Hit a deer of the I-5

[PuntyMario]

I was going down to the Ford show in Vancouver, WA and i had just crossed the border and got onto the highway. Im going up a hill and as i reach the top, there are two deer blocking the road. I had no time to react going 60 mph and pelted the bugger dead on. first time ever encountering animals on the highway. here the before and after. literally took these pictures half an hour apart probably even less.
http://i.imgur.com/XjrsDI3l.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/7k9wbXEl.jpg

i dont know what to do guys. she still drives and i love her to bits. i cant bare to total her. seems like the radiator fan is shot. it tries to run and stops and go's. there werent any fluid leaks and i was able to drive her a mile to a hotel parking lot to get towed back home. still kinda in shock from the whole ordeal. blood splattered all over the windshield. Tow truck driver said on his way to get me that there were bits and pieces of the deer everywhere.

[loud2004marquis]

That stinks, must've been quite a sight!

Might be a good idea to get one of those whistles mounted on the car that deter animals.

Hope you can get it sorted out, doesn't look too bad.

[cat in the hat]

That ****s. Heavy cosmetic damage would be bad enough, (and expensive :(), but hopefully that's all it is.

[ctrlraven]

Lucky the car took out most of the deer and not the windshield at that speed!

Looks fixable as long as the bumper wasn't cracked and air bags deployed.

[Ms. Denmark]

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[sailsmen]

Deer are very tough animals. A very difficult thing to do is to put one down that has been hit by a car, particularly when you are in an area where a firearm cannot be used.

I am curious as to why you seem to assume it's a total? Keep in mind you can always buy back the salvage and have it fixed.

DO NOT ever allow an insurance company to do a salvage tow on the car unless you are 100% certain it is totalled and you have no interest in the salvage. Many a car has become a total loss after they drag winched it up the bed and removed it with a fork lift dropping it on another wreck.:mad2:

[PuntyMario]

I am curious as to why you seem to assume it's a total? Keep in mind you can always buy back the salvage and have it fixed.


I dont have alot of faith in our governments corporate insurance monopoly known as icbc. I dont intend to let icbc total it and simply wreck it. i am so glad the airbag didnt deploy. bumper looks in pretty good shape. main visible damage was to the grill and radiator. battery was pushed a bit back. cant see much else yet.

[whitey]

Thats a shame, but its definitely fixable. Good luck!

[J-MAN]

WOW! Need to send some of those killer deer to our southern border.

[PuntyMario]

Im not to familiar with or if there are any requirements im supposed to do when i hit an animal in the us. i talked to a couple people about it and none mentioned if i had to call the police or something.

[cat in the hat]

Im not to familiar with or if there are any requirements im supposed to do when i hit an animal in the us. i talked to a couple people about it and none mentioned if i had to call the police or something.

In PA, you're only required to report an accident to the Police if 1.) any person involved requires hospital treatment or 2.) any vehicle requires towing from the scene. Doesn't matter what you hit (deer, tree, other car, etc.)

[gdsqdcr]

I hit a deer about 18 months ago. Header panel, headlight, fender all FUBAR. The Header Panel was pushed in 3 inches on drivers side. Hood was salvageable, the grill somehow escaped without a scratch! Bumper had stress cracks. $6000 in damages, but all fixed with OEM parts.

Yours looks very similar in damage ... You should be fine-li durance will fix it.

[jwibbity]

the most expensive part on the front is the bumper cover and from the picture its looks fine

fix it up!! :banana2:

[JohnnyCashMerc]

Definitely looks worse than it actually is. Don't total it. It's all repairable. Idk the laws where your at but in most states you must report deer vs. car accidents to the police if there are any injuries or property damage exceeds a certain dollar amount. Good luck to you with your repairs.

[PuntyMario]

spoke to icbc and theyre gonna send a tow truck to pick her up and take her to a shop for assessment hurrah....

[sailsmen]

I highly rec you be there for the load/unload.

I am convinced many a non-totalled car has become totalled because there is money in it.

Another car I own was in an accident resulting in front end damage. The ins co said we will send over our wrecker and you don't even have to be there, to bring it to our yard for evaluation.
I said no, I am having my wrecker tow it to my shop and you will send out your appraiser.
They said the car is over 7 years old with over 100K miles and front end damage means it is a total loss. You will have storage charges by the shop if it's a total.
I said I have done business with this shop for over 20 years and they are not going to charge me for "storage". The car has my name on the title, not yours, and I have the right to pick the wrecker and the body shop. That you will have 48 hours to have your appraiser inspect it from the time it reaches my shop.
Thats when I found out what a "salvage" tow is, a salvage tow makes certain it goes to the salvage yard.
The repairs totalled less than 40% of the value.

[1Marauder]

Great advice!!! +1 above.

Worst case scenario, 4 days at $15.00 storage, and another $85 tow. We'll worth it to try and save the car. No salvage tow!

[marauderthis]

Dont do it. Do not let that car out of your sight.
Things may disappear off the car! (it has happened to other people) Have someone come to your location to asses the car -

You have less leverage if your car is on someones else s property especially if you cant drive it away.

You do not want to put your self in a position having to wrestle the car back from a dirt bag rapist

Think about the towing expenses too going from place to place.








spoke to icbc and theyre gonna send a tow truck to pick her up and take her to a shop for assessment hurrah....

[marauderthis]

Dont do it. Do not let that car out of your sight.
Things may disappear off the car! (it has happened to other people) Have someone come to your location to asses the car -

You have less leverage if your car is on someones else s property especially if you cant drive it away.

You do not want to put your self in a position having to wrestle the car back from a dirt bag rapist

Think about the towing expenses too going from place to place.








spoke to icbc and theyre gonna send a tow truck to pick her up and take her to a shop for assessment hurrah....

[cat in the hat]

I highly rec you be there for the load/unload.

I am convinced many a non-totalled car has become totalled because there is money in it.


This is a common practice in this area.
There are a lot of wreck-chasers and it is highly competitive. They have every incentive to grab more expensive cars and / or do additional damage because most of them are paid a percentage of the tow yard's take for each job, based on body shop fees, salvage value etc.

I have seen two wreck-chasers fistfight over a late-model Mercedes with cosmetic damage, and leave the destroyed Neon sitting on the side of the road.

Stories of people finding the car at the yard later with massive impact damage that it didn't have at the scene are common.

[PuntyMario]

You guys are scaring me with those stories guys. I asked if they charge for the tow and they said no. Ill try to be there for the inspection but i work evenings 6 days a week so if i cant be there ill try to have someone i trust go in my place.

[Dave2]

Glad that you were ok and nothing really bad happened….:beer:

As far as the car, rub some dirt on it, it's a Marauder…

You can get that fixed and cleaned up fairly easily if you want to keep it.….

[WPG_Merc]

Hope it's not a write off after assessment,:depress:
Is there any good body shop's out there.

A lot of the parts can be found at a salvage yard or in the Rock Auto site under Grand Marquis or Marauder.

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=686356&cc=1410837

[PuntyMario]

Hope it's not a write off after assessment,:depress:
Is there any good body shop's out there.

A lot of the parts can be found at a salvage yard or in the Rock Auto site under Grand Marquis or Marauder.

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=686356&cc=1410837

im hoping they just give me a cheque so i can source my own parts and do my own labour. save alot of money that way.

[WPG_Merc]

Hope it goes well for you.


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[tylerdurden2816]

Your insurance should have it fixed. I wrecked my 03 MM w/137K miles on it after I skid out on black ice. Destroyed my front bumper, a headlight, grille, damaged the driver fender, then kicked off the highway dividing wall and cracked a taillight and scuffed my rear bumper. Almost $10K in damage and they still fixed it all. The shop manager said it was close and asked me if I wanted it totaled or not. I said no and he got it done. But the point is mine was substantially more damage than yours and and it got done, if they won't do yours, switch to State Farm!

[WPG_Merc]

The body shop I have fought with my insurance on my other cars I had that they wanted to write off & won.If you can find the parts yourself it would cut cost for the shop & insurance.

[champ1173]

That suuuuuuuuuuuuucks! I feel really bad for you. Glad to hear your ok, because I've heard some pretty nasty deer stories. Good luck with your ride.

[PuntyMario]

Shes going to a body shop in the next couple days. I have this in the meantime. I dunno how i feel about it though. Its an sxt v6 2014. I hate the gear select.
http://i.imgur.com/hwRdwY0l.jpg

[vegasmarauder]

It's the insurance company's decision as to fix or total your car since they have to pay the cost. It will be buried in the lawyer-ese of your policy.

However, depending on which company or adjuster you get, you can work it out where you locate the parts and/or pay part of the parts cost to get the total repair cost under the total-out figure (usually anywhere from 60-80% of book value). It has been done in the past, especially with cars close to the total figure.