Learn Me: Pontiac Vibe AWD System (or awd delete)

I came across this CL ad locally to me.

Mechanic special- 2009 pontiac vibe awd - $2000 (Bellevue)
2009 Pontiac vibe

I have a 2009 pontiac vibe AWD with a broken rear differential. It has 169,000 miles on it. The new rear differential should cost about $1,100. I don't have the money to fix it so I'm looking to sell it to somebody who does. You can call me at

I'm always looking for a bargain. I have not called yet and before I do I thought I would run this past the hive.
What do you think broken diff means? (no pictures in ad does not help)
What I wonder is... In the Volvo XC wagons, it is common that the "transfer case" goes bad. On them, you can remove the rear drive shaft and continue to run the car in fwd only format.

Do you think the Vibe/Matrix is similar?
Could I turn this into a "no-cost" repair? I don't need awd.

Quick google shows that the rear diff has issue leaking fluid. Pictures of the transfer case suggest you can unbolt it pretty easy though.

But..will the auto transmission be satisfied if the rear end is not turning?
Sensors or other similar issues?

JY rear?

Has to be some around.

Around here you can buy running and driving FWD Vibes with that kind of mileage for $2000 all day long. That doesn't strike me as a deal whatsoever.

EDIT: Didn't see it was a 2009 (new gen). Still, doesn't strike me as much of a deal.

In reply to SlickDizzy:

I agree with most that you are saying though they are little higher than $2k here, more like $3k.
Yes, I agree this guy is asking retail at $2k plus needs $1k = $3k.
My hopes were that I could drive the price down to $1.5k and then need no dollars to fix resulting in half of retail.

Local sample: '03 w/169k asking $3.3k

I for the heck of it took a look on car-parts and could not find a dif for it anywhere so it seems to be a bit of a unicorn part.

I too had gone onto car-parts.com.
I could not find a rear dif but I did find a rear drive shaft for $125.
Though I am not sure this is the part needed, I am also not confident that the seller is properly describing/naming the issue.
I think I will call on the car later today. Maybe look at tonight or this weekend.

Some research shows the following:

An article that speaks of thousands of dollars repair (at retail).

Or, this Youtube video tutorial that seems relatively straight forward and my research shows about $150 in parts if bought directly from GM (I did not price Toyota.)

I have sent an email to the seller.

Get on car-part and search for carrier. It appears that they are different between the Vibe and Matrix/Venza with Vibe carrier assemblies from $400-800.

Making an assumption here, but if the diff is the same as the Rav4, the thing that gets noisy is the drive system in front of the pinion. $2k for parts up here. Lose the driveshaft, and if the diff is really piled up, lose the axle shafts, put the CV's back in the hubs and drive.