So the other night a deer jumped out and hit my car. Was only going maybe 20-30mph, slammed the brakes so was probably going even slower. It hit the front/passenger side and bounced backwards. It didn't look like it damaged a whole bunch, the front grill had snapped and the front passenger side panel got detached and is hanging lower closer to the wheel. My insurance is taking extra long with an estimate just because they suck. Any idea how much this will run? The car is driveable and no problems so far with electric or lights, no leaks. Apparently there's a parts warehouse not too far from me so I'm hoping it doesn't take more than a week to repair. Any ideas? I'm in a rental now. These are two pics which best show any damage from the outside.

 

No idea how much it'll cost. But I will say this, be very careful about the inspection. Minimal visual damage can hide bigger problems. There was a guy with a new 2013/2014 Porsche 911, got rear ended at stop light by car going something like ~15 mph. Virtually NO visual damage except a minor scratch in the bumper. Turns out it had frame damage. Modern cars can be very fragile in some sense. There are other stories like this, where the damage doesn't look all that bad, but ends up pretty significant. Probably not your case, but just make sure the car is thoroughly inspected.

 

I'm going to go out on a limb and predict it's a very minor repair. The fascia doesn't even look damaged and is made to flex a little, but it's impossible to tell for sure with only those pictures. However, it looks like just the fasteners on one side gave way. Hood alignment looks pretty good except on that one corner. Obviously, you'll need a new grill trim ring, but you may have gotten very lucky.

 

I hit a deer last summer. Initial estimate was 5000. Long story short, after a summer of arguing with one shop, the second shop finally checked the frame and the car was ultimately declared a total loss.

 

At what speed do you estimate hitting the deer? My comments were based upon the OP's estimate of impact at well under 20mph. The available pictures support that it was a very low-speed impact. In addition, it looks like a glancing blow and hitting a deer like that is vastly different than hitting an immoveable object like a tree.

Obviously a head-on impact at 50 mph would be an entirely different story.

 

Also a glancing blow, not more than 35 mph. Deer jumped out from behind a rock, stared at me then jumped into side of the car. I had time to slow down a bit before impact. Damage looked very minor externally, the largest dent was less than 2" deep.

 

thanks for the responses. I do realize it could be worse under the hood, stuff I can't see or directly measure, but obviously hoping that everything will be minor. I have no dents like the guy above so hoping that proves an even lower impact, thus less damage. I guess it's better this car is leased?? I imagine resale from a financing aspect may have taken a harder hit. I still have no estimate and probably won't until a few days.

 

If speed would have been over 30 mph, the airbag would have deployed.

 

I disagree on the airbag going off if vehicle speed is over 30 and there is a collision. Airbag deployment depends on other factors than just being over 30 mph. I barely felt the impact of the deer with my car, the speed was over 30 mph and the airbags did not deploy.

 

Approaching 4 weeks and still in the shop. Unbelievable. Approx $5200 in damage. Sounded about right. The one bad thing about these type of fancier, elite cars is that when they get damaged, retrieving parts and finding a legit body shop is a major major snag. I'm so angry right now.

 

Sorry about that . . . I'm eating my words above as I write this.

What parts are they replacing? Depending upon that list, I would guess the major part of that cost is the outrageous price of replacement parts from JLR.

 

There are Jaguar approved body shops. I scraped rear 1/4 and broke tail light. $3474! 2 weeks waiting for parts so far but I kept car. Actually only one week to repair if scheduled. Tail light is $488, various parts are $120 and surcharge for aluminum and multi staged paint. This shop only paints entire areas not blend in. Approved by insurance.

 

Has the dealer been able to tell you how much longer you need to wait for the parts?

 

I'm going to call tomorrow ( Mon ) let you know. He's painting entire rear bumper so needed badges. Is doing body work on 1/4 but need new rubber seals, plus the tail lite! Bent 1/4 above tail lite. Status Grey so 2 stage. This is a high end shop: Aston, Porsche Ferrari, etc. Has manufacture certificates from all high end on wall. Lucky to find them. But parts still come from local Jag dealer.

 

So finally got the car back a couple weeks ago making it about 6 weeks in the shop. 14 days to wait for the initial estimate, 7 days for the supplemental one and then the other 3 weeks with the shop ordering parts and taking their sweet *** time. Came to about $6000 total. Ended up having to replace the whole front bumper and headlight. The front right panel was a smudge off in terms of meeting flush with the hood and side panel, and the headlight they replaced was pointed down too far. I had them fix that stuff and its good now. Except I noticed that the headlight they replaced looks just a tad more yellow than the really bright almost white from the other headlight which was not replaced. The guy told me that sometimes its the xenon light "warming up" and that if after a few months it doesn't change, then I could always come in and most likely have both headlights replaced so that they match in brightness/color. Anyone else have an issue with this???

 

Xenons do tend to go toward the cooler side of the spectrum as they get hours on them. Easiest fix would be to use the bulb from your old assembly, assuming it's still functional. Otherwise drive with your lights on during the day to speed things along.