out
- the horn does not work (checked the fuse, no luck)
- the stereo display no longer lights up, but the radio works. I have an FM modulator wired to the stereo for an aux cord
- obviously the large dent in the passenger side
- warped rotors causing brake pulsation
- cracked windshield
I think those are the main things! I've been waiting for the weather to improve a bit to start working on it again. I do not have a place to work on my car indoors. My next priority is getting the headlights and fog lights restored and working optimally. Later I may try to do my own brakes.
Thanks for reading, tips and advice always welcome!