Just picked up my $2500 05' Vibe

[shaeet]

Talk about deal of the century! I Just got home from picking up my 2005 Vibe auto w/16" alloy wheels & cruise option for $2500. 185k miles is why the guy listed it so cheap on CL, I called him 1 hour after he listed it and told him i'd pick it up the next day. Good thing he waited for me to drive up there b/c he had 9 other people super-interested in buying it!He replaced the tires, got alignment, new master cylinder, front brakes and windshield before listing it up for sale. It has a CEL that the stealership tried to fix by replacing the cat ($800) and ECU ($500) but didn'td fix it. When he mentioned it to me I immediately thought of my 2000 celica with the same 1ZZ engine. Its oxygen sensor did the same thing, only 40 dollars off amazon & 20 minutes! I'll have to do that before I get the thing emissions checked.Other than that, the car is in great shape for its mileage. Paint chips on the front and some brown rust on some of the chips, but not eating the metal up yet so I will just have to address those soon before they progress. Also has a lot of rattles in the back, not sure if theres crap under the cargo floor. A couple damaged/missing pieces in the interior that I might try to source here on these forums.This is my 3rd "wagon". I got hooked when I bought a 2001 focus wagon at how useful the space is for hauling. THen I wanted something nicer & got a Jetta wagon, but then realized german-fail engineering and the expense of owning it. Abysmal fuel economy also, SO I started eyeballing the Matrix & Vibes & got lucky on CL with this one.I posted a post in the Garage with a couple photos of it:http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=41107

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[keithvibe]

You will also need fog lights LOL

[star_deceiver]

Good deal!!!

[jkm311]

What a great DEAL! Imagine all the dough you saved on the sale that you can put towards mods! Look forward to watching your progress...

[vibolista]

You didn't come close to getting a deal at $2500 for an 05 Vibe. You got a freaking steal! A sweet steal, at that! Congratulations. Looks great! Hows that 185k mi engine run?

[808 Vibes]

Welcome and congrats...nice Frosty!

[shaeet]

the engine seems to run fine, i'm more worried about the transmission. I checked its fluid level & it was ridiculously high. I'm gonna flush it this weekend & fill it up properly.I previously had a 99 Chevy Prizm & 00' Celica with the same engine. The prizm was 5spd and celica was auto. One of the selling points for these cars was the drivetrain they used, i knew it was very fuel efficient and had reasonable power and the auto's seem to keep you out of trouble (never downshift when you want to pass and keep your lead foot at bay from wasting gas!).I'm gonna pop the valve cover and try to get a shot of under there this weekend also. Looking at the dipstick it looks like theres carbon buildup, but hopefully not sludge. My Celica had about 110k miles and had a decent buildup of sludge, but I hear thats common for earlier 1ZZ engines b/c of a design defect.

[jake75]

I am not a fan of high mileage used cars. My low tolerance for the hassle of car troubles (been there, done that) would rule that out for me. But at $2,500, and with the work that was done on it before you bought it, I think you got a price that made it worth the risk.

[cptnsolo77]

Congrats on your purchase! Looks like its in gr8 shape !

[ramenboy...]

hey congrats on the purchase!welcome to the family

[shaeet]

car passed MD state inspection (pretty stringent) with 1 tag light out. Guy charged me $10 to replace it.Now i gotta do the maintenance this weekend & I am gonna check the valve clearances too. Reading the owners manual while I was waiting on the inspection..i saw at 120k you are supposed to check the valve clearances. I'm sure mine are out of whack & replacing some of the tappet shims would definitely help improve performance.If i have time this weekend, i'm gonna do a full 3-stage buff job on the paint too and try to take care of the paint chips that are starting to rust also, before they get out of hand. Already ordered a cargo cover & foglights for it, and bout to order a leather steering wheel & chrome door interior door handles. STill researching suspension options..doesn't seem there are many struts for these cars . I might just get a coilover kit for it instead, its almost the same amount of money VS buying separate struts/springs.Also need to source rear door panels b/c mine have the fabric torn off and its probably just as cheap to buy some used ones from someone. If anyone has the gray/black checkered fabric door panels from a part-out lemme know!

[ramenboy...]

Quote, originally posted by shaeet »....i saw at 120k you are supposed to check the valve clearances. I'm sure mine are out of whack & replacing some of the tappet shims would definitely help improve performance....STill researching suspension options..doesn't seem there are many struts for these cars . I might just get a coilover kit for it instead, its almost the same amount of money VS buying separate struts/springs.Also need to source rear door panels b/c mine have the fabric torn off and its probably just as cheap to buy some used ones from someone. If anyone has the gray/black checkered fabric door panels from a part-out lemme know!you might be the first one on the boards to get the valves lashed. keep us posted. there are a couple of struts out there for the vibe/matrix... the newer ones are tokico. some of the members have gone to these and love them. check out this thread. David might be able to help you find a couple things: http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=37786

[shaeet]

ya i see KYB GR2's and Tokico HP blues. GR2's aren't even performance, just OE replacements, the blues are better for lowering springs but still not ideal for 1" + lowering, not sure about the matrix/vibes but for all of the carsi 've previously ownedt hey aren't that great. I wish KYB made AGX's for these cars, those are reasonably priced & adjustable and I've never had issues with them on my other cars.I saw Koni makes yellows for these cars, but damn 1000 dollars for a set? might as well get coilovers. I might take my chances on the tokico's though, i only plan to lower it 1.5" since it is my DD and needs some clearance for highway dips and such.

[shaeet]

LOLZ...car might be totalled 5 days after buying it!GG for DC drivers! Some lady in a civic rear-ended me on the 14th street bridge going about 90mph. hit the passenger rear side. Bumper is destroyed, frame is bent inward towards the wheel & hatch & rear quarter have a crease. Car drives fine tho no issues and hatch opens/closes fine!not sure if this pic will load...if not go to my garage thread i posted the photos in it

[bodhi_tree777]

Look at the bright side, if it is totalled you'll probably turn a profit on it . Glad to hear you're okay.

[joatmon]

If that happened to my car within a week of buying it, I'd be shouting your username a lot.

[Bastranz]

Oy! At least you weren't hurt, but *tear* for the Vibe! 90 mph on the 14th Street bridge...did you guys get caught in traffic suddenly?

[lovemyraffe]

Wow! Congrats on the new ride, sorry it didn't last very long.

[waveresponder]

dang, keep us updated....

[shaeet]

adjuster came by today. I also got a body shop to get me an estimate yesterday.Between 3000-3500 for body work depending on extent of frame damage. They told me they'd have to remove the bumper before telling me exactly the amount of labor for framework.The dubmass adjuster offered me 1600 lawlz!! Now I Gotta write a counter-demand letter.Dealing with the "other" insurance company is such a pain in the (removed). I'm hoping to walk away with 5 grand but it'll probably be between 3-4 in the end. I need to go to another body shop and hopefully get a higher estimate done ;pBut i plan on keeping the car, it drives fine. I just need a bumper & i dun even know if i'll bother fixing the hatch & 1/4. I just need the GM bodykit and i'll be set