Been meaning to post this for a while but keep getting tied up. I'm Sam and this is my 2010 Vibe GT Ignition Orange Metallic 5-Speed. Bought this back in late December from an insurance auction after it had been in a decent accident. Total after fees and uHaul from Detroit back to Cincinnati came out to about $3000. When I got the car, it needed a new front right headlight, steering wheel airbag, curtain airbags, airbag control module, driver seatbelt, and for some odd reason, the power mirror switch wasn't working either.
Got the airbags, control module and headlight off eBay for total about $450. The headlight I ordered came broken so I got another one for free, so if someone needs a repaired front headlight hit me up lol. Picked up a seatbelt from an absolutely destroyed 2009 AWD for $20 and the power mirror switch for a couple bucks. Running total now at about $3700.
Once the car was in a drivable state, the brake pads needed to be replaced. All 4 were almost to the metal and the brakes were almost unusable (good thing I found out by just moving it from the uHaul to my driveway that the brakes were crap). Replaced all 4 of those as well as the 2 front rotors due to a warped rotor. I've also replaced the spark plugs and PCV valve to try to combat the oil drinking. Right now it loses about 1.5 quarts every 3000 miles.
I was fortunate in that when we took the bumper off and put it in my garage before beginning any major work, the bumper was able to begin bending back into the original shape. Before putting it back on, we used a heatgun and molded out the bumper dent for the most part. Its definitely noticeable that it was hit there on the right side, but not nearly as bad as it was and I think I can live with it.
Here are the photos the insurance company took for the auction (Before Pictures)
I need to get some pictures of after so I will update this tomorrow with some new ones.
Unfortunately when I got it the radio knobs were already broken and basically unusable. I found a 3D model someone made on Thingiverse and was able to get them printed and sent to me. Here's the Before/After of the knobs. I didn't go through the hassle of taking the radio apart, mostly because the new knobs don't have the lips on the base of them that keep them locked in, so I just yanked them out using some pliers.
Here's the list of what I'm planning to do/what I'd like to do to the car:
• Planning to replace the original HU with a touchscreen unit that supports Android Auto while retaining the steering wheel controls and subwoofer
• Would love to do an HID retrofit but don't have the money/knowledge/experience to do that at the moment
• Would like to replace the lights all around with LEDs (interior and exterior lights)
• Would like to change the dial lights on the center console to white instead of the ugly yellow
I think that's all for now, I'm planning on replacing my HU within the next couple weeks, still trying to decide which unit I want to go with. I'll be updating this post and thread with more about the car and more recent pictures of the car will be going up on Saturday or Sunday. I can also post some pics of the 2004 Copper Orange AWD I owned for about 7 months and got to drive for 2 or 3 of those months. Thanks for stopping by everyone!
Bonus pic of the destroyed 2009 AWD