It all started in the summer of 06 when my wife got fed up with her very problematic 99 VW Cabrio. Her boss had a vibe & she really liked the looks of it & asked me what I thought about them. I told her they were actually Toyotas & Toyota had an excellent track record, so we decided to go car shopping. Our first stop was the GM dealer in Hillsboro, Ohio. I have a good relationship with the owner as I used to work there in his body shop.
They had 3 new vibes in stock but I noticed when we were pulling in there were also 2 on the used car lot. I figured it wouldn't hurt to see what they were.
The first one we came to was a neptune/gray 03 or 04 GT. Since my wife was developing arthritis in her hips, a manual transmission was no longer an option for her.
Sitting beside it was a very sharp lava/gray 05 base. We inquired about it & were told it was bought new there by a family who decided they needed more room & traded it back in on a Chevy Equinox & it only had 5500 miles!
Since it was same as new we decided on it.
The first week she had it, she was rear ended at a red light.I found a good used hatch & a new rear bumper cover & made it good as new again.
A few months later she was hit in the right rear. I straightened the quarter panel & put in a new taillight.
At around 100,000 miles, she encountered her first deer. I straightened the hood & left front fender.
At 190,000 we were coming home one evening from dinner out. I was driving & I hit a deer. This time it - although very repairable - was totalled.
We got enough insurance money (I think about $6000) to buy it back & , after combing Craigslist for deals, bought the frosty 04 base with 140,000 miles. After new front brakes & all new tires (it had 3 different brands on it) she was back in business as I began to acquire parts for the red one. By spring I had accumulated a new radiator, a.c. condenser, radiator support & right headlight & a used black hood & left headlight. She wanted it back so badly, she didn't want me to bother painting the hood. It is still black to this day.
So at this point, she is the proud owner of 2 vibes. She would drive each one a week at a time.
About a year after I got the red one back together, the night before she went in for gallbladder surgery, she hit a deer with the white one, taking out the bumper, hood, left fender & headlight.
During her recovery, I got on Craigslist again & found a rear ended silver 04.
I had it back together, now with a silver bumper, hood & fender.
A few months later, my 99 corolla swallowed a valve at 270,000.
She gave me the white vibe. Finally, I have one of my own!
Just about a year after she hit the deer with the white vibe, I hit one with it, destroying the exact same pieces I had put on it before. It wasn't quite totalled, but with the damage, & now 280,000 miles, I felt it was time for another vibe.
Back to Craigslist again!
I called about several but some were sold & others didn't quite suit me. I happened upon a silver 05 at a decent price. It didn't have a sunroof, which I really wanted, but we went to look at it. When we pulled in, we saw another vibe next to it that they hadn't put on Craigslist. It was a neptune mono awd with sunroof,satellite radio,side airbags & tire pressure monitor.
My wife fell in love with it, so she bought it & gave me the red one.
So for the next 3 years we enjoyed our red & blue vibes while the white one sat next to my garage behind the silver one that I took the first front end from.
Then one day I was looking at Craigslist again (I'm addicted now) & happened across a white 04 vibe with a blown engine for $400.
I made arrangements to pick it up, made the 3 hour trip to Muncie Indiana with my nephew & his truck & trailer & brought it home & as of December 2018, the white vibe is back in action... & it's all white again!
The red vibe is my main ride with now 342,000 miles.
Since my wife retired right before buying the blue one with 93,000 miles, I believe it's only at about. 120,000 miles currently.
The white vibe is now our backup vehicle & my alternate ride & currently has 287,000 miles.
So that's our story. I hope you've enjoyed our journey