GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

How I managed to have our Vibe for so long without any visible hail damage, I'll never know. A storm came through early June and left a lot of dimples on the hood and roof (including the upper portion of the hatch door, and the sides just above the doors. We still have full coverage on the car, even with 120,000 miles and after 11 years). I wasn't expecting to get a lot of money from our insurance company but they decided to total it... Option A, if we keep the car, the payout is equal to the pay-off of my wife's Kia Sportage... Option B, turn over the car to State Farm, and we have enough to pay off her car AND add to a downpayment on my new car.

The plan was to replace the Vibe after the Sportage was paid off in 2015. I still need to call my local agent on Monday, to see how much the claim will raise our rates on top of the rate for a new car.

Guess we might do a little car shopping this week?

AZViking wrote: our insurance company decided to total it...

Any chance you could post some good pics of this hail damage? Just curious

AZViking wrote: Option A, if we keep the car, the payout is equal to the pay-off of my wife's Kia Sportage...

Definitely keep this Vibe. Don't let a few (OK a few HUNDRED little dents) dings stop you from driving this extremely reliable & dependable car around. Besides, you'll clear one loan off your slate and then you could save up to have the topside of the Vibe repaired & repainted.

A comprehensive coverage claim should not increase your rates, as it was not your fault. I've had a claim on comp, and an uninsured motorist claim, and neither of them raised my rates with State Farm. They only raised it from my at fault accident 12 years ago, and that was only for 2 years.

If you can live with the dents, I personally would keep it and keep driving it, since it still works. You can certainly sell a good driving car on craigslist for $1500-2000 to someone that needs transportation, even with the damage, maybe even more. Pay off the Kia, and save the car payments for several months as the down payment on your new car. Unless you just want a new car now.

PDR is very flexible on the cost. One dent is like $75 from a guy I know, and he fixed the whole hood on our van plus the two fenders for $400, like 70 dents. So once the big rush of insurance repairs is done, they might be more flexible on the cost for an out of pocket repair.

Good luck on it! I was very pleased on the payout from my totaled 2010 GT from State Farm. The lady that hit us had the same company as us. It will be paid off and so will my son's 06 Vibe. I wish I could have kept the Vibe, but I will be replacing it most likely with another one.

Maybe you will get better fuel mileage now? Doesn't a golf ball have dimples to make it fly better?

I would suggest;
Keep the damaged car.
Pay off the Kia.
Save up cash for replacing the VIbe.

Debt free is the way to be.

I vote for keeping the car and paying off the Kia. Save that monthly car payment and drive the vibe until it dies. With only 120k you may have enough to buy a car with cash when the vibe actually dies if you bank what you were paying on that Kia. You won't really miss that money since you're use to paying it every month anyway.

For the first time in 11 years I have a car payment and I absolutely hate it. I hope to have the car paid off by the end of the year. I definitely agree being debt free is the way to be.

Definitely keep the Vibe and pay off the Kia. Plenty of life left in the Vibe, so it would be silly to get rid of it.

Fortunately never carried a credit card balance - grin. 1977 - No car payment - big grin. 1993 - no car payment and no mortgage payment - big f-ing grin. Enjoy it!

AZViking wrote:I wasn't expecting to get a lot of money from our insurance company but they decided to total it...

Oh, hail no!