My Intro > Love the 2005 Vibe AWD, but seriously 299,999??

[Canuck05AWD]

Hello there fellow GenVibers, Glad to be aboard. I will keep it short and sweet. Normally a VW TDI guy, but shortened commute and cold Canadian Winter were not very good for cold weather warm-up on the old Jetta. Bought a great little 2005 Vibe AWD needing some TLC for a stupid cheap price. Was looking for a little newer one, but found this gem. It is a rural car, so never seen salt up to the end of 2015.

The reason for the cheap price was that I knew I would have to put in a new rear diff, and special thanks to everyone posting “how to’s” especially th3fr4nchi5e. Using rear seal replacement instrux, I translated that into a relatively easy rear diff replacement. It had been toasted due to a leaking rear pinion seal which was in turn caused by the rear radial viscous coupler bearing coming apart and the wrecked bearing cage shredding the seal. It was then run dry. I put in new radial bearings in the viscous coupler housing, new rear end and seals, and Amsoil in the rear diff and transfer case, and that’s about it…except a few days ago ran into the 299,999 issue. Heard about it, and now see that it is 100% accurate. A bit of a (removed) off, but they are great cars other than their few surprises. So far I am into the car for around half of what they sell for here, plus around 6 hours of my time underneath it.

I am currently talking to GM Canada, and the dealership but don’t expect much there.

One piece of advice that most likely know is, shop both Toyota and GM for parts. So far, Toyota has kicked GM’s @$$ for stealership pricing.

If anyone has questions regarding the repairs I did (viscous coupler bearings, rear diff and seals), PM me as I would be happy to share my experience and tips with you.

[ehoff121]

Welcome to genvibe!

Yeah, the odo limit is a real pain, especially when it's in kilometers. That's less than 187,000 miles!

Congrats on the find.

If you had the time to post your notes/tips to the step by step on the bearing replacement, the community (and I ) would appreciate it.

Also, the folks around here like pics...

[ImUrOBGYN]

Welcome and I'm glad the repair wasn't too bad.

[vibenvy]

Welcome to GenVibe! Definitely post some pictures of your Vibe when you get a chance !

[tpollauf]

Welcome to GenVibe Looking forward to pics of your Vibe. Thanks for joining us & visit often!

[BenWA]

One piece of advice that most likely know is, shop both Toyota and GM for parts. So far, Toyota has kicked GM’s @$$ for stealership pricing.

Yep. I replaced the timing chain tensioner, since the seal needing doing anyway. Pricing them...

ACDelco (GM) one, $41.19: http://www.amazon.com/ACDelco-88969018- ... iac%3Avibe

Toyota one, $23.15 (and Amazon's catalog says "This does not fit your: 2003 Pontiac Vibe", despite the item description saying "2003-2008 Corolla, 2003-2008 Matrix" ) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GJH ... ge_o01_s00