GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

It seems like the more careful I try to be with this car, the more problems I run into. Today was downright bull**** though.I decided to celebrate my day off from work with a trip to my favorite store - Lowe's - topped off by dunkin donuts coffee.I back into parking spaces almost exclusively. I get nervous trying to back out of spaces, as I've almost been hit several times by other drivers not paying attention. Plus, the very limited rear window vision on this car make it even more treacherous.So I back into my space, go in, get my coffee, and that is that.Get back in the car, start it up, release the parking brake, and the car doesn't move. Odd. I give it some gas, I hear a cracking. I turn off the radio thinking I'm hearing things. Tap the gas. Cracking. I'm like (removed)? Throw it in park, get out, and go to see what the problem is. I get outand go to the back of the car to see that the concrete bumper was not properly secured, and was sitting hire then normal, and somehow, it caught the bottom side of the rear fascia, and was pulling the entire rear fascia off the car!!!I backed up, thought for a few, broke out the jack, and jacked the car up to get the plastic unstuck from the concrete.I eventually got out, but the damage has been done. The paint has been destroyed in multiple locations from the plastic being almost RIPPED off the car. I also can't tell if there is damage to the underpinnings of the rear fascia.So, at a minimum, I'm going to need to get the rear fascia paint repaired, or repainted possibly. But I could end up needing a new rear fascia entirely, and perhaps even new mounts or under-side suppports.I don't have any pictures yet, but I'll grab some tomorrow.You can't TOTALLY tell what happened just by a quick look, but it becomes obvious as you look closer.And my thanks to Jahntassa for my new title: "The ColonelPanic of body work!"

That's just rotten man! Will the madness ever end? Once again, I feel your pain man! This has to suck.

wow! mike, you just have the worst luck!

still got your vibe?

Quote, originally posted by trdvibe »wow! mike, you just have the worst luck! X2 Mike I really feel for you....

Quote, originally posted by ragingfish »And my thanks to Jahntassa for my new title: "The ColonelPanic of body work!"I was going to say the same thing. Hope they don't have to replace the fascia.

correct me if i'm wrong, but if it got caught pulling out, shouldn't it have scraped backing in?that sucks! some day, you will have a whole g6, hopefully!

Quote, originally posted by drunkenvibe »correct me if i'm wrong, but if it got caught pulling out, shouldn't it have scraped backing in?you would think so!!!that's why i'm confused...i didn't hear ANYTHING backing in...Quote, originally posted by drunkenvibe »some day, you will have a whole g6, hopefully!Well, at the rate i'm going, i'll have had every major panel replaced by the time it hits 1 year old!

How many doughnuts did you eat ? The 2 dozen may have lowered your suspension a few inches !!!

Quote, originally posted by RIT »How many doughnuts did you eat ? The 2 dozen may have lowered your suspension a few inches !!!RIT's idea has my vote, too! Your G6 DOES have a thing for body shops. They've had it more than you have, right???I guess you need to start looking for an electronic parking-brick warning system, a motor-home-style video backup-camera, or some of those grandpa-era old-fashioned curb-feelers!

quick story:a friend of mine brought his VW to the dealer for an oil change and to get some warranty work done...when they were done with the car, they brought it out and parked it at a spot such that when my friend got in the car and backed out, it tore off the front bumper on one of those concrete barriers!$150 later they reattached the front and brought it out. my friend checked to make sure the front wasn't over the barrier before getting into the car. then, a tow-truck pulled in behind him in such a way that he had to swerve while backing out of the parking spot...caught the front bumper AGAIN and tore it off the clips....another $150.so he spent $300 in bumper clips and labour within the span of a couple of hours...all from damage cause in the dealer lot!!i laughed at him for awhile when he told me this story!

Quote, originally posted by Atomb »quick story:a friend of mine brought his VW to the dealer for an oil change and to get some warranty work done...when they were done with the car, they brought it out and parked it at a spot such that when my friend got in the car and backed out, it tore off the front bumper on one of those concrete barriers!$150 later they reattached the front and brought it out.it was THEIR fault and they had the audacity to CHARGE him to fix it??

Quote, originally posted by ragingfish »And my thanks to Jahntassa for my new title: "The ColonelPanic of body work!"I must have missed that. I'm sorry for your new title. Life sure is miserable when the world is turned against you eh?

Quote, originally posted by ragingfish »it was THEIR fault and they had the audacity to CHARGE him to fix it??yep...they didn't claim responsibility for any of the first incident...they technically weren't at fault for the second.

Quote, originally posted by silverawd26 »If you back in and give it some gas, the back end will lift up and the front end will go down some, this should of been enough for him to clear it backing in.... This stuff happens all the time, you should see how many people scrape the front of their cars on them, backing up is a limited vision for sure. Now, for people who are pulling straight in and looking right at it, thats different.i had this exact thing happen w/ my old truck. i got the rear edge caught on a piece of concrete that was securing a construction fence while making a 3-point (er, 75-point...) in a very tight two lane road. when i stopped, my rear end dropped it lifted my rear tires off the ground and i was stuck solid...

Sorry to hear that.Hope will be fixed very soon.I see that you don't have lot's of luck in this car.Maybe a LAPIS LAZULI stone putted in the car can help to protect you car from bad luck...What i already put since i got my car from my dealer.

Quote, originally posted by silverawd26 »I backed into a pole ooh, was he gentle?

That totally sucks Mike! And yeah people told me the same, no matter how careful you are with the car you do not want to damage, it seems to find you! Yet all those beaters never get damaged!

Quote, originally posted by MiVibe-ToolGuy »Yet all those beaters never get damaged! Or you can't tell anymore..

Man that sucks, Mike. Sorry to hear about this. The concrete car stop was probably pushed up sometime in the winter by a snow plow. They nail those things all the time and then people wreck up their cars on them.

Update:While my car is in the body shop again (they are starting to know me too well there ) I asked them to repair the paint damage to the bumper that occurred when this incident occurred. The body guy said he wanted to remove the fascia to ensure there was no more damage that they didn't observe the first time.Well, sure enough, just my luck (refer to thread If I didn't have bad luck I'd have no luck), when they removed the fascia, they said it was cracked almost to the point of separating -- apparantly the paint was holding it together...SOOOOOO...Raging needs a new rear fascia...to the tune of $600.Yayyyy. NOT.

*shaking head* sorry to hear it mikeits the vibe I tell ya. its like "christine"

holy crap you have no luck at all Mike. hope things the the G6 work out to where you have some luck.

That really sucks.

Quote, originally posted by ragingfish » apparantly the paint was holding it together...You would never have that problem on a Vibe

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »You would never have that problem on a Vibe HA!! How true.

Yesss, you are correct! Mike, you may be down and out, but at least you've got paint, that's more than I had on my Vibe. I wish you luck, my friend.