Sunuvabuck!! (Deer strike)
 

I hit a small deer last night. Broke the inner headlight, the lower grill and tore the bumper cover. Doesn't appear it damaged the hood.

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major bummer skidz, are you sure it wasn't rudolph doing a practice run? What are you going to make with the meat? I personally like sloppy does with pickles! Really sorry to see this, could have been alot worse!

Whatever you do, don't try and repair it with that duct tape stuck to the sidewalk...

Could have been a lot worse. Insurance will cover it?

Lol! I knew somebody would notice the duct tape. You can't see it, but there's an outdoor extension cord going to some Christmas lights attached to the gaslights at the end of my drive. I have the cord stuff down in a crack with tape holding it so nobody trips over it.

Insurance is good to go. I just got off the phone with them. $500 deductable will come out of pocket, but they'll pick up the tab on rental while she's in the shop.

Sorry to hear about your deer strike, but judging from your photos it could have been a lot worse as Rick mentioned above. Rutting season is in full bloom in our neck of the woods as well. You've got to slow down at dawn and dusk when the deer are most active, and you've got be lucky as well. Hope the repairs go smoothly and quickly for you....

Thanks. In 34 years of driving it's the 1st time I've ever struck a deer. I destroyed a Nova SS once when I hit a black cow on a rainy, dark, rural road. Years ago, my parents had the front of a brand new Pontiac damaged. They had just picked up the car from the dealership and hit a deer on the way home.

I wish it had been Rudolph. I probably could have spotted the glowing red nose from far enough away to avoid him. :icon_playing:

unless, due to rutting season, she had her back to you

pretty sure rudolph is a boy, otherwise that Christmas special is all sorts of disturbed.

Nearly hit two last night, it was unusually balmy out in Nashville and they seemed to be everywhere.

Venison.

mmm..venison chili sounds pretty good on this cold day here.

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Feek for you skidz....a rrrrreal bummer thats for sure.
Unfortunately there aint a whole helluva lot you can do to avoid these guys as they just go for it hell for leather.
I've hit 2 myself about 12 years apart....lol
You are very lucky as they can make a right mess of a car!
As for the " what are you gonna do with the meat?"......If its anything like my hit, it can be £1500+ and the deer gets up and runs away:icon_doh:

Hope you get it all sorted soon bud:)

And the total is.....

$1592.26. Not as bad as I thought it would be. After the adjuster was done with the car, I drove straight over to the body shop with one of the best reputations around. She goes in the shop Jan. 4th. They should have her about 4 days.

The only thing that I'm worried about is the estimate has them repairing the bumper cover instead of replacing it. The owner of the body shop was pretty confident that they could repair it. If they can't, he said a quick call back to the insurance co. should get them the ok to replace it. I'll defer to them as my knowledge of auto body work is minimal.

Skidz,

Glad to hear you are OK. The damage to the car looks fairly minimal and should be fairly easy to make things right. You may want make sure the structural things are taken care of as well.

A number of years ago I hit a deer in upstate NY with a 280ZX. It sustained damage to the right front and door. The deer's head made a big dent in the door and I could tell the deer wore a collar as there was a round imprint as well. I found out later I could get a road tag and cart off the carcass if so inclined.

Mike

Good luck with the repairs in early January. That amount is less than I expected as well. I still think you're very lucky - most deer impacts do significantly more damage than that....

Picked my car up from the autobody yesterday. I was almost afraid to as we were in the middle of a nice winter storm. Roads were packed with snow and lots of blowing, drifting snow. I considered for a bit that it might be better to pay for the rental car out of pocket for another day instead of taking the risk, but since it will see regular use in snowy conditions I figured why be afraid.

I will say, the shop did a beautiful job. No indication at all that there was once some damage to her. I'm very pleased and wouldn't hesitate to recommend this shop to anyone in the area.

Glad to hear that you're pleased with the repairs.

How long did they tell you to allow the new paint to cure before you put any wax or protectant on it? If they didn't give you a timeframe, I'd wait at least 60 days....

Hmmm. I forgot to ask. Maybe I should give them a call.
I know that they have a curing booth (heat? forced air), so that should cut down the time.

I was told a month after my last "incident" does the cold have an effect?

Apart from the fact that you probably won't be washing and waxing in -25deg.