Used Car Fun - New To Me Vibe Fills With Water

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kc27
Posts: 31
Joined: Sun Aug 19, 2018 4:00 pm

Used Car Fun - New To Me Vibe Fills With Water

Post by kc27 »

I bought a 2005 Vibe Base 1.8 last week with 110,000 miles. Drove it in the rain yesterday, and discovered both the left and right inner rear quarter panels, just below the two side storage compartments in the rear hatch area, were filled with water. Tested with a garden hose today and discovered water was entering the interior quarter panels down by the bumper. I could not figure out why, and asked a body shop to take a look. The tech said the car has repaired damage on the right rear, and that the bumper had not been properly reinstalled. Screws were used on both sides of the bumper that breached the interior quarter panels giving the water someplace to collect as it drained from the upper portion of the car.

The rear hatch sill plate was cracked when I took a look at the car. I will now flog myself for the next week or two, for not being more curious about the crack, and lifting and removing the sill plate. If I had, I would have discovered mangled metal where the right rear floor panel knob is supposed to lock into position, and immediately walked away from the car. Instead I just wrote it off the sill plate damage to someone dropping some heavy cargo and cracking the plastic.

I already knew this, but for those of you that do not, a clean Carfax means that no accidents were reported, not that the vehicle does not have any repaired accident or collision damage. This car had an accident-free Carfax. It also (according to maintenance entries on Carfax) had been well maintained. I hope the maintenance information is accurate. For what is worth, the body shop thought even with the hack job on the bumper, the rest of the body work was done OK. They said overall the car is in good shape, and that once the openings were sealed and the bumper attached correctly, the car would be fine. It does drive straight, no rattles, no shaking. If they are correct about the car being road worthy, I will just file this episode in the "you can't win them all" folder. And be more curious when I see something that is not right.
Caretaker

Re: Used Car Fun - New To Me Vibe Fills With Water

Post by Caretaker »

Carfax is nothing more than a cute stuffed animal that is handed out to slimeball used car salesmen preying on an uninformed public that believes there is a talking fox looking out for their financial interests. Sorry this happened to you. There is no substitute for paying a local mechanic $100 to look over any car. Services like repairpal.com can point you to highly rated mechanics in your home town and even when you travel to a strange town to look at a bargain sale. Thanks for sharing your story. I hope the car works out for you in the end.
kc27
Posts: 31
Joined: Sun Aug 19, 2018 4:00 pm

Re: Used Car Fun - New To Me Vibe Fills With Water

Post by kc27 »

I bought an Alliance Inspection Management inspection for several states away out-of-town Vibe that I was considering. Should have done that with this one, too. Figured that since I saw this car in person, an inspection was not as necessary. That was not a good move.
zbyers
Posts: 1767
Joined: Thu Apr 03, 2014 6:12 pm
Location: Sheffield, Pennsylvania

Re: Used Car Fun - New To Me Vibe Fills With Water

Post by zbyers »

i agree on this going in the can't win them all category. take care of it proper and the car oughtta last you a while.
'74 Thing, '79 El Camino, '83 VW DoKa '91 Vanagon, '03 Base, 04 GT
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Bookworm
Posts: 764
Joined: Fri Nov 05, 2010 11:21 am
Location: Houston, TX

Re: Used Car Fun - New To Me Vibe Fills With Water

Post by Bookworm »

Carfax is good for what it's intended to be. Information on the car that's relatively publicly accessible. It also helps when you're in Houston, with all the flood cars. Replacing my wife's vehicle, we got one with a Carfax (that I crawled around, over, in, etc), which also includes the Carfax warranty - that is, if it's determined that it WAS a flood car, they'll buy it off of us for what we paid. (or if someone cheated a salvage title, and so forth).

It's not a replacement for a good inspection and test drive, and will never be. Most people don't inspect vehicles as hard as I do - and I'm not a mechanic. I just know the Vibe inside and out.

Good luck on the water situation - I've had leaks from the roof drains before.
Capt.Vibe
Posts: 160
Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2009 7:18 am
Location: Montreal

Re: Used Car Fun - New To Me Vibe Fills With Water

Post by Capt.Vibe »

Carfax (and Carproof in Canada) are only as good as what is reported to them. Info is not always reliable. If someone decides to fix an accident outside of insurance it will never appear on any of these reports. People do this knowing full well an accident showing up on a report will mean loss of value come resale.

I know how you feel though, each and every vehicle I've bought had some form of hidden defect even a few that a mechanic couldn't see such as an auto trans that would not shift as soon as winter arrived. This is going back to times before the internet and readily available on the spot research. That and the fact that there will be no way of telling if that mint looking car was used as an UBER or UBER Eats car or pizza car is why I will never buy a used car again unless it's from a friend or a model no longer made that I have to have. Nothing replaces a mechanical inspection it's the last line if defense. Hope you can get this fixed at minimal cost, Vibe mechanically should still be solid.
2010 Red Hot Metallic 1SA
KingKrab65
Posts: 162
Joined: Wed May 24, 2017 7:25 am
Location: Charlotte, NC

Re: Used Car Fun - New To Me Vibe Fills With Water

Post by KingKrab65 »

[quote="kc27"]I bought a 2005 Vibe Base 1.8 last week with 110,000 miles. Drove it in the rain yesterday, and discovered both the left and right inner rear quarter panels, just below the two side storage compartments in the rear hatch area, were filled with water. Tested with a garden hose today and discovered water was entering the interior quarter panels down by the bumper. I could not figure out why, and asked a body shop to take a look. The tech said the car has repaired damage on the right rear, and that the bumper had not been properly reinstalled. Screws were used on both sides of the bumper that breached the interior quarter panels giving the water someplace to collect as it drained from the upper portion of the car.

I bought a used Dodge Dakota a few years ago. Motor seemed sound, took it for an extensive test drive, every electrical piece worked and all seemed fine. The first hard rain, the driver's side foot well filled up with water. Thought maybe I hadn't shut the door securely or left the window cracked and rain got in. Dried it out and it happened again following the next hard rain. Took it to a glass replacement business and they said the window seals were good. Took it to a body shop and they said the weld on the front of cab had failed and that was where the rain was coming in. It would have cost more to repair that weld to to the access to it than the truck was worth. (And on top of that, when I pulled up the carpet to replace it with a junkyard carpet, there was a small rust hole in the driver's foot well. A Fred Flintstone like vehicle was coming soon.)

I ended up junking the truck despite the overwhelming urge to stuff a rag in the gas tank and leaving it burning on the seller's front lawn. Hope you are able to repair your Vibe without a bunch of problems.
2003 Base Vibe
kc27
Posts: 31
Joined: Sun Aug 19, 2018 4:00 pm

Re: Used Car Fun - New To Me Vibe Fills With Water

Post by kc27 »

Just wanted to update this thread. The Vibe is leak free.

I had a couple of places look it over, and both places said the Vibe was sound, the body work should be fine, and that all that was needed was some seam sealer (that white "caulk" material that you see at the base of the trunk section where the spare tire rests). I also took it to a firm that specializes in automobile frames for an alignment, and they said the unibody was straight and aligned with no issues.

It would preferable that the car not have repaired collision damage, but it is what it is. We will just use the car and move on (pun intended).
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