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A deer hit me

Throckmorton

Throckmorton

Lifer
I was heading from Dallas to Houston on Texas State Hwy 75 just past the town of Buffalo (where the lead singer of Slayer lives) and a deer popped out of the woods. It was kind of surreal because for a split second it looked like the deer was running alongside me, then I felt it hit and bounce off. I didn't think there was going to be much damage, then I pulled over and looked-- The whole right side of the car is damaged. The fender is pushed in closer to the hood which I'm guessing means the unibody is bent, the door is completely destroyed, and the rear fender is bent too.


The car seems to drive fine though, I drove the rest of the way without any problems.


I'll call the insurance company in the morning and hopefully they can send an agent out tomorrow. You guys think they'll total it? The car is worth $12k according to KBB.

This is what I get for taking the back roads. I like them because I can go 65-70mph and save gas without annoying other drivers (speed limit is 70mph), and they're more interesting so you don't get as fatigued.

lVDlLaE.jpg
 
BTW I have GAP insurance through the dealer financing. Does that mean I get reimbursed for the value of the car that has been lost?
 
You have to be careful in areas where there are a lot of deer.

Deer really don't know how to avoid vehicles whatsoever, just saw a large dead deer on the side of the road today near my house. Even at low speeds they are witless.

We have a lot of deer here, probably coming out of Harriman and Bear Mountain State parks. I don't do over 30-40 miles per hour (posted speed limits) because even if I'm cautious I know if I go faster it's hard to avoid hitting a deer if it comes out unexpectedly. Even on the parkway here (Palisades) there are deer grazing on the sides early in the morning, around 1 AM when there not many cars on the road, and the last thing you want to do is hit a deer at 60 to 70 MPH. Nearly impossible to see until you get close. I haven't hit a deer or any other animal yet, but more than once they've leaped in front of my Mustang.
 
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Throckmorton said:
You guys think they'll total it? The car is worth $12k according to KBB.
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Not likely. According to my wife who works in the insurance business, they don't normally total a car unless the cost of repairs exceeds 75% of the car's value. From what I see in the picture, you're looking mainly at sheet metal. I really don't think your frame is bent, and I'd be really surprised if the repairs exceed $3K.

BTW I have GAP insurance through the dealer financing. Does that mean I get reimbursed for the value of the car that has been lost?
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No. Your regular comprehensive insurance will reimburse you up to the value of the car; that's what you're paying for. What GAP does is protect you in the event that your car is totaled, and you owe more on your loan than the car is worth.

In your case, let's say you still owed $15K on the loan, but they total it and give you the value of $12K. Well, you still owe the bank the $15K they loaned you. Because you purchased GAP, that extra $3K is covered and you won't owe it to your bank.
 
CA19100 said:
Not likely. According to my wife who works in the insurance business, they don't normally total a car unless the cost of repairs exceeds 75% of the car's value. From what I see in the picture, you're looking mainly at sheet metal. I really don't think your frame is bent, and I'd be really surprised if the repairs exceed $3K.

No. Your regular comprehensive insurance will reimburse you up to the value of the car; that's what you're paying for. What GAP does is protect you in the event that your car is totaled, and you owe more on your loan than the car is worth.

In your case, let's say you still owed $15K on the loan, but they total it and give you the value of $12K. Well, you still owe the bank the $15K they loaned you. Because you purchased GAP, that extra $3K is covered and you won't owe it to your bank.
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Ah I see. I only owe about $8k so it won't matter.

I hope they don't total it, mainly because it's so hard to find one of these cars with side airbags which to me is the most important safety feature. I don't care about the value of the car being affected by the accident on the record, because I was planning to drive the wheels off it anyway.
 
Fenders are nothing. Front fenders are not part of the unibody. There are rails behind them that they mount to, and those may have been bent, but those are usually fixable unless horribly messed up, which I doubt.

That door though, ouch. Might just replace that. How's the door operate? Latch and hinges OK? The frame of the door? Sometimes if the door structure itself is OK and just the skin is damaged they'll simply put a new outer skin on it. Careful if you try to open it - it might hit the fender since they're bent up and could make it worse.

The rear quarter is part of the unibody but it doesn't look all that banged up and is more than likely easily fixed.

No glass or suspension damage so you're good there, heck your mirror survived. Looks like your hood is OK.

HIGHLY doubt they'd total it over that. Nothing structural is really hit that badly at all.

Still a few K to fix mostly because of paint and labor.
 
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Gap insurance on a used car? I didn't even know that existed...kinda sounds like a scam. The most it could do is pay your interest, since you didn't experience the same initial drop in value that you would on a new car.

And I would highly doubt your unibody is damaged. It may not have even bent the reinforcment in the door- the estimate will be for a fender, and either a whole door (hopefully...and a new one from the dealer, at that) or a reskin.

At least you will get to have a funny story about how you got T-boned by a deer. :/

God they're stupid animals. It baffles me how squirrels and birds, with their peanut brains, tend to try and avoid cars (although squirrels are...indecisive), while deer all seem to be the helmet-wearing retards of the animal world. I've seen way too many side and front corner hits. Better for you than a front hit, though...
 
whoa. ya, the deer hit you. You didnt hit the deer. Haha
It looks to be mostly cosmetic. Doubt they total it.
phucheneh said:
At least you will get to have a funny story about how you got T-boned by a deer. :/
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Lol!

I remember riding in my friends 88 corolla when suddenly a deer faceplanted into my passenger window. I never laughed so hard in my life. That car didnt take NEARLY as much damage as yours did though. If we had hit it square on, we'd for sure had a lot of damage, but just a dented door and lost piece of trim.
 
SparkyJJO said:
Fenders are nothing. Front fenders are not part of the unibody. There are rails behind them that they mount to, and those may have been bent, but those are usually fixable unless horribly messed up, which I doubt.

That door though, ouch. Might just replace that. How's the door operate? Latch and hinges OK? The frame of the door? Sometimes if the door structure itself is OK and just the skin is damaged they'll simply put a new outer skin on it. Careful if you try to open it - it might hit the fender since they're bent up and could make it worse.

The rear quarter is part of the unibody but it doesn't look all that banged up and is more than likely easily fixed.

No glass or suspension damage so you're good there, heck your mirror survived. Looks like your hood is OK.

HIGHLY doubt they'd total it over that. Nothing structural is really hit that badly at all.

Still a few K to fix mostly because of paint and labor.
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Didn't know they just bolted on. That's good, hopefully not too much energy transferred to the unibody. The door is toast I think. The window works but the door doesn't open, the handle is bent, and there's a gash in the metal close to the bottom-- I guess from the deer's hoof.
 
Throckmorton said:
Didn't know they just bolted on. That's good, hopefully not too much energy transferred to the unibody. The door is toast I think. The window works but the door doesn't open, the handle is bent, and there's a gash in the metal close to the bottom-- I guess from the deer's hoof.
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The door might not even be toast. I had a truck swipe across my car as it was pulling out (looked just like that) and they just reskinned the door. So unless it also took out the components inside I don't think they have to completely swap it. But in the end 2 fenders and a door. That's only like 3-4k with labor. Cheaper if they don't have to swap the door.
 
Insomniator said:
Who cares about side airbags?!
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I care because they're the one thing that will save you in the most deadly type of accident, where you have zero crumple zone... especially in Texas where there is a lot of jacked up trucks rolling around with steel offroad bumpers far above your door intrusion beams.
 
Got the claim done and taking it to Lonestar Chevrolet Collision (Lonestar is where I bought it). Their body shop has good reviews, it's close to where I live, and I trust them more than a small shop where you have no idea what you're getting.

More pics

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Did you choose yellow for safety reasons? I get the impression that you are very safety-focused. 😀

What happened to the deer? Venison?

The trickiest part to repair is rear quarter panel, but its damage is minimal. Door & fender - Replace and hope that new paint matches well.
 
Mermaidman said:
Did you choose yellow for safety reasons? I get the impression that you are very safety-focused. 😀

What happened to the deer? Venison?

The trickiest part to repair is rear quarter panel, but its damage is minimal. Door & fender - Replace and hope that new paint matches well.
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I chose yellow for the absurdity 😀

I like to minimize my risk of death whenever possible
 
Tom Araya lives in Buffalo TX? That's awesome.

Sucks about your new car. I'd bet around 3.5 - 4k on the repairs. Good luck.
 
Nice looking car, the insurance should cover it all, fix it up.

I had a side swipe wreck with similar damage from a minivan on my brand new 52K BMW within the first year. All rims, all tires and body panels had to get replaced. I was severely pissed, but rims/tires can add up quick in the damage.
 
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