GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

My Vibe just loves to attract other cars to come and hit it. I have been hit for the fourth time now. WOOHOO! (sarcasm) Saturday night one of my younger brothers accidently backed into the front driver side fender/bumper area. It was very dark out and he didn't see my car as he was backing out of the drive way. I'm not dissapointed or angry at all since my car has already had a few accidents in the past 3+ years. I feel really bad for my brother, especially since he just bought his first brand new car ('04 Mustang) about 3 months ago. It dented and scraped up his rear passenger side fender and bumper. I'll post pictures later tonight if I remember. My front upper and lower bumper pieces will need to be replaced, the headlight, and probably the fender as well. I had to rebolt and put in snaps to hold the bumper and wheel well back in place so I could drive. So, I have been hit four times now. I was rear ended 3 times within one year, last time being last Fall. The positive thing is I will get a brand new freshly painted front bumper! All those rock chips will be gone!

Ouch...that..really bites..

Anyone know a fix for disabling the AIM(Automatic Invisible Mode) that's apparently built in to our cars?My car seems to have it too... haven't got hit yet, but a few close calls (and I've only had it 2 months!).... it's like people don't even see you on the road. I'm glad the Vibe's handling is pretty responsive, because it helps with defensive driving skills.

Yea, I know how that goes, I got hit and run on Saturday at like 5am when I was camping. It's actually kind of funny that I don't get hit when I park on the street in town, but when I go to the backroads and park in my friends driveway, I get hit!!!

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Ya get a cool car, ya have bad luck with it!!I backed into a huge antenna tower at a friends apartment building (for some reason i couldn't see it!!)I hit a racoon outside of madison, wi on the drive home from Florida last spring and it demolished the driver side wheel well liner (that was fun, smell of dead animal and burning plastic )I haven't been actually hit by another car, and i hope i can keep that luck up for some time!!

yea i had my little finder bender and i messed up the other cars rear bumper and passenger rear fender. and here is my damage from that. and for those who are going to the South Central Meet will see this up close and clearer and more defined.

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Here's a picture I took. I had to remount the bumper, it was hanging down several inches and the wheel well splash guard was hanging on the tire. I have my appraisal appointment Wednesday, so I'll find out the estimate then.

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Man, sorry to hear about the hit and run. That's no small ding either. Are you going to put in a claim through your insurance?

Well, I took it to the shop yesterday. The estimate came to just under $2800. One thing I just thought of, is I will have one nice clear new headlight and the other will be speckled from being over 3yrs old. Has anyone tried those plastic polishes on the headlights?

Wow $2800 for that. It doesn't look that bad. What all do they have to replace?

They have to replace the upper bumper, lower bumper, fender, fender cladding, headlight assembly, and some clips. Then add on the paint and all the labor. Something so minor sure can cost a lot!

Quote, originally posted by JustinVGT »They have to replace the upper bumper, lower bumper, fender, fender cladding, headlight assembly, and some clips. Then add on the paint and all the labor. Something so minor sure can cost a lot!Damn! Tell me about it! OUCH!!!

Quote, originally posted by JustinVGT »They have to replace the upper bumper, lower bumper, fender, fender cladding, headlight assembly, and some clips. Then add on the paint and all the labor. Something so minor sure can cost a lot!yep, last year when i hit the ditch, it was just the lower bumper and it was $1100!

Yea, It really sux, I'm feeling some of your pain and can understand why it cost that much, the body shot has to replace the whole exterior of the door, $1200 luckily, the deductable is only $300 so I got off lucky.

the headlight buffer stuff worked for my old cars head lights, i think i applied it like 8 times.

Quote, originally posted by JustinVGT »Has anyone tried those plastic polishes on the headlights?http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=17528

Quote, originally posted by NascarXprt »yea i had my little finder bender and i messed up the other cars rear bumper and passenger rear fender. and here is my damage from that. and for those who are going to the South Central Meet will see this up close and clearer and more defined.I'm not even going to suggest what that red circle looks like.... All i know is if my friends pass out at a party, they end up having one of those drawn on their face

Quote, originally posted by Pablo1669 »I'm not even going to suggest what that red circle looks like.... All i know is if my friends pass out at a party, they end up having one of those drawn on their facehaha

Well, last week I had a rental reserved for last night around 6pm when I was dropping my car off at the shop. Well, I got to the shop, called up the big national chain rental agency at 6:04 and they were CLOSED! When I made my reservation they did not mention that they closed at 6! Man was I pissed since I had to drive almost 30 minutes past my place to this other town out in the country to drive all the way back home with nothing accomplished. So, I have to go back today. I called this morning to make sure they'll be there. Not too happy about that.

[QUOTE=gargoyle]Anyone know a fix for disabling the AIM(Automatic Invisible Mode) that's apparently built in to our cars?I'm amazed how many close calls my wife and i have had driving our bright orange fusion vibe, i mean come on, we stick out like a sore thumb, you know? Must be lots of color blind people driving around these days

Here's my awesome rental I ended up with! It's bright red and oh so sporty! Well, at first I was thinking the good thing would be I'd get good gas mileage. Then, the representative told me I don't need to worry about the gas because of the inconvenience I had to go through the day before. I'm glad he's telling me not to fill it back up. Oh well, this reminds me what it's like to have a slow econo car. There isn't much power. 1st gear gets you moving and you can feel the little power that it has, but in gears 2-4 the thing take quite a while to get up to speeds and passing isn't easy. The thing has a hard time making it up minor hills. It has a soft, quiet (as in engine noise, but my Vibe plays engine music ) ride compared to my Vibe, but the handling sucks. When you accelerate the front end really goes up and when you brake, the front end really dives. Yes, all cars do this, but it does it a lot in the Aveo. I took turns at speeds that I normally take my Vibe in and the Aveo has a ton of body roll and the tires were so squishy. This car is so basic, power steering and A/C are probably the only amenities. The stereo is only AM/FM and everything has a very cheap feel. It makes our Vibes seem like luxury cars LOL. I sure am looking forward to getting my Vibe back!

I agree Justin. When I needed a new car, my Dad arranged to have two brought to their house from the dealer--one was a brand spankin' new Aveo, and one was Stella--my Vibe. I'd been drooling for a Vibe ever since they came out, but wanted to give the Aveo a shot--after all, it was brand new, AND cheaper. My mom and I took that out first and we felt like we were sitting in a little cardboard box. Even my mom, who is very thrifty--I thought for sure she'd tell me to take the cheaper one just because it was cheaper--told me to get the Vibe over the Aveo. You are right--after driving that little Aveo around, I felt like I was in a luxury vehicle when we drove the Vibe around--about 10 miles later that was the car I wanted! I suppose the Aveo is a great little car for someone who just wants a vehicle at an economy price--no bells and whistles, no great looks, no great performance. But man, the Vibe is by FAR a better vehicle!Hope your Vibe is done soon and back to it's perfect wonderful self!

I got rear-ended in my Vibe as I was turning into a driveway on a 25 mph residential street. The impact spun me around 180 degrees and left my 2003 Vibe GT undriveable. The rental company gave me a brand new 2005 base Vibe as a rental until mine's out of the shop.

Well, I got my Vibe back Friday night. It was raining and overcast when I picked it up and it appeared to look great at the time. Once I got home and the sky cleared up I noticed something dissapointing. The paint does not match. Yes, my car is over 3 years old, so that could cause some difference, but I don't think that is the case here. My Vibe is the Shadow color, which as most of you know is metallic gray with a slight hint of gold/tan. I remember noticing the hint of gold when I first bought my Vibe, thought it was unique and how it shined in the sun. Well, the new paint has no gold hint at all. It is a pure metallic gray. When I went to the Pontiac dealer a couple months ago, I saw an 05 Vibe in the new gray color that replaced Shadow. The new gray doesn't have the gold hint. It is not all that noticeable in certain spots where they blended the paint, such as the bumper and hood and the driver side fender and door. Where it is noticeable is where they did not blend the bumper with the passenger side fender or the driver side lower rocker panel under the fender/door. I don't see how they could have used the wrong paint color since they should be using the paint code which I thought they get from the VIN number. I noticed on my paper work, the body shop put "Charcoal" as my paint color. I'll see tomorrow what they can do. There is also a part where the bumper and fender meet and it is not flush. They should be able to fix that easily.Other than those two things, they did a great job and their employees are great. My parents are good friends with the owners, so I'm sure they'll take care of it. The new paint looks great though, other than being slightly off color. It is very glossy and chip free. It may be even more durable than the stock paint job. I'm going to call the shop tomorrow and I'll find out what they can do.

Glad that you weren't injured in that accident. I sure hope they can fix your Vibe without problems and that it will drive normally afterwards. It sure did hurt that back corner of your Vibe. Lucky you got a Vibe rental .

my 10 DAY old vibe was rear ended today. damage doesn't look like much, but that means it'll only be around $1000 or so!!! more damage was done to the Toyota MR2 Spyder that clipped my bumper though. she was riding so close to me that I couldn't see her low riding car in my rearview mirror until she clipped my rear passenger side bumper trying to go around me. i was stopped, and she was doing maybe 3 MPH. My bumper was only scraped and the backing light wasn't damaged at all, but it'll still probably cost her a lotDid I mention my Vibe is only 10 DAYS OLD!!

I spoke to the Pontiac Body Shop today. Apparently, when they had my car up on a lift for the repairs for the back of the car, they found additional damage that the tow truck caused to the FRONT of my car!The body shop sent me a picture of the damage...I can't really tell how extensive the damage is, since I'm not used to seeing underneath my front bumper, but it's just going to delay the return of my car You can see the damage on the lower right hand side of the radiator.

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WHAT?! The tow truck damaged your Vibe too?! Oh man would I be pissed at him/her! Well, sure hope they get it all fixed correctly. Good luck.

Sorry to hear you're joining the Got Hit Club too. If she put even just a minor scrape in your bumper, they will have to replace it. Since the plastic is textured, they can't simply repaint it. Being rear-ended 3 times, I've learned it costs the person's insurance about $850-900+ for the repair/replacement. Good luck with it.

Thanks, JustinVGTBTW, the estimate is $690. I don't think I'll have any problems with the other person's insurance co. either.

My baby's fixed. the body shop thought they could "fix" my bumper, but ended up having to replace it. total cost $941.35. the other party's insurance company paid it all, and the paint job (abyss) looks perfect.If you're going to get hit by somebody, you won't need to worry if they have Erie Insurance! they were quick with the check, played nicely with the body shop, and my rental car was an 05 Toyota Camry!! no out of pocket money on my part AT ALL!! (as it should be)Also, I'm going to plug the body shop, they did an excellent job. They've also done (too much) work for my boss , and the company I work for. They are Rife Autobody in Columbus, OH. they've been around since 1944.