GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Only a matter of time.. I'm driving to work on the highway this morning, out pops this tire w/ wheel bouncing across the oncoming traffic, bounces over the median (in slow motion it seemed), and BAM!, right into my passenger-side fender between the passenger door and front bumper.Nothing I could do but try to slow down, couldn't swerve as there was other traffic. The wheel ended up hitting a couple other vehicles but of course mine had the worst damage. It also looks like the hood and passenger door may have been unharmed but I won't know for a little bit.The wheel fell off the actual pick-up truck (literally) - and of course it had to be an oversized wheel.Anyway, no one was hurt except the Vibe (which is in the shop). I'll try to see if I can snap a picture. Had to share the information with the community. Edit - added low-quality camera phone picture:

Glad you weren't hurt Nick. Sorry for the Vibe though.

Yeah man, sorry to hear this. Glad to hear that you're okay. Too bad the Vibe had to see that day. . O well, it happens. How long is your car in the shop?Inder

You are OK, cars can be fixed. But still, POOR VIBE.

Yeah, it sure could have been alot worse. I couldn't believe my eyes though as I saw the wheel just happily bouncing around. LOLI won't know how long the Vibe will be in the shop quite yet.. hopefully not too long. I do have a rental car coming tomorrow at least.

No! Wow, really hope it's back and fixed soon. Glad you made it through OK though.

tough luck, but congrats on having the presence of mind to not swerve into another car to avoid the oncoming missile.

Vibes have been on the high target list lately for some reason. I had a flat on mine on the weekend when I left it at my folks while I was away.Hope it gets all fixed up soon for ya Nick, at least your ok.

Glad you were not hurt Nick!

That sucks! Sounds exactly like my experience with the flying board that came over the median as I was travelling about 85mph and slammed into the front end. Cost the insurance co like $1600 to replace the front bumper(upper and lower) and bumper padding. Ridiculous and it was probably just because someone didn't have it tied down(no surprise here in sunny SD!). Hope they get it fixed quick, but it just sucks to have to go through that. I feel your pain!

Man, that stinks! But you're ok, so that's good. They'll get the Vibe fixed up just fine for ya!

bummer. was the pick-up in cross traffic?I remember cruzing back in the 70's and the right rear wheel came off of a chevel we were riding in all of a sudden this big fat tire on a keystone rim was rolling by us, and I asked the driver "isn't that yours?" then the right rear dropped to the ground.

Sorry about your mishap, but your Ok. Are you sure that tire didn't come off one of them new G6's?

is Ohio a no-fault state? NO fault state's suck

IT was only a matter of time before the curse of the Vibe hit you too! Pun intended...of course.

Sorry to hear and glad you were not hurt, people have died with tires/rims coming into the windshield. No matter how hard you take care of your pride and joy, crap still happens! Just insist on no body filler and all new parts!

Quote, originally posted by dsegundo »is Ohio a no-fault state? NO fault state's suckOhio is not a no-fault state.The truck was traveling on the opposite side of the freeway, it is 3 lanes on both sides with a cement median separating the two.I've attached a pretty poor quality pic from my camera phone. I'll try to work on a better quality pic but you can get the idea.

Attached files

Holy broken panels batman!Thank god you're ok man and you didn't lose control!

Nick, did the airbags go off?

Quote, originally posted by Mr. Poopypants »Nick, did the airbags go off?No, thankfully! I had moved slightly to the left of the lane right before it happened so I believe that may have helped reduce damage to the hood and windshield (if there is any at all that I could tell).

Quote, originally posted by NSimkins »ouchWas the wheel that fell off the pick up truck one of the four important wheels, or was it a spare that fell out of the bed of the truck? Did the offender get identified so it's his insurance that pays?

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »Was the wheel that fell off the pick up truck one of the four important wheels, or was it a spare that fell out of the bed of the truck?Yup, one of the four important wheels (rear passenger). Also to note this was an early 80's Chevy Pickup Truck.Quote, originally posted by joatmon »Did the offender get identified so it's his insurance that pays?Yeah, I was unaware of the entire situation until the cop explained that the wheel was one of the four important ones and obviously the guy HAD to stop. So yes, they were able to get all the information from him.

God man. That really sucks dude. Hope you get your ride back soon. And glad to hear that you're alright . Inder

HOLY CRAP! Sorry, a wee bit late on the reply!! Glad you are ok, but dang that poor vibe.

Glad that its his insurance that's going to cover the repairs, I bet it'll cost a small fortune by the time they're done. Couldn't you find an easier way of getting those stone chips fixed!! Glad you're fine too. :-}

OhMiGod!! Glad to hear you're okay. Even better that the other guy's insurance has to pay.

Did you have your nice wheels on when it hit?, and if so, did it damage it?

Quote, originally posted by cohocarl »Did you have your nice wheels on when it hit?, and if so, did it damage it? No, I had my stock 16's on. It didn't look like there was any damage to the tire or wheel though, but they'll do an alignment to make sure things are in check there too.Looks like the Vibe will be out 3 weeks for repairs. Alot of internal damage (ie. windshield washer reservoir gone, some wiring, etc.) and they said some delay on parts too, so no surprise there, lol. I'll know next week on the $ amt of damage.

Quote, originally posted by NSimkins »Looks like the Vibe will be out 3 weeks for repairs. That a long time to be vibeless. Did you get a rental car yet, and if so what kind?I almost had a wheel fall off once, and never thought about the damage it could do to other cars. I'm going to go retorque my lug nuts now

There was a real problem up here a few years ago with wheels coming off of transport trucks and striking passenger cars - several people died from those types of accidents. I'm not sure what (if anything) they've done about it since then, but the stories aren't reported like they were a few years ago.Sorry to hear about your Vibe, Nick.

Some of the large companies like FedEx have small green plastic pointers on the lug nuts that point towards the center of the wheel. If the nuts start backing off these pointers willl move and you can see before you drive off.

Any more pics besides the one?

Glad to hear you're okay!

Quote, originally posted by ragingfish »Any more pics besides the one?Nope. Didn't have enough time to grab my digital before they brought it in the shop to start work. I'll post updates when I get them.Thanks to everyone for all the support.

Glad to hear that you are OK Nick, but that really stinks that your Vibe is so messed up. Keep us posted on the progress.

Hey NIck, when do you get your car back now? It'a bout like a week right? Somthing like that?Inder

Quote, originally posted by TRD4reel »Hey NIck, when do you get your car back now? It'a bout like a week right? Somthing like that?They said about 3 weeks, last week, so that puts me towards the end of this month before it's done. Found out the cost for repairs will be around $3600 ... and now my insurance company is having problems with the cooperation of the responsible party and their insurance company. So more fun. LOLI'll update if I hear anything else.

Man, that sucks. I remember when my car got hit last year, my repair cost was $7000. They took over a month to get my car back. Man, I really wish my car wasn't where it was that nite.Inder

Figured I'd post an update. Looks like I should get the Vibe back next week sometime. Unfortunately it also looks like the person responsible may indeed NOT have insurance. My insurance company is handling all that stuff but since I did not have rental coverage on my policy, I am trying to get them to get that out-of-pocket expense back for me (not optimistic on that though).I did get to see the Vibe the other day all ready to be fixed. It had to be put back onto the rack for them to fix the unibody (straighten it out) one last time I guess. The parts are all in so hopefully over the next few days it will be almost back to normal.

Hope ya get the go-buggy back quickly and glad you werent hurt!

Yikes! Dodged a big bullet on that one. Here in Oregon we had a semi truck coming down a big grade lose a pair of wheels and half an axle. Missed a friend of mine, very fatal for the car behind him.

Another quick update.. they found more damage when starting to repair the Vibe this week so they had to order more parts.. pushing the final date to later next week sometime.Today marks the day it's been in the shop for a whole month now. It sucks.. Anyway, that's it.

Quote, originally posted by silverawd26 »Glad to see you are ok Nick. The tardiness of the parts if probobly due to the shops having the holidays off.... Just glad you are ok there bud. No, everything I have ordered from my Vibe has taken 3~5 days. Vibe parts are not stocked on the local PDC level, only at the National PDC in Flint, which is why it takes so long to get ANYTHING!!!!

Quote, originally posted by NSimkins »Figured I'd post an update. Looks like I should get the Vibe back next week sometime. Unfortunately it also looks like the person responsible may indeed NOT have insurance. My insurance company is handling all that stuff but since I did not have rental coverage on my policy, I am trying to get them to get that out-of-pocket expense back for me (not optimistic on that though).Nick, can you tell us which insurance company you have? It is always good to publicize the good and bad aspects of dealing with an insurer, as there are always people in the market for car insurance, and the companies don't want to get a bad rep in the market.OTOH, Ohio is VERY tough on uninsured drivers. We were hit once by an uninsured driver, and our company (Allstate) paid us everything we needed to get our car fixed, then went after the other driver to recover EVERY CENT that they had paid us. The guy not having insurance does NOT relieve him of the responsibility to pay for a replacement rental for you while your Vibe is being repaired. This should be made clear to your insurance company. They should take care of YOU and then go after the other guy. That is what insurance companies do. The fact that you don't have rental coverage applies to incidents that are your fault, not the other guy.

Quote, originally posted by esjones »Nick, can you tell us which insurance company you have? It is always good to publicize the good and bad aspects of dealing with an insurer, as there are always people in the market for car insurance, and the companies don't want to get a bad rep in the market.I have Nationwide Insurance. I've never had any problems or issues with them. They seem concerned about my claim and appear to be trying their best to straighten everything out from what I can see. I really don't know many details until my car is finished and they can pay the body shop. Once that is completed, they will hand the claim over to their legal department to attempt to get their money back (due to the uninsured motorist).Quote, originally posted by esjones »OTOH, Ohio is VERY tough on uninsured drivers. We were hit once by an uninsured driver, and our company (Allstate) paid us everything we needed to get our car fixed, then went after the other driver to recover EVERY CENT that they had paid us. The guy not having insurance does NOT relieve him of the responsibility to pay for a replacement rental for you while your Vibe is being repaired. This should be made clear to your insurance company. They should take care of YOU and then go after the other guy. That is what insurance companies do. The fact that you don't have rental coverage applies to incidents that are your fault, not the other guy.Yes, I agree. I've been in contact with my agent in charge of my claim and will try every avenue I have available to be sure I'm not out any additional $.

Nick, I just have to sympathize. Not with the accident, thank goodness, but with not having the Vibe for a month. I brought mine in the tuesday after thanksgiving, and didn't get it back till the first or second week of January! All because of the clutch! Granted, it was partially my fault because I didn't want to spend $500 on a stock clutch and flywheel (I have so much confidence in those!)Still though, glad Nationwide is doing their best, I hope you get it back soon!

I remember mine was gone about a week or so for the deer hit...guess I lucked out the body shop was having a slow week, so I Had like 3 guys working on it...plus there wasn't that much hidden damage...Good luck dude, hopefully you'll get it back soon...Mine goes in for minor service Tuesday...if it doesn't come back by Thursday, someone will die...

We got rear-ended by an underinsured driver in Franklin, OH several years ago. He actually hit the Suburban behind us and pushed the Suburban into our car. The people in the Suburban went to the hospital, and the damage to our car was pretty bad to have been second in the chain. He and his insurance company tried to get out of paying the hospital bills and damages, and from what I understand, the people in the Suburban and their insurance company turned that around by threatening a lawsuit. They didn't want to pay for our rental car until then either, but after that, suddenly they were extremely cooperative. I'm not sure who stepped in, but things definitely started happening quickly. Hope it works out for you.

WOW! I just caught your topic Nick, (removed)! i thought my car was messed up bad! Funny thing though, the lady's that hit me insurance company is paying for everything, and she has Nationwide too. Interesting stuff.See my Vibe repair pics here http://www.cardomain.com/id/dj_vip3r

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