GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

well i guess its partially my fault for letting it sit so much.. barely 3000 miles in the last year. but anyway i go to lube stop. and they are like you only put 1000 miles on your car in five months. i knew it was a while since oil last change but i thought i drove more than that. anyway first they screw up the drain plug. the guy is like it wont screw back in and i got three guys scurrying around shelves trying to find a replacement i doubt they put the correct one back in without incident. but whatever they did at the moment its not leaking.then they cant get my hood closed. 10 more minutes monkeying with that. then as i pull out i here an awful rattling noise. but if you think im going back your wrong. i get home jack up car and my cat heat shield has rusted off all three bolts. it wasnt rattling before so they lube stop guy must have knocked it loose and didnt say anything. so i just yank it out. then i pop the hood. spray grease into latch(they tried wd40).still wont close so i undo the latch bolts and as im pulling it out to have a look the cable desintergrates. the rust and broken strands was keeping it from sliding back. so remember that old pos car you had where you had to carry around a screwdriver to operate some part of the car. thats now my vibe.shrug.....

sorry to hear that PhilIs it road worthy? going to make the Erie meet?Got to ask what have you been driving that you don't put the miles on the vibe?

totaly roadworthy. just a few little things that (removed) you off. but in reality things could be much worse.my motorcyle gets all my attention now. vibe gets lonely in the cold dark garage rusting away.

Take care of your car/bike/whatever and they will take care of you.

Man you have to take care of your baby! I drive mine a rediculous amount of miles, but do weekly inspections of everything.

what i dont understand is that is a 2003. even barely driven i didnt think stuff would be rusting and falling off breaking so soon. ive had 20 year old cars where the hood cable still works.its just one thing i woudnt have thought about. heat shield i could care less about. just seems unusual for a garaged car.

I'd be much more concerned about a missing heat shield than a hood cable. Heat shield is there for a reason. If your car is driven in salty conditions and put away wet in a closed garage, then there's the problem. It takes air and moisture for rust to form and it's pretty hard to eliminate air. Things need to dry out. Your garage may be your cars worst enemy, besides lack of maintenance. LOL