I think the GT is toast :(

[trb]

My daughter was driving back home today, and had to hit her brakes pretty hard to stop at a stop light. The lady behind her did not notice because she looked down for a second for her Chapstick, she said. She hit the GT with her Murano, and pushed the GT into the Enclave in front of my daughter. Luckily everyone was ok, and my daughter's dog was in her cage, seat belted in. The Murano did not appear to have much damage, they said - I didn't see it, and the Enclave just had some scratches on the bumper cover.

I didn't get any good pics of the hatch area, but it is all pushed in. The floor is buckled and looks like the rear floor pan is damaged and the rear passenger door will not open. So since the front is damaged too, I'll bet the repair bill is north of $8K. Luckily the airbags did not go off, so a friend that is an estimator thought it might be close to a total, but might not be unless I press for it.





The lady has the same insurance as us, State Farm, so they should be fair on it. If not, they will loose a 31 year customer over it.

Oh well, it was fun while I had it. Not sure about a replacement right now. Sigh.....

[Chiadog]

Glad to hear your daughter is fine! That buckling floorpan dissipated the majority of the energy of the collision, I'm sure.
I think you may need to buy new eye glasses for your Estimator buddy Looks like a complete loss to me!
Please let us know how the search for a replacement goes.

[trb]

LOL! No, he didn't see it, I just called him to see what shop he was working at and for a recommendation if I need it. I described the damage to him and he said that the Vibes do hold their value, so it was a possibility it might not be totaled.

[Toyotiaction]

I am so sorry for your loss. That was such a beautiful car.

[trb]

Went to get the last of my stuff and took some more pics.










And a pic of the poor polished tail pipe I got from Carrie:

[KITT222]

That really stinks. But since they hold their value could another VGT be in your future? Someone is going to get a great deal on a repairable Vibe if/when they decide to auction it off.

[trb]

That really stinks. But since they hold their value could another VGT be in your future? Someone is going to get a great deal on a repairable Vibe if/when they decide to auction it off.

Already looking.....



And the money shot:



My daughter will possibly end up with a Nissan Rogue or this:



We were planning to let her have the GT after this summer anyway, but I think we can swing getting these two cars.

[KITT222]

Sweet! Might be worth taking a step back to your old one and taking the intake and tip back.

[trb]

Sweet! Might be worth taking a step back to your old one and taking the intake and tip back.

Yes, if the adjuster does not give me new retail for the CAI, I will be removing it and giving him the stock parts. The tip was just a stock one since Carrie got the larger 1st gen polished one. Mine had a fart pipe when the dealer got it, and they just put in a cheap stock style muffler without a chrome tip. Any potential new Vibe should have the stock tip still.

[triz]

I would pull the CAI and put the stock on. You can sell the CAI or keep it for the next one if you plan to get another one.

[mesohungry]

I was in an accident in March. I only had the car 4 months. It was a Chevy Cobalt. I had just put on new tires, shocks, struts, new clutch kit, and all sorts of other miscellaneous stuff. Car was T-boned on the passenger side and insurance company claimed it a total loss. They offered me less than what I had paid for it 3 months earlier. I submitted receipts for all the new parts & work done which totaled over $1,400. After taking into consideration all the new parts, they raised their offer $200.

If I were you, I'd shove all the stock parts back on there & resell your good stuff.

[NascarXprt]

Sorry for the accident, but glad to hear everyone involved was ok and no serious harm was done. was the radiator busted or fluid from the front? if not then she looks just out of reach of being totaled.

on the chance she is totaled go back and sawp the intake out for the stock one and if you are willing to depart with the intake, id be more than helpful to take it off your hands =)

[vibenvy]

So sorry to hear about the Vibe Thomas ! Glad you daughter, her dog and everyone else is okay though. I would definitely take the intake and muffler tip off to either use on the next Vibe or sell to a fellow GV member. Speaking of Vibes, glad to see you're already looking at getting another one. I knew before the pictures even came up that it would be a manual this time !

I will be curious to see which vehicle your daughter ends up with. I am seeing more and more Encores around here. The more I see them, the more I like the looks of them. If she ends up with an Encore, I'd really like to see some pictures of the engine and interior since you never get to see these when looking at them on the dealer lot on a Sunday when the dealer's closed .

Keep us updated on the new vehicle search...

[tpollauf]

Ouch !!! I hate to see damaged Vibe's Especially when they look exactly like mine It may be tough to locate another one in good shape that was well taken care of. If totaled I hope they compensate you well for the Vibe. Keep us all posted here

[trb]

Ouch !!! I hate to see damaged Vibe's Especially when they look exactly like mine It may be tough to locate another one in good shape that was well taken care of. If totaled I hope they compensate you well for the Vibe. Keep us all posted here

Thanks Tim, I will. If they do total it, I will buy your EXACT twin, but with a lot more miles on it than you have. 09 red GT with manual and sunroof. At least it is a one owner car and the Carfox records show it was decently maintained. The dealer saleskid (he sounds like he's 20!) is holding(hiding!) the keys until next week for me.

[Nasmfell]

Glad everyone is okay. Good luck in your search for another one if you go that route.

[vibrologist]

BTW, that strut tower bar might be of value too.

First I thought: "Uhhhh, that will buff out". On second thought, maybe not.

[vibenvy]

BTW, that strut tower bar might be of value too.

Good point! I'm sure there would be a 2009-2010 non-Vibe GT / 2009+ non-Matrix XRS owner out there somewhere that could make use of it. I know Rayven and nitetrain have enjoyed the ones they got from me !

[trb]

That's something I could consider, if the buy back on it is reasonable. My wife would not be happy, but.....
I was thinking about trying to track it at the auction if it sold to a local salvage yard, maybe buy a couple of the wheels as spares and possibly the seats for my Mustang.

[mrbravo2000]

That's something I could consider, if the buy back on it is reasonable. My wife would not be happy, but.....
I was thinking about trying to track it at the auction if it sold to a local salvage yard, maybe buy a couple of the wheels as spares and possibly the seats for my Mustang.

Man, that sucks! As a fellow H Town member, people here drive distracted all the time. It hurts to see it like that.

I am envious of the manual tranny. Lastly, I will be interested in how your insurance calls this as it is on the threshold. I hate to put a call on your parts until they decide everything but I agree with everyone, just uninstall now before they swope in. It happened to me, they refused to let me remove my rims, stereo, custom seats, and subs / speakers when my truck was totaled. I know, it was when I was young and banged hip hop as loud as possible. I still do, just with my stock.

[jake75]

This may not be the case with newer cars, but in my lifetime my sons totaled two older cars- a 1976 Chevette and a 1993 Plymouth Colt Vista Wagon. In both cases the money offered by the insurance co. exceeded my expectations. There are no parents in hell!

[jake75]

Since when is h e double hockey sticks considered essential to "remove". What the f I can understand. What the h seems obsessive. I guess it is part of the program

[tpollauf]

Since when is h e double hockey sticks considered essential to "remove". What the f I can understand. What the h seems obsessive. I guess it is part of the program

Yeah Jerome that totally S U C K S that these newer programs delete commonly used "mildly offensive" language! S H I T, it's a real B I T C H when you are trying to express your true feelings about a situation and this F'd-up program deletes those important words

[trb]

Got the final word today, yes they want to total it. I had them add the CAI to the quote, and the adjuster came within $43 of the estimate that I was going to shoot for, so I'm good with that. The one I was looking at sold last week, so I'll be spending the next few months looking for a nice 09-10 GT, red, manual, preferably 1 owner, with good maintenance records. Has to be under 100K, but I prefer something around 60K miles or so.

I will ask about buying it back, but unless it is 10% or less of the settlement, I won't be doing that. I'll let you know the details when everything is signed and done.

It looks like my daughter is leaning towards the Rogue. I'm going to take her to drive the Mazda CX5 also. She likes the Encore, but it really is a bit too small for her. She needs room to easily carry her boyfriend's yellow lab's crate in the back.

[KITT222]

If you don't mind driving....

https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/ ... 99998.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[tpollauf]

If you don't mind driving....

https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/ ... 99998.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Looks like a nice find there Nick. I say BUT IT ..... it would make for a nice road trip home.

[trb]

Ok, done deal. The visible damages totalled up to over $11,000. Car value was deemed to be $12,570, plus $140 for condition and $160 for the CAI. Total value of $12,870. Salvage buy back is $1,975, which is a bit more than I would want to pay. So once TT&L is added, my payout is $13,762. Not bad IMO and I didn't have to fight at all for this fair settlement.

Nick,
Thanks. I saw that one on cars.com, but I am a bit concerned about the Carfox. How many owners? I see possibly 3 plus GM at first. Where has it been for the past 10+ months? In cold storage? Last notation was 10/10/13 and it was for sale on 8/19/13.

http://www.carfax.com/VehicleHistory/p/ ... tner=CDM_U" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Maybe if I do find one up north, I can drive it back mid July through Pontiac???

[KITT222]

Looks to me like it was purchased by GM then sold at auction immediately. Then transferred to MN from another dealer. I can check it out if you want me to.

[trb]

Final wrap up. I picked up my check and deposited it. All I can say is I got $470 more for the car than I paid for it, 2-1/2 years ago, so I think I got a good deal on the settlement. So I basically drove the car and just paid for gas, insurance and maintenance costs, with zero depreciation. I guess it really pays to buy right!

My daughter drove another Rogue today, and she's decided on it for sure. Now I just have to wait until the local dealer can trade for the one we want, or if the dealer that has it (in San Antonio) will meet my price, we will go on a road trip tomorrow.

I will be checking on the two Vibe GTs up north. There is one in Fond du Lac WI and the one Nick posted. If you are close by, and serious about it Nick, certainly take a look at it up close for me. I know internet pictures never tell the true story, even on the 2010 GT. It looked much better in pics. I don't mind driving if I have to, but it would have to be worth my time to do it. Heck, I saw one in NJ for $8,902, but it is 1,400 miles away!

[KITT222]

Just realized it's in St. Cloud. Which is quite a distance from my area. So... Woops.

[trb]

The already have the car listed at the salvage pool, but no auction date yet. I might just check it out if the date works for me. Who knows how much it will go for?

https://www.iaai.com/Vehicles/VehicleDe ... ecent=True#" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The third picture, of the rear, is really telling on the impact.

[tpollauf]

Interesting site with VAGUE information of the car. Transmission "unknown" ... gotta love it Also this Vibe was truly one of the last Vibes produced as they ceased production August 17, 2009! Let us know what it goes for at auction.