What did you do to your Vibe today?

[applebit924]

could http://car-part.com/ come to the rescue in the future?

[SaveMyVibe]

Hi, sorry for barging in but we are very frustrated
with trying to fix our used -to be- worry free 2007Vibe that my wife really needs still!
Last year we had exhaust line replaced, due to rust.
It still smelled bad in the car, rumbled and drove poorly. So back to the same shop:
they found a hole at that sort off bottleneck place of the cat, where the heat shield used to be.
The new converter installed (1100$), after that the Vibe developed some vibration.
It got worse and worse, check engine light was on,and my wife brought the car back to the shop.
The shop then cleared the codes (when asked they referred to them as "a bunch of codes emissions related"),
and stated vibration comes from the 3 bad motor mounts...
$900, All mounts done, the car was in the shop for 3 days,
my wife was using taxis and calling the mechanics daily, with little response.
After she picked up the car, 5 miles later, she had to pull over to the nearest garage due to oil light,
an oil leak happened, that required a new valve gasket plus oil change(Speedy $400! rip off)...
Now after all that work (and $) Vibe vibrates terribly in reverse, and in D, coming to a turn or at a stop.
The quiet , happy purring engine developed all kinds of metallic clicking ticking and noise, sewing machine, she says...
There is also tapping or dull rhythmic noise when accelerating,
that stops only if you release gas pedal.
The garage after 2 more visits and wife's request to check the engine especially for oil leak reasons,
basically saying they cannot do anything else to improve the vibration. She asked them to replace spark plugs, as the ones she had in were AlDelco, (changed in 2022) to NGk. No long lasting effect. ALSO! when she got new the plugs in, she drove the car for about 30 min as if it was her usual Vibe just as before. No noise , responsive and hardly any vibration. After few starts - back to sewing machine rattle and harsh vibrating. MAF cleaned and throttle body cleaned as per manager at that shop.
Any thoughts? what do we check and where do we start ?

[tpollauf]

Just got new tires put on this morning. See post: viewtopic.php?t=48742

While up on the lift, we looked over a few suspension components and other stuff. Found a loose tie rod, ripped drive side CV axle (only 40k miles on it since replaced) and sway bar links worn. Will make arrangements for these repairs to be made real soon.