Saying goodbye to an old friend

[vibenvy]

As some of you may or may not know, before the Vibes, my parents and I were dedicated J-Body (Pontiac Sunbirds and Sunfires) owners. Well, after 25 years, the time has come to say goodbye to our final J-Body. Our 1994 Pontiac Sunbird LE Sedan is being picked up by the junkyard tomorrow (we're getting $275 for it). The engine still runs great, but unfortunately the rust is just way too bad on the underside and it now has a leak in one of the brake lines. I doubt it would even be able to tolerate being put on a lift or jack stands, etc. because the rust on the underside is that bad. My parents bought it brand new on January 4, 1994 and it has been a great little car for the past 19 years. My parents gave it to me to drive back and forth to school, etc. when I got my license in the summer of 2000. I couldn't have been any happier with it. The air conditioning didn't work, it didn't have a CD player or power windows, but I didn't care. It was my baby and I loved it more than anything. I kept a huge Rubbermaid container full of cleaning products in the trunk at all times and was always washing it and cleaning the interior. Needless to say my parents and I are more than a little broken up at the thought of getting rid of a "member of the family" after 19 years, but the time has come and it's the right thing to do. I'm sure I will tear up tomorrow as I watch it drive away on the back of a flatbed. I am just glad I no longer have a reason to go to the junkyard. I'd probably have a nervous breakdown if I saw it sitting stripped in the yard. Below are the last few pictures I took of it tonight...









My J-Body history from my J-Body Organization profile...

My passion for J-Bodies began in the fall of 1988 when my parents brought home a brand new 89 Sunbird LE Sedan. I was only four years old, but I will never forget that first Pontiac J-Body. As I got older I began to imagine myself driving around in it all alone... listening to the stereo... just cruising.

On January 1, 1994 my parents brought home yet another brand new Sunbird LE Sedan. This time it was a 94. This was my mom's and my dad was now driving the 89.

In mid 1997 my dad was in an unfortunate accident in the 89 Sunbird. My dad was okay, but the car was totaled. My parents got about $1200 for it from the insurance company. According to my dad, when it was totaled it had somewhere around 315,000+/- miles on it. That was a sad day. Now my dream of cruising in that Sunbird would never come true.

In August of 1998 my mom got a brand new 1998 Sunfire SE Sedan. My dad was now driving the only remaining Sunbird.

In the summer of 2000 I had only had my license for a few months when my dad announced the 94 Sunbird was to be passed down to me. And so began my real passion for Pontiac J-Bodies. I took such good care of that car. I loved it more than anything. Than in late 2002, the transmission began to fail on my beloved Sunbird. On November 9, 2002 I purchased a brand new 2002 Sunfire GT Coupe due to the ailing Sunbird transmission.

In late December of 2003, the transmission on the Sunbird was rebuilt with 217,200 miles on the odometer. *The 94 Sunbird was sold to a junkyard for $275.00 on January 21, 2013. It had 268,010 miles on the odometer. It still ran great, but unfortunately the rust had really taken its toll and one of the brake lines had a leak. We decided that after 19 years of faithful service, it was time to let it go to the junkyard in the sky. It was a great little car. It was my first car and I will miss it terribly =(.

My mom's Sunfire ran great up until the minute she traded it in with 201,500 miles on the odometer. Unfortunately, rust was starting to appear on the bottoms of all four doors and she was looking at some pretty costly suspension repairs, among other things. *On May 23, 2009 my mom traded her 98 Sunfire SE Sedan in on a brand new 2009 Pontiac Vibe GT.

For five and a half years I enjoyed my Sunfire GT Coupe greatly. It won me a 3rd place trophy at the 2005 GM Small Car Bash in Indy which was totally unexpected and such an awesome surprise. Through the GT I gained many lasting friendships and even more wonderful acquaintances. If it weren't for the GT I would know nothing about the J-Body platform or cars in general. As much as I enjoyed the GT over those five and a half years, it was time for me to move on to something more "grown up". *The GT was sold June 7, 2008 with 64,644 miles on the odometer. It will be greatly missed =(.

On July 7, 2007 I purchased a used 2002 Sunfire SE Sedan. I had liked the looks of the 2000-2002 Sunfire Sedans for quite some time so I finally decided to just go ahead and get one. My goal with it from the beginning was the same as the GT, keep it clean and subtle. The main focus was to be the suspension. It was a 2200 so it would never be fast, but I figured if I beefed up the suspension it would at least be fun to drive which was more important to me anyway. 2200 FTW! *On April 11, 2009 I traded the Sunfire in, with 65,934 miles on the odometer, for a brand new 2009 Pontiac Vibe GT!

Although, I no longer own a J-Body, I will always love them, as up until now they're all I've driven and owned. I will still be around here helping out whenever and whoever I can.

I someday hope to own another Pontiac J-Body...

It is most definitely going to be a weird feeling to no longer have a J-Body in the family after always having at least one (and as many as four at once!) for the past 25 years. I will always have a special spot in my heart for J-Bodies, specifically Sunbirds and Sunfires.

Time to go out and take the plates off .

Thanks for reading my ramblings.

[ramenboy...]

Carrie,

Sorry to see the last one leave your stable. But that means there's room for another vibe, right?

[ColonelPanic]

Really sorry to see that. It sounds like it was a good run though!

You've hung on to the car until the end which is more than most people do.

[trb]

Sorry to hear this Carrie, I know how attached we can be to our cars. I can't imagine how I'd feel if I got rid of my Mustang. I've had it for almost 26 years, so it is part of my family too, eventhough my wife does not like it! LOL! I even have it listed in my will to be given to my BIL if anything happens to me. Luckily we don't have to deal with the rust issue much down here, but mine needs a paint job due to being in the sun all the time. Maybe with my bonus this year I'll get the motor replaced and a paint job done so I can start driving it again.

[KITT222]

Sorry to hear you have to give up a great friend of yours. But it gave you its all, and now gets to keep more good J-bodies on the road. My sister's first car was technically a 94 Sunbird coupe in red with a stickshift. She doesn't know how to drive stick, but it was her car. I like the styling of them.

You've loved it for its lifetime and beyond, more than could be asked of anyone.

[tpollauf]

Carrie,

Sorry to see the last one leave your stable. But that means there's room for another vibe, right?

Hmmmmm ... I like his thoughts Room for another Vibe ???

Anyways Carrie< I'm sure this car received nothing but top notch treatments from you & your family. You never know that it may not make it to the junkyard as a parts car. The cancer seen from the pics doesn't seem all that bad but I'm sure the underside is much worse. Someone just may put a few $$$ into it and keep it as a legal drivable car. Who knows ???

[vibenvy]

Carrie,

Sorry to see the last one leave your stable. But that means there's room for another vibe, right?

Thanks Jerry. That's funny that you should mention another Vibe... I keep telling my dad when his 2001 s10 finally gives out (it has even more miles than the Sunbird had), he needs to get a 2009 or 2010 Vibe GT in Carbon Gray Metallic or Navy Blue Metallic !

Really sorry to see that. It sounds like it was a good run though!

You've hung on to the car until the end which is more than most people do.

Yeah, it was sad, but it was time. It was just sitting in the driveway and hadn't even been driven in quite some time due to the leak in the brake line. We decided to do it after the 19th anniversary of my parents bringing it home from the dealer (January 4th) and before the end of January when the license plate sticker would have needed to be renewed ($106.00). We most definitely got our money's worth out of it. I know I have the window sticker around here somewhere... I believe the sticker price was $12 or 13,xxx.xx.

Sorry to hear this Carrie, I know how attached we can be to our cars. I can't imagine how I'd feel if I got rid of my Mustang. I've had it for almost 26 years, so it is part of my family too, eventhough my wife does not like it! LOL! I even have it listed in my will to be given to my BIL if anything happens to me. Luckily we don't have to deal with the rust issue much down here, but mine needs a paint job due to being in the sun all the time. Maybe with my bonus this year I'll get the motor replaced and a paint job done so I can start driving it again.

Thanks Thomas. It's a weird feeling for me to not have a J-Body anymore as we've always had at least one in the family since I was 4 years old (I'll be 29 in April), but we are very happy with the Vibes and I know we will have them for just as long, if not even longer, than the Sunbird.

That would be cool if you get the motor replaced and get a paintjob. I always wished I had the know-how, time, money, etc. to "restore" the Sunbird, but alas, with all the rust it would have been a very hard, if not impossible, project. You're lucky to live in Texas where you don't have to worry about salt, sand, etc.

Sorry to hear you have to give up a great friend of yours. But it gave you its all, and now gets to keep more good J-bodies on the road. My sister's first car was technically a 94 Sunbird coupe in red with a stickshift. She doesn't know how to drive stick, but it was her car. I like the styling of them.

You've loved it for its lifetime and beyond, more than could be asked of anyone.

Thanks Nick! I learned to drive in our 89 Sunbird LE Sedan before I even had my permit. My dad would take me out on gravel country roads and let me drive it. They are great little cars for sure. We definitely loved it very much. We even took our dogs out to the garage last night and let them get in it one last time. They were sitting in it waiting to go for a ride .

Hmmmmm ... I like his thoughts Room for another Vibe ???

Anyways Carrie< I'm sure this car received nothing but top notch treatments from you & your family. You never know that it may not make it to the junkyard as a parts car. The cancer seen from the pics doesn't seem all that bad but I'm sure the underside is much worse. Someone just may put a few $$$ into it and keep it as a legal drivable car. Who knows ???

Like I told Jerry, if I have my way... there will be 3 2nd gen Vibe GTs in our garage in due time !

This car was definitely babied. The only oil my dad ever used in it was regular old Penzoil. Our mechanic that did 99% of the work on it used to give him a hard time for using Penzoil, until he replaced the head gasket with over 200,000 miles and he saw for himself just how clean the inside of the engine was. He never uttered a bad word about Penzoil after that . Unfortunately, it wasn't washed and waxed nearly as much as it could have/should have been which may or may not have helped keep the rust at bay, but that's water under the bridge (or rust under the car). The whole underside was shot. The rear strut towers were starting to rust through. The strap that holds the gas tank on was almost rusted through. The rocker panels were pretty much non-existant. The muffler had a hole rusted in it which made it sound pretty darn good in my opinion ! It was a hard decision, but it was time.

My dad and I were saying that the junkyard may end up replacing the brake line and re-selling it for $500.00 or something. It will live on one way or another.

I'm glad I said my goodbyes this morning because the flatbed came and got it while I was at work. My mom did take some more pictures...

The dogs saying goodbye last night...


Getting put on the flatbed...


Pulling out of the driveway for the last time...


The license plate it had for the past 19 years (our last name is Bachman/the 5 was just random)...


It's a good thing I was at work when they came to get it or I probably would have been out in the driveway in the very windy 10 degree winter weather crying like a little baby !

Thanks for the kind words everyone. I got way more response here than I did on the J-Body Organization website . I <3 you guys and gals!

I forgot to mention one of the coolest things about the Sunbird... it came to us with hand painted (no vinyl back than!) pinstripes (1 white and 1 lighter aqua) down each side and at the rear of the pin stripes was the signature of the artist "Slick" . A really neat little "quirk" if you will about the Sunbird. Although you could no longer see the "Slick" on either side, most of the pin stripes themselves were still on there (you can see it just under the window trim in the picture with the dogs).

[KITT222]

My dad and I were saying that the junkyard may end up replacing the brake line and re-selling it for $500.00 or something. It will live on one way or another.

24 hours of Lemons!!!!! That'd be an AWESOME ending to a great car.


The more I think about this, the more it somehow relates to a story from Deviantart. The artist, half_dude, made a comic series featuring the cars from Brave Little Toaster's "Worthless" scene, and the pink and white convertible has a VERY intricate back story made up for it that really reminds me of you and this Sunbird.


Did you ever get a "family" picture of the Sunbird and the Vibes?

[vibenvy]

Did you ever get a "family" picture of the Sunbird and the Vibes?

No, but if you look at a lot of our Vibe pictures, the Sunbird was usually in the background in the driveway.

[DeClercq]

I can sympathize. Though I didn't have it for 19 years, my first car was an '84 Sunbird hand-me-down from my parents. Clutch went out on it (yes, it was a manual. A rarity in those cars I think) and the engine block started to crack, so my parents sold it for around $200. Looked just like this, same color but minus the cheesy wire wheel covers:

[vibenvy]

I can sympathize. Though I didn't have it for 19 years, my first car was an '84 Sunbird hand-me-down from my parents. Clutch went out on it (yes, it was a manual. A rarity in those cars I think) and the engine block started to crack, so my parents sold it for around $200. Looked just like this, same color but minus the cheesy wire wheel covers:

I really like that front end! Great color too!

Well, it's been a few days now and it's still sad pulling into an empty driveway when I come home .

[Scwmcan]

From the shots of the car it is obvious that you took good care of it, too bad that darn rust got it.m the engine compartment was immaculate for a car that old and with that much milage. I know how it feels to loose an otherwise good car to rust, if does feel like it has left too early. On a happier note, I am sure your Vibes will last at least that long, if not longer since you now know better than to let the rust get to it ( as much as is humanly possible anyway).

[vibolista]

The rust gods got it. That's what takes our cars up here in Maine as well. 19 years is a great run, though. Down in the desert southwest, that car would still be pretty much like new underneath... but the paint would have been cooked off years ago! They're not meant to last forever. It's definitely like losing someone in the family.

You can still find them in great shape down in the southern states, if you wanted to buy another one!

[vibenvy]

From the shots of the car it is obvious that you took good care of it, too bad that darn rust got it.m the engine compartment was immaculate for a car that old and with that much milage. I know how it feels to loose an otherwise good car to rust, if does feel like it has left too early. On a happier note, I am sure your Vibes will last at least that long, if not longer since you now know better than to let the rust get to it ( as much as is humanly possible anyway).

Yeah, it was definitely well maintained, engine-wise anyway. Rust sucks, but is just a fact of life here in Chicagoland.

The Vibes get washed and waxed way more than the Sunbird ever did, so hopefully the rust won't get nearly as bad on them *fingers crossed*.

The rust gods got it. That's what takes our cars up here in Maine as well. 19 years is a great run, though. Down in the desert southwest, that car would still be pretty much like new underneath... but the paint would have been cooked off years ago! They're not meant to last forever. It's definitely like losing someone in the family.

You can still find them in great shape down in the southern states, if you wanted to buy another one!

It's hard to believe we had it for 19 years. That is definitely way longer than most people have vehicles for. It seems everyone gets a different vehicle every couple years or so. Not us. We keep them until the wheels fall off. In addition to the rust, the clear coat had completely worn off the hood and the trunk lid, but not the roof which I thought was weird, but the paint on the sides of the car was still pretty shiny .

Currently we have no plans to get another vehicle to replace the Sunbird. We have the two Vibes and my dad has his 2001 s10 which has 279,500 miles on it and it still runs like a champ, so we really don't have the need for a fourth vehicle with only three of us.