GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

It's been a crappy day. I stayed late at work to get some things finished. I make my way out to the parking lot and decide to get my 2005 Vibe washed before heading home.With the evening sun at an angle, I see how bad my windows are streaked inside, so once I get home, I grab the Windex and start cleaning the back window. As I walk around the side I am left speechless at the freaking hole in the door panel. A fresh hole at that. A hole that is easily the size of a quarter. Once the blood returns the rest of my body after shooting straight up to my head, I figured out the cause.The idiots in the maintenance department where I work cut grass today with their high powered mowers. My Vibe was parked at the end of the lot... far away from any other car... my feeble attempt at preventing a ding from some uncaring person. I intentionally park at the farthest parking spot every day to avoid things happening to my car. Prior to owning my Vibe I had a brand new full size Chevy Silverado. Three days after owning it, I walk out to my truck and the door has not one... not two... but THREE dings in the door panel. I can't believe how incompetent people are.I drove back to the "scene of the crime" and found paint chips on the ground where my Vibe had been parked. As I was writing this message my cell phone rang - it was the director of the maintenance department. I asked him who was cutting grass today and he gives me a list of names. I explain that I have a hole the size of a quarter in my door panel. He stops for a minute and then laughs. "You're kidding me... right?" "No... I'm not kidding.""Alright... we'll take care of you. Take your car to the body shop we have an account with and we'll get it fixed for you."Well, that took the wind out of my sails. I was prepared for a fight. I guess we'll see how good a job this body shop does.

holy crap! did you find out what it was that hit the door?

My guess is a stone thrown by the lawnmower.

Bummer. At least they are taking responsability for it and getting it repaired for you. Did you find the object that hit it?

serious wound thereOne time I was cutting my grass and the mower picked up a ball that dropped from a sweet gum tree (aka tree from hell) shot it like a bullet and it shattered my sliding glass door.Maybe something silimlar happened, a rock, a piece of wood, and the grass cutter never knew.Is it normal for the director of maintenance to call you, or do you think he called because he knew about the damage to your car?

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »Is it normal for the director of maintenance to call you, or do you think he called because he knew about the damage to your car?That is what I was wondering?Dang, that rock was truckin' along. Glad they are taking care of it.

Wow... just wow.Lucky guy they were cool with it... not that it'll cost them a dime, but it sure could have been easy to say "nah, wasn't us".You must have some good karma. The bastich that hit my car never fessed up to it. And I have a pretty good idea who it was.

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »Is it normal for the director of maintenance to call you, or do you think he called because he knew about the damage to your car?Sorry, I guess I should have explained further...When I was in the parking lot (with steam shooting from my ears), I called the director of maintenace several times on his cell phone, but kept getting his voicemail. After the third attempt, I left a message for him to call me. I didn't add anything to that, just for him to call me. I thought if I gave him the reason why I'm calling, it would have given him a chance to think of a way out of it.I am assuming it was a rock that plowed into the door panel, but there are so many rocks in that general area that I doubt I would ever find the offender ... that is, if the rock is still in one piece. A good assignment for CSI. I've had a few hours to cool off now and I'm hoping my blood pressure has returned to somewhat normal.

WOW that hole is big! sorry to hear about the wound but thats good they'll pick up the repair! hope they do a good job

I think they cut grass with their eyelids down.

Ouch that smarts.well atleast they are goin to fix it.

that's nuts. glad they're doing the right thing.

what really sets me off is when stupid people hit your doors with theirs. Then when you say something. they think you are over reacting. "ohh. that's nothing" i take out my key chain and do a little "nothing" front to tail lights on them. i have anger problems.

When i saw the picture i just about vomited. Thank god there are going to fix it.

Man that's a gun shot. Did you come back from Iraq. Think what it would of done to somebody just standing there. I'm glad there going to take of the repair's for you.... nuvibe

When you get the body shop estimate, make absolute sure that they plan to blend the paint from the taillight through the front passenger door. If they don't, and only paint the RR passenger door, it will never match. That color is extremely hard to perfectly match, along with any shade of silver and/or gold.My past experience with having just a door painted was that in the right light, it was obvious to anyone (including Stevie Wonder) that the door had been painted.I don't know where you are in Central Ohio, but I'm up near Akron, and can recommend an excellent body shop for you.

And as for Mcgusto's comment, I can't agree more. Once had a brand-new '03 Intrepid, which, at exactly 208 miles on the odometer, got a door ding the size of a half dollar complements of a rolling rest home, I mean Lincoln Town Car. Worst yet, I watched it happen! So I walk over to the car, veins popping out of my forehead, to see four senior citizens getting out. I say, as politely as I could, "You just put a dent in my new car!" The old bag in the back, who's door caused the damage, looks at the dent, rubs her thumb on it (as if that's going to make it disappear) and shrugs her shoulders in an "Oh well" statement. I can guarantee that Lincoln needed more paintwork than my Intrepid within five minutes of them going into the restaurant!Oh well to YOU, Mr. Senior Citizen Lincoln owner!

Wow! I am speechless.......

I watched a shopping cart take out the mirror on my two day old Monte Carlo because Mrs. Minivan was too lazy to walk to the cart return.So, Kayakjim, I'm assuming that you own a kayak. Do you carry it on your Vibe? If so, hows that working out? I'm looking at a nine footer and I'm hoping to transport it on the roof of my Vibe.

Thats just a Horrid injury!! I'm glad they agreed to take care of it!!hope you get it back soon and You cant tell it was ever shot!

the yard guys were mowing the yard at the back of my appartment the other day and their trimmer was throwing rocks at the windows. I'm sitting there watching TV and "bang bang bang bang"I'm surprised nothing broke but those rocks fly like bullets.

I kayak a lot, but can't seem to ever get the money stashed away long enough to buy my own. I have two daughters in college and another daughter that's a junior in high school - so as you can imagine, a kayak of my own is still a dream.As for how to transport, I've thought about the various roof rack systems, but I have chronic lower back issues (thanks to an incident involving a refrigerator, a flight of stairs, and miscommunication with my brother), so a trailer will probably be my method of transport. My wife and I enjoy kayaking and cycling, so the trailer will work out great for us.I think I'll be buying a trailer from rackandroll.com as it's perfect for my situation. The trailer folds up, so that helps a lot with storage too. I know there are diehard roof rack users, and that's cool for them, but I think the trailer will suit my needs.http://www.rackandroll.com

I stopped by the body shop this afternoon after I got off work to get my estimate. It will cost $614.30 and they have to keep the car for two days. I thought it would cost more than that. At least it's not coming out of my pocket.Rather than mess around with having my wife drop me off at work for two days, I think I need a little vacation - a four day weekend next week. We're trying to sell our house, so those two days will be good to powerwash the front and back decks.

That's a sweet little trailer. The only problem is that the wheels on the trailer look better than the stock wheels on my car. Thanks for the link.