GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Last week I hit a deer very lightly on the driver side.. Rather then hitting him right on I swerved to the right and went down in to a Wide ditch.. the vibe took it like a champ and drove down and back up. Once I was back on the road, I came to a complete stop and looked at the damage. The car was still running and my lights still worked. Only visible damage was to the Fender Flare. Also a 2-3inch dent in the driver door and a 2-3inch hole in the back driver door.. So I got back in the car and started heading home. Right away my steering wheel was 90 degrees to the right and the car was really pulling to the left. also every 2 seconds I could hear a knock from the wheel.

I made it home (9miles) only going 20mph... Good thing it was 3+ am only passed 2 cars

So progressive came out to the house. I had the car on jack stands so he would be able to get under the car.

2003 Vibe GT Value is $6800 that was a nice surprise
But salvage price is $1700

$3200 for just body work.

They then had it toed to a body shop to quote the suspension.
Thursday I get a call saying car is a economically total loss. That the total work didn't add up to $6800 its more then the $6800-$1700-$500(delectable)=$4600

So now I have made the choice of keeping the vibe and doing suspension my self and i'm getting the quote from the body shop for the body work and paint.

I have already saved money from the body quote.. The fender flare was quoted at $681.68 and the flare seal was quoted at $102.58... Both of these I have ordered and will be here Tuesday. For the final price of $317.52 from gmpartsonline.net

I have done some sopping online for the parts, trying to save as much money as possible for anything that I forget.

I'm going to try to replace all of the possible problems in the superstition.

Please comment or message me if you think I should add something to my order list.

AMAZON
2--STRUT MOUNTS--------------------------SM5215------------------------------------------54.16 EACH
2--LOWER CONTROL ARMS----------------45D3232-45D3231------------------------------58.98 EACH
2--STRUTS-----------------------------------235704-235703---------------------------------70.40 EACH
2--BALL JOINT------------------------------505-1327-----------------------------------------26.33 EACH
2--SWAY BAR KIT---------------------------46G0350A----------------------------------------19.09 EACH
2--WHEEL BEARINGS-----------------------710070-------------------------------------------22.81 EACH
2--STRUT BOOTS---------------------------SM5215------------------------------------------49.60 EACH
2--WHEEL HUBS-----------------------------930-406-----------------------------------------25.95 EACH
1--8.OZ.ANTI SEIZE ------------------------80078---------------------------------------------7.49 EACH

WILL PICK UP FROM AUTOZONE
2 TIE ROD ENDS----------------------------ES3699--------------------------------------17 EACH


FOR A TOTAL OF --$597.37-- in parts for suspension and with the added fender flare a total of

$914.89

I feel like there might be somethings i'm missing that I should replace..

A mechanic said I would need left strut--left tie rod, and lower control arms(bothsides)

But sense I want to make the vibe see 400,000 miles I would like to do as much as possible.. I think after I get the vibe back on the road and all is well with the body and front. Then month or so I will do the rear suspension.

Looks like you've got a great plan for keeping your Vibe on the road! Doing things yourself is a great way to save money for sure. Good luck with all the repairs!

I take it they gave you a check for $5.100 and let you keep the Vibe.

Do you have any pictures of the damage to the suspension? I suppose if things are damaged and need replacing it might be a good time to... upgrade

They are mailing me a check for $4600 and I keep the car...
I know it's going to be a lot of work, but it only has 117xxx miles and gets me 34-38 mpg..
I can't just give that up. Plus it should ride like a dream with this new suspension

Well the car is at the body shop till this weekend. Them I'll upload some more pictures.

Any thing you can think of that I should replace while I'm already doing all this?

I just did rotors and pads 3 weeks ago. Even flushed new brake fluid threw the system. Ha!
Also new plugs and air filter

I feel there's something missing front the suspension that I haven't ordered ???

I would replace both front struts. You cannot expect a new strut and an old one to act exactly alike.

Be careful with after market parts on the suspension. I would only go with brand names such as Moog, Monroe, AC Delco.
I have used some other names, sourced from RockAuto and I was not happy at all.

I think I would have done exactly what you are doing: fix it myself as much as possible.

All the best.

Good that you didn't get hurt!

Good luck with the repairs- hope it goes smoothly!!

Think you'll need an alignment priced in, too...

AMAZON
2--LOWER CONTROL ARMS----------------45D3232-45D3231------------------------------58.98 EACH
2--STRUTS-----------------------------------235704-235703---------------------------------70.40 EACH
2--BALL JOINT------------------------------505-1327-----------------------------------------26.33 EACH
2--SWAY BAR KIT---------------------------46G0350A----------------------------------------19.09 EACH
2--WHEEL BEARINGS-----------------------710070-------------------------------------------22.81 EACH
2--STRUT BOOTS---------------------------SM5215------------------------------------------49.60 EACH
2--WHEEL HUBS-----------------------------930-406-----------------------------------------25.95 EACH
1--8.OZ.ANTI SEIZE ------------------------80078---------------------------------------------7.49 EACH

WILL PICK UP FROM AUTOZONE
2 TIE ROD ENDS----------------------------ES3699--------------------------------------17 EACH


FOR A TOTAL OF --$597.37-- in parts for suspension and with the added fender flare a total of

$914.89

I don't see strut mounts on your list. Strut mounts are an integral part of the steering and subject to wear. I would rather have new strut mounts and re use the old boots.

Looks like you on the right path. As far as suspension, with a goal of 400k, I would check over your brake lines, fittings, bushings, and any other metal parts while apart (with the suspension removed you will have easier access) Good opportunity to clean up rusty items to make any future adjustments or repairs a lot easier.

03GTMatthew wrote:8.OZ.ANTI SEIZE

Thumbs way up, putting this on nuts, bolts, strut mounts, hub/rotor/wheel interface makes assembly and future removal so much easier. I have never had to use bolts or rubber mallets to remove rotors or drums after the hub had a thin coat applied, same for wheels, they don't corrode fast to the rotor/drum. (Rant) Why car manufactures do not do this simple step on the assembly line is beyond me. Seeing people stranded along the road beating their wheel with a tire iron trying to break it free is preventable.

vibrologist wrote:I would replace both front struts. You cannot expect a new strut and an old one to act exactly alike.

Be careful with after market parts on the suspension. I would only go with brand names such as Moog, Monroe, AC Delco.
I have used some other names, sourced from RockAuto and I was not happy at all.

I think I would have done exactly what you are doing: fix it myself as much as possible.

All the best.

I used MOOG parts on my Mustang when I redid the whole front end, except for the inner tie rods which were part of the rebuilt rack & pinion. Both of them went out on me in less than 50,000 miles, and I was able to get them replaced with MOOG parts - helps to know the parts counter guys! All of the remaining MOOG parts have 80,000+ miles on them and still look great.

Thanks to all for the comments!

I did order strut mounts, I missed it on my list so I have edited that and add it on, $51 each :0

I have received the full check from progressive for a total of $4640.97 so a little extra then I was told

Also I have got a quote for the painting and door repairs... $2100
I told him that I should be doing the suspension this weekend once the parts come in and might have it back for the repairs on Monday...

I think it's a fair price sense it is a collision specialist. Any thoughts?

I should have more pictures this weekend if not sooner if I move the vehicle to my sisters house.


Today I have revived The flare should not cost as much as I paid. It is just plastic and its not to thick. Its pretty flexible and its not painted to the black of my car just a black plastic... Out of this hole project. The flare is what has me worried about my vibe not looking as it was :/ Crossing fingers the body shop will know what to do.

I found it difficult to judge body shop estimates.
My van got a small hit on the driver side sliding door and I got estimates ranging from $800.00 to the $1200.00. In my case I was looking for 2 estimates above $1000.00 to submit to the insurance. I knew they would pay the lower of the 2 estimates sent in. I never got the job done because the money fit snugly into my checking account.

I suggest to get more than one estimate and to look at the shops' reputation. If you are o.k. with a less than perfect cosmetic condition you can save a lot of dough.

I commend you for saving this Vibe from the scrapyards. Awesome job of what you're doing. I wish ALL of us had the motivation, resources, and TIME to keep our Vibe's on the road for "almost" ever

This Vibe will stay as my daily driver till I at least get 400,000.
I'm in the prosess of getting the girlfriend to save up for a automatic vibe )
To bad the gt's only come in 6 speed sticks.
But then again it's good for me, I love my 6speed


I picked up the tie rods today and I'm going to try to move the vibe tonight to my sisters drive way 12 blocks away from the body shop.

Does anybody know what size the axel hub bolt is?
Or does anyone have a diagram of the size of bolts for the front end?

Pictures up soon

I'd probably drive it as is. The damage doesn't look that bad as far as deer hits go.

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Tie rod is soo bent

I'm pretty sure from what iv found that this is a 33mm but I have to wait for the auto store to open to try to get one.
I got one from autozone $15 for it though :0


Tie rod has a codder pin in the end of it... Who ever put this tie rod on, snipped the pin down to the end on it... So I had no choice but to cut the whole bolt off..

Ouch! Sucks to see the damaged Vibe, but glad to hear you weren't hurt and are going to be fixing the Vibe up and keeping it !

Glad you're ok, and glad to hear the Vibe will be back on the road.

As a side note on the weird, wasn't going to post it, but on the 27th, my vibe was hit by a deer... came out from the side of the road and we (me and the deer) each hit the brakes, and at the last moment it jumped up, and dragged it's hoof over the rear window and left a small scratch. Thankfully no major damage, and I think the deer even walked (hopped) away.

So.. that makes 2 deer hits... who's the 3rd?

sorry for the small thread jacking, now back to the thread.

I don't know why we have a deer hunting season in Ohio - deer hunting season here should be from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31st.
I also don't know why a deer hunter can't have the deer butchered by a state licensed facility and then sell the deer meat.
The fine and jail time for that is more than breaking and entering and many other real "crimes".