new here and posting for my brother, is his vibe totalled?

wrekdvibe · Post by **wrekdvibe** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 12:18 pm

my brother just got his 05 last week sometime and 3 days ago he had a little wipe out after his key chain lanyard caught the parking brake, he goes to pull of the lanyard and when he does the brake engages. he goes off the road and lands on all 4 wheels, he tries to back it back onto the road and when he does the center of gravity gets thrown off and the car rolls over on its top. he is fine but the car is not, he needs a new door, hood, fender, windsheild and most importantly the roof is smashed. so my question to you is, is it totalled?i personally drive a Sonoma ZR-2 and it is my pride and joy.

L5K · Post by **L5K** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 12:46 pm

I'd say probably totalled but I don't know for sure.To fix the roof they would have to cut it completely off and weld a new one on. My guess is that there would be a lot of other damage that you can't see under the sheet metal.

star_deceiver · Post by **star_deceiver** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 12:51 pm

I'd say No, based on the fact that the A pillars and roof line look sound BUT the cost of damage may be more then what the car is worth or then what %age of damage cost his insurance co. uses. Parts, labour, and re-inspection are not cheap and it might be better to write the car off and use the insurance to help buy a new one rather then fix it!

wrekdvibe · Post by **wrekdvibe** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 12:54 pm

i forgot to mention that he only has liability, so having insurance total it out wont happen, him and i found a few diagrams of parts on the internet that made it look like the roof came off easily and bolted back on, but in ways it made sense and in other ways it didnt.

star_deceiver · Post by **star_deceiver** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 1:03 pm

Get out your hammer! You've got some banging to do. The roof itself is just sheetmetal but it will be welded to the unibody frame. The windshield looks to be bent in at the top left of the first pic so that will need some attention and it will be the first part to leak after it's fixed if anything was done wrong.A kit somewhat like this would be needed. http://www.auto-repair-tools.c...4.jpgGood luck!

jake75 · Post by **jake75** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 1:03 pm

Sounds like something my youngest son would do - he totaled a car hitting a steel post in a parking garage because he was answering his phone. But he had insurance. Probably got more for the car even after the $500 ded than it was really worth.

rAERRK · Post by **rAERRK** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 3:30 pm

i dont think so. most of that will buff right out.you can never kill a vibe.

keithvibe · Post by **keithvibe** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 8:58 pm

It all depends on who is fixing it. If your going threw the insurance company or if you plan on fixing it yourself.If your going threw the insurance company I am sure they will total it. There will be a lot of banging and bondo on that roof.If your fixing it yourself, nope. New door, new hood, new mirror, new windshield, and a large hammer and lots and lots of bondo. You should be able to fix it yourself for about 1k.If your going threw the insurance company your looking at 5-6k or more worth of damage and depending on the milage of he the car your going to be really close to the 80% loan to value of the car.

joatmon · Post by **joatmon** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 11:03 pm

Since an insurance claim is not an option, you've really got three choices. You can sell it as a wreck and try to get some money for it.You can take the car to a body shop and get an estimate, then decide if the value of the fixed car is worth the cost to get it fixed, You can try to fix most of the stuff yourself. Price out parts, maybe from a junkyard, and that may mean putting up with some imperfections when you are done. Making your brother do the work and then having to drive around in a car that's still kinda beaten up might be a good lesson on not doing whatever he was really doing to roll the car.you could take the headliner out and with a bottle jack and a section of 4x4, jack the roof back mostly into shape. Replace the hood and driver side mirror, live with the door ding, pay someone to put in a new windshield.

Sublimewind · Post by **Sublimewind** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 11:14 pm

Had the car a week, wipes out after a keychain lanyard catches the E-brake and sends him into the woods... Rolls the car trying to BACK out... I call shannagians.. lol..

BahamaTodd · Post by **BahamaTodd** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 2:22 am

I say sell it and cut your losses. Even if you do get through all the trouble to get it fixed, it will never be the same. Nice ZR2 btw. I've got a Z71 Canyon.

Cougar Vibe · Post by **Cougar Vibe** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 2:40 am

If this was an insurance claim and the companies involved were either Safeco or The Hartford (they're the same company now), yes, it would be a total. I say that because I used to work claims for the former.Their criteria for totalling, and it's fairly similar among all the major companies (you'd be surprised how much of a commodity item insurance really is), has major and minor damage points. The person taking the claim will ask the caller a series of questions about damage, w/different damaged parts receiving special weighted amounts, and if the total adds up to "x" amount (15 points for Safeco/The Hartford), the car is a total...the field adjuster will not be able to overide that (the inspection is just to verify the damage). A roll-over, even with no damage to A/B/C pillars, will almost guarantee a total...especially if the engine continued to run after the roll. Throw in the additional damages you named, and it would be a total loss.However, since there was no comp on the vehicle, it's between you, your body shop and the state. In the state I live in (WA), reputable body shops will not repair that sort of damage...the insurance commission in this state is very strict. Even you were able to repair it, you'd have to take it through a State Patrol rebuilt-title inspection process which, from what I understand of it, is a real S.O.B. situtation. But hey, I can only speak for those two insurance companies and Washington.Good luck...I hope that somehow it works out.

bodhi_tree777 · Post by **bodhi_tree777** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 2:50 am

I didn't even think about what would happen if the engine ran upside down. What would happen, internally?

djkeev · Post by **djkeev** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 5:03 am

no oil to the pump thus no lubrication, that would pretty much do serious damage to any engine.Dave

ou.grizzly · Post by **ou.grizzly** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 5:15 am

Yes... It is toast

TONY TAT2 · Post by **TONY TAT2** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 8:20 am

""I say sell it and cut your losses. Even if you do get through all the trouble to get it fixed, it will never be the same. ""YUP,Thats why I dumped my NEW 07/G5,still had 3 1/2 years to pay on it,took a loss on it,but now I got the Vibe & it's NEW ALL OVER AGAIN

wrekdvibe · Post by **wrekdvibe** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 9:26 am

well we took it to a shop down the road that does a lot of body work, the guy restores old muscle cars, he says the damage isnt as bad as it looks, just beninding out sheet metal on the roof and replacing the parts mentioned, he estimated for him to press out the rook with a hydraulic jack from the inside would cost around $800 with a windshield installed too. my brother found a body kits that replaces the fenders, hood and bumpers for 600 so that might take car of them, if its reputable.all i can see left is a new door.i have done body work before and to do panel replacing on these cars doesnt look too hard.my brother that owns the car is an idiot, i tell everyone that, he really is an idiot in just about everything he does, but he was smart enough to shut the engine off immediately. the engine being left upside down for nearly an hour and a half only lost half a pint of oil, it still runs fine, i drove the car the day after he did it and got it up to 80 out my road with no stalls or hesitations, it runs like a champ......... but my 4.3 in my Sonoma still blows it off the road :-)and bodhi_tree777 where are you from in parkersburg? i work at the walmart on southside by kohls.

bodhi_tree777 · Post by **bodhi_tree777** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 11:44 pm

Quote, originally posted by wrekdvibe Â»and bodhi_tree777 where are you from in parkersburg? i work at the walmart on southside by kohls.Hah, didn't even notice you were in Belpre . I live on rt 47 out towards WVU-P. I drive by your work every day. Small world.

joatmon · Post by **joatmon** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 11:46 pm

Really, if you can get it fixed for under 2K, then itseems worth putting the money into. If fixed reasonably well, the the car would be better than anything else you could go buy for 2K. If you can, take some pics as it is being fixed and let us watch too Everybody makes mistakes, some more than others, but it's really cool that you are sticking by your brother and helping him out. Good for you

new here and posting for my brother, is his vibe totalled?

new here and posting for my brother, is his vibe totalled?

Re: (wrekdvibe)

Re: new here and posting for my brother, is his vibe totalled? (wrekdvibe)

Re: (Sublimewind)

Re: (Cougar Vibe)

Re: (BahamaTodd)

Re: (wrekdvibe)