GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Our Vibe died and so we bought another one (2005) from someone on craigslist, but it blew a head gasket after two weeks (no lemon law in FL unfortunately an the guy won't take it back.) I think we just need to sell it for whatever we can get and buy a new (used) car but my husband wants to pay $2500-$3000 to get another engine put in, with 133,000 miles. I don't think it's worth putting that much money into such an old car.

What would you do?

First of all, that sucks

Its always a difficult decision. You've already spent the money to get the car, now its more to keep it. Theoretically, it should last a number of years with a new engine. For me it's a value/money thing. You likely won't get much for the Vibe as is. What can you buy for the $2500-$3000 that will be as good as the repaired Vibe? It is hard to spend that much money on a 16 year old car.

One reason to repair it would be that you already spent money to buy it, if you dump it now that money will be wasted. This is not a valid reason. You need to look at it going forward, as either choice will cost you money. What gives you the best value for the least money.? It depends on what you want/need, what the local used car market is like, and what you can afford.

Either way, it sucks

As mentioned, I'd think about age as much as mileage. Some older stuff fails due to age, not wear, like plastics and rubber. My '98 Subaru is starting to get to that point.

So head gasket replacement isn't an option? It must have been a pretty hard failure. If it didn't overheat or seize up, I'd do the head gasket myself, pull the head and have a machine shop refurbish it. Last time I did that it cost me around $200, mostly shop labor for a SOHC engine, in the mid-90s. Plus two evenings in the home garage.

Good luck with your decision.

I sure would not put the money into it, but it all depends on your finances. To help you answer the question for your circumstance, we'd need to know what kind of money we have to work with here (ie: can you only afford up to $5,000, or can you handle a new car payment with 0% financing on outgoing models? I'd also throw in some additional bad news to ponder in that if this guy was stupid enough to sell a car with pending engine damage, I'm wondering what else is wrong with it that he happily dumped it on you? I think the guy was stupid in that he must not watch TV or understand what is going on in this country. I'd never sell anyone damaged goods knowing that they now know where I live. It just isn't worth the sleepless nights.

andrewclaus wrote: ↑Wed May 26, 2021 10:05 am As mentioned, I'd think about age as much as mileage. Some older stuff fails due to age, not wear, like plastics and rubber. My '98 Subaru is starting to get to that point.

So head gasket replacement isn't an option? It must have been a pretty hard failure. If it didn't overheat or seize up, I'd do the head gasket myself, pull the head and have a machine shop refurbish it. Last time I did that it cost me around $200, mostly shop labor for a SOHC engine, in the mid-90s. Plus two evenings in the home garage.

Good luck with your decision.

This plus the current new and used car market is jacked right now that you will be overpaying for what you get. It is a seller's market and there really isn't a lot of dealing going on (at least in NC).

Does the $2,500-3,000 motor come with any kind of warranty? Is it from a trusted/reputable source? Does that include installation?

I would go the replace the head gasket route as well if the engine wasn't seized. If your family is not mechanically inclined and the engine source was legit, then I would go that way.

This is an older thread, but I want to toss in my tuppenny-bit.

I have a 2007 Vibe, with 209k on the engine, but with a leak in the timing chain cover seal. That's a 'pull the engine' repair, which means if you're going to do that, might as well have it rebuilt/refurbished, and replace all the seals, gaskets, rings, etc.

I did not do that, but that's because the _body_ had been severely damaged by an 18 wheeler. (not going to get into it).

If the body had been in good shape, everything else was working quite well, so dropping 3-5k for having someone with a 1 year warranty rebuild the engine would have been perfectly good for my needs. It's a work car, and has the features that have worked well for me for a very long time.

Still - it's a personal decision.

Bookworm wrote: ↑Mon Jan 24, 2022 3:34 pm That's a 'pull the engine' repair,

NEGATIVE ....... it can be done with engine in the car BUT it's a bit more difficult, and will take an experienced mechanic a full day to do it.

My 2004 Vibe GT was leaking pretty good and kept placing cardboard under the cart wherever I parked it so it didn't stain the concrete. Was going to fix this repair myself BUT thanks to the pandemic hitting us, one of my buddies who owns a garage business, got real slow and needed the work. So he agreed to tackle this task. $480 in labor later and the job was done! Money well spent They changed out the water pump while it was apart and seeing how it was still original, I said OK to that. So it all depends on the shop/garage and motivation of their workers. Good luck!

tpollauf wrote: ↑Mon Jan 24, 2022 4:22 pm

Bookworm wrote: ↑Mon Jan 24, 2022 3:34 pm That's a 'pull the engine' repair,

NEGATIVE ....... it can be done with engine in the car BUT it's a bit more difficult, and will take an experienced mechanic a full day to do it.

My 2004 Vibe GT was leaking pretty good and kept placing cardboard under the cart wherever I parked it so it didn't stain the concrete. Was going to fix this repair myself BUT thanks to the pandemic hitting us, one of my buddies who owns a garage business, got real slow and needed the work. So he agreed to tackle this task. $480 in labor later and the job was done! Money well spent They changed out the water pump while it was apart and seeing how it was still original, I said OK to that. So it all depends on the shop/garage and motivation of their workers. Good luck!

Lucky you - I couldn't really find anyone that didn't agree it was a pull out job - and a full day of repair here would probably have been $1000 plus parts.

Still - I have a heavily torqued driver fender (deep into the engine compartment). It was a point to say "not worth it". If I'd found a car with a blown engine and a good body? I'd have gone for it, and take it to the reputable engine rebuilder to do a rebuild swap (Probably Thunderbolt Engines and Transmissions. 75 years in business).

It is nice... in a schadenfreude kind of way, to know that I wasn't the only one to end up with that problem.

Oh - to fix the concrete stains? Oven cleaner. It's not an instant fix, but if you hose it with the lye (you can use drain cleaner that's sodium hydroxide), let it sit, and then rinse it, three or four sessions makes the oil stains disappear. It saponifies the oil. That's how I got rid of the stains that have ended up on the driveway when the 1) oil pain splashed, 2) leaking started, and 3) when the cardboard shifted when I'd put it underneath.

Paint/lacquer thinner takes up oil spills in one shot. Pour it on the stain, wait a couple of minutes and wipe it up with blue shop towels.

My BiL gave me that tip years ago after I did my first self oil change on my new diesel pickup. Three gallons of warm oil comes out really fast.