Well, I've been pretty quite about my car for awhile. Here's a few updates.
Way back in January, I decided to tackle the "tick tick" from the blend door actuator. I got a custom "tool" from a member on the Facebook group, which is really just a 5.5mm socket that was JB Welded to a flat metal bar. The tool actually worked very well and, though it broke, lasted long enough to complete the work. I chose to flip the gear. If/when these teeth fail, then I'll replace it with a new unit.
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- 2018-01-13 153039.jpg (293.21 KiB) Viewed 2212 times
On May 31, it crossed 160,000 miles.
- 2018-05-31 183035.jpg (237.18 KiB) Viewed 2212 times
Then last Friday, through some generosity of a Vibe friend, the car is now riding on Tein S-Techs.
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- 2018-06-09 104931.jpg (447.85 KiB) Viewed 2212 times
You may also notice in these pics that the car has been debadged. Story time.
It bothered me that the car was badged improperly, so I decided rather than trying to correct the badging that I would just do away with it. It wasn't even a matter that they removed the "GT", since the "vibe" on the driver's door was a good 6" to far to the rear of the car to be correct. My guess is a previous owner debadged the car and then someone hastily rebadged it (incorrectly) when reselling it. When I was looking to buy the car, I didn't even know it was a GT. It was just listed on Craigslist as an '05 Vibe with a manual transmission (no mention of the number of gears) and when I contacted the seller (a used car dealer), he just was adamant that I was aware that it was a manual. After a previous deal for a different car went south after the seller sold it out from under me before I could get to him to buy it, even though we had agreed to a price and I making arrangements to go get it, I wanted to make sure he'd hold the car for me. So I paid him a deposit to hold the car and I asked him for the VIN to get an insurance quote, which is when I was clued into what the car was. I entered the VIN and Geico spat out "Vibe GT," so my first thought is that he gave me a bogus VIN number. I then looked more closely at the pictures and noticed the chrome shift knob and leather steering wheel. Clues. There weren't any pictures with the hood up and I couldn't get a good look at the rear brakes, but I felt good enough that I was willing to make the long drive to go look at the car in person. A few days later, I drive to see the car. I visually check the VIN... matches what he gave me over the phone. Pop the hood... yep, that's a 2ZZ! Take it for a test drive and I was ready to buy. While doing all the paperwork, he and I start small talking. He told me that the mechanic he had check the car out that morning offered to buy it on the spot, because it had a "special engine," but since I had paid the deposit he saved it for me. I proceeded to tell him that the car was a Vibe GT and what that meant. I could tell he only had a passing interest, since he was mostly concerned about making the sale. That knowledge didn't influence the final sale price.
I have a few more plans for the future. I need to re-tint the windows. The hatch window is bubbling pretty bad and the the side windows got scratched up when I had to constantly scrape frost off the windows to see out during a road trip to the frozen north at Christmas... thanks to the malfunctioning blend door actuator.