GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

So I'm driving along, on my way home, 80 minutes gone, ten more to go, in the home stretch. Totally dark, no streetlights. Cruising the 50 mph speed limit (for a change). Then for split second there was a deer in front of my left headlight, a crunching thump and it was gone. The damage is minor, especially compared to some of the deer induced vibe traumas we've seen here at genvibe. I figure it will need at least a new front cowl, front cladding, (both of which are plastic and cracked) left headlight assembly, and perhaps a drivers side front fender, unless they can whack it back into shape. Doesn't look that bad, but the side of the cowl is hanging loose, and there's loose plastic in the headlight. Also the fender is back, touching the driver door. Hood looks ok, I guess. Driveable, no radiator damage, both headlights still work. Airbags didn't go off, but they didn't need to, so that was a good thing. No gore pics, there is a bit of it in one of the seams. In the attached pic I put an inset of a single deer hair sticking out of the cracked cladding/cowl junction. I'll take it to the shop on Wednesday to see what they say. All that insurance I've been paying will pay 100%, so I'm not all that upset.

Attached files

Minimal damage from what it looks liked... Glad the you are ok... Very bad time of year for deer.

Quote, originally posted by ou.grizzly » Glad the you are ok... Very bad time of year for deer. +1, and I'm sure good driving is why you're okay and the car is fixable

now if only raging was here to see this. he'd be proud of you trying to follow in his footsteps Joat but in all seriousness glad it didnt turn out worse that it did.

Oh no! Good to hear you're OK and it wasn't any worse. Hopefully it'll get fixed ASAP!

Glad you are ok Joat!

You were on the way to see ragingfish when this happened j/k I am glad you are ok!

Quote, originally posted by ou.grizzly »Minimal damage from what it looks liked... yeah, if it wasn't covered under insurance then I'd probably just duct tape and zip tie it back together. I might not have even mentioned it, but this is genvibe, that's what we do. It was definitely a deer though. I am sure of that, it wasn't some dark drifter that will come back as an undead zombie seeking vengance. I think what pissed me off about it was that I have the Vibe, and a small pickup truck. When I drive the Vibe, people go really slow, get in my way, drive like obstacles, and when I drive the truck, I am a much more laid back driver, taking my time, no loss of patience. I think it's because the Vibe is zippier, the truck sort of lumbers along. Yesterday morning I decided to try to reconcile the two and I hooked my scan guage back up, set to display the trips average mpgs. That helps me drive gently. Sort of a contest with myself to see how high I can get the number. So I was driving gently, accelerating slowly, lots of following distance, not speeding, all day, going well, and then blam, this is what I get for it. If I had been driving the way I normally do in the Vibe, I would have been way past that spot when the deer decided to cross the road and I wouldn't have hit it. Unless if by hitting the deer I avoided hitting that dark drifter who would come back as an undead zombie seeking vengeance. Guess you just never know.

Oh... the poor deer, Joat, the wildlife is for looking at, not for hitting. Bad Joat, bad.

glad your ok and the vibe isn't damaged too badconsideration??

cars in the shop now. might be there a week or so. Guy said it looked like the front end was pushed a bit to the passenger side, judging from the fender/hood gap, normal by the windshield, noticeably wider at the front. Quote, originally posted by VforVIBE »Oh... the poor deer, Joat, the wildlife is for looking at, not for hitting. Bad Joat, bad.how about wildlife in night clubs, that can be for both looking at and hitting on but it's not like I went out of my way to hit the deer. thing decided life wasn't worth living and suicided on my car.Quote, originally posted by B14CK_H4WK »consideration??I don't know if those things have any effect. Maybe if I hit deer more often then once every 18 years, I might bother.

Did you happen to get an estimate on damage?

Quote, originally posted by ou.grizzly »Did you happen to get an estimate on damage? waiting on a call for that, but I guess it's a matter of curiosity at this point since I filed an insurance claim and they'll pay 100%. Whatever they come up with, I could fix it for less, but perhaps not as well.http://weblogs.baltimoresun.co....htmlQuote »AAA warns that deer are out to get youAAA Mid-Atlantic has issued a timely reminder that Maryland's deer population is in the amorous throes of late autumn, when the (removed)-besotted beasts are especially likely to jump into the path of your vehicle while in the single-minded pursuit of a mate.The results can be deadly -- and not just for the deer. In 2007, the last year on recoord, two people died and 458 were injured in 1,962 animal-vehicle crashes, according to the Deer-Vehicle Crash Information Clearinghouse.According to AAA, the average property damage claim from a deer-vehicle crash was $3,300.“Keep in mind, with increased development, deer habitat has decreased and deer are interacting and living closer to humans,” saiid AAA spokeswoman Ragina Averella. “Drive defensively and be alert, particularly near wooded areas along local roadways. Most deer-vehicle collisions occur on two-lane roads bordered by natural habitat."AAA offered the following tips for dealing with deer on the road: • Buckle up and do not speed. A decrease in speed gives you more time to react. AP Photo • Be observant. Look for deer-crossing signs indicating areas where deer frequently travel. Deer are creatures of habit and may often use the same path again – remember where you see them. • Be alert. A deer standing near a roadside may suddenly run across the road. Slow down and use your horn to scare the deer. Never shine or flash your vehicle's lights. This can cause the deer to fixate on your vehicle. Use high-beams for greater visibility. • Look for groups. Deer travel in groups, so if you see one crossing the road ahead slow down, as there are probably others in the area but out of view. • Never swerve. Instead, slow down and brake. Swerving can cause you to lose control of your vehicle and strike another vehicle or object along the roadway. • Do not rely on devices. There is no conclusive evidence that hood-mounted deer whistles and other such devices work. • Slow down. If a crash with a deer is unavoidable, AAA recommends slowing down and releasing your foot from the brake before impact. This will raise the front end of the car during the crash and increase the likelihood that the animal will go underneath the vehicle instead of through the windshield. • Do not try to move a deer. An injured deer might panic and seriously injure a Good Samaritan. Call police or animal control for assistance. I'll add a few of my own:•Put away the cell phone. Talking on a cell phone while driving is never a good idea, but it's especially risky when traveling on roads where deer are likely to jump out. Avoiding deer collisions requires your full attention.•Make a mental note of deer strikes. If you see a dead deer by the side of a road, that tells you something about that road.•Don't get complacent on highways. Deer don't necessarily avoid interstates and other limited-access highways. The higher the speed, the greater the impact. Take it easy.•Put your passenger to work. In especially high-risk areas, such as the back roads of the Eastern Shore or areas in transition from rural to suburban, ask a passenger to be alert for deer. Not only does that make that person a second set of eyes, it can deter driver-distracting activities and chatter.One more thing: If you're a parent of a teen who is close to getting a driver's license, you have a great opportunity to raise consciousness about a hazard they might not hear much about in driver's ed. If the teen is about to get a learner's permit, ask him or her to be your spotter in areas of high deer risk. If the teen is driving on a permit with you in the car, calmly issue reminders to look out for deer when in those areas.The kid might think you're annoying or obsessive, but you'll plant a thought in his or her mind that won't go away. Think of it as Positive Parental Brainwashing.

[QUOTE=joatmon]I don't know if those things have any effect. /QUOTE]About 12 yrs ago my dad hit a group of deer who jumped out of a blind ditch in front of us (I was shotgun), and he had two of those things on his front bumper... so I'm not sold on them.

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »how about wildlife in night clubs, that can be for both looking at and hitting on but it's not like I went out of my way to hit the deer. thing decided life wasn't worth living and suicided on my car.You KILLED it?!

Quote, originally posted by VforVIBE »You KILLED it?! spread the word: Don't mess with my Vibe!

Caretaker reminisces of the days when he and his dad would have a deer per week strung up in the garage, with hungry raccoons circling around us. We were in charge of picking up roadkill in the northern NJ area.I'm sorry that Joatmon did not get to feast on the beast that scribed his Vibe. Better luck next time Joat. In the future, just cut around the impact area and dine the rest of the winter on nature's delight.

Venison Stew FTW!

Quote, originally posted by ou.grizzly »Did you happen to get an estimate on damage? well, now I know why car insurance costs so much.The shop says they need to replace:Front bumper *Front bumper claddingFoam behind front bumperFront Pontiac emblemLeft headlightLeft front fender *Left front fender claddingrubber strip between front fender and front fender claddingLeft front fender linerand pull the front end back in line, it was kicked a bit to the passemnger sidestraighten the structure in the front left cornerpaint and blend the parts above marked with an asterisk (I wonder if that process will end up fixing the paint chips on the leading edge of the hood)and charge the insurance company $3,221.28Quote, originally posted by Feelin’ The Vibe »Venison Stew FTW!That's some pricey stew. cheaper to just buy dinty mooreQuote, originally posted by Caretaker »Caretaker reminisces of the days when he and his dad would ... joatmon is always strangely uneasy when people refer to themselves in the third person.

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »well, now I know why car insurance costs so much.The shop says they need to replace:Front bumper *Front bumper claddingFoam behind front bumperFront Pontiac emblemLeft headlightLeft front fender *Left front fender claddingrubber strip between front fender and front fender claddingLeft front fender linerand pull the front end back in line, it was kicked a bit to the passemnger sidestraighten the structure in the front left cornerpaint and blend the parts above marked with an asterisk (I wonder if that process will end up fixing the paint chips on the leading edge of the hood)and charge the insurance company $3,221.28Call up the body shop and see if they blend into the other panels; the hood and right passenger fender - a quality shop should. Especially considering the age of the vehicle (fading and etc).

Quote, originally posted by ou.grizzly »Call up the body shop and see if they blend into the other panels; the hood and right passenger fender - a quality shop should. Especially considering the age of the vehicle (fading and etc).yeah, they said they'd do that, guess I wasn't clear when I said paint and blend the front and fender, but that's why I'm hoping I'll get a few hood paint chips taken care of

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »yeah, they said they'd do that, guess I wasn't clear when I said paint and blend the front and fender, but that's why I'm hoping I'll get a few hood paint chips taken care ofThat was my fault, I skim read that portion... My apologies... I do hope they take care of the chips too...

holy mother!!!!something in my head made me decide to click over here today to check in and see what's happening, and low and behold what do we have!joat, you really need to leave deer collisions to us experts. seriously though, glad you're ok, and hopefully the animal is ok too (yes, despite my numerous run-ins with them, i still wish them no harm!)as for devices to repel them, i installed this in my G6 after my last major deerllision (how i reference a deer collision. deer + collision = deerllision hahahaha) in 2006 and ***knock on wood*** have NOT had another collision since:Maybe it's the deer alert. Maybe it's luck. But whatever it is, I'm thankful every day I drive from point A to point B and i DON'T have a run-in.

Any idea how close that estimate came to being totalled completely?

I did a quick search and it seemed like the Vibe did well compared to this onehttp://www.erepairables.com/ve....html

Quote, originally posted by ou.grizzly »I did a quick search and it seemed like the Vibe did well compared to this onehttp://www.erepairables.com/ve....htmlHOLY COW!!! A deer did that? I'd hate to see the size of a deer that did that. I am so glad our deer are the size of dogs in Florida, the only thing we really have to worry about down here is possums, raccoons, armadillos, bunnies and such.

Quote, originally posted by VforVIBE »HOLY COW!!! A deer did that? I'd hate to see the size of a deer that did that. I am so glad our deer are the size of dogs in Florida, the only thing we really have to worry about down here is possums, raccoons, armadillos, bunnies and such. That's actually pretty close to what my vibe looked like after it's deer hit...not *quite* that bad, but close.

Mike, good to see you still stop by here from time to timeHere is the first in progress photo from the repair shop. Looks worse now than before they started

475669=14514-repair1.jpg

*sniff* poor baby...

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »Here is the first in progress photo from the repair shop. Looks worse now than before they startedI stopped by and checked in on mine when I got into my crash... it always looks worse with the panels off.Although I think you should have the whole car painted to match the quarter panel... one of a kind vibe... hehe

Strip off all the paint, polish the metal, and clear coat it. Give it that cool B-17 look. http://www.eaa.org/wallpaper/i...n.jpg

Quote, originally posted by VforVIBE »I stopped by and checked in on mine when I got into my crash... it always looks worse with the panels off. The body shop has a relationship with my insurance company, and the insurance company has a web site where you are supposed to be able to watch and track the progress on the vehicle. That picture is from their web site. I hadn't stopped in to the body shop to check on mine, until today.Just got back, and re-checked the website, it still says that the repairs will be completed and the car will be ready on 11/19/09. As it turns out, that was yesterday, and the car still looks in the same state as that picture, which is dated 11/16/09, so nothing has happened to it since Monday. Apparently they "had a back up in the paint shop" or some such thing, and they say it will be done on Monday 11/23. Without going in to details, I feel I accurately conveyed to them my perspective and opinions. So I'm still currently vibeless, suffering from some serious withrawl. Been driving my 96 Ford Ranger, which is actually a surprisingly tolerable ride, but still, I want my zippy car back.

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »The body shop has a relationship with my insurance company, and the insurance company ahs a web site where you are suppsoed to be able to watch and track the progress on the vehicle. That picture is from their web site. That is nifty!

yeah, it would be nifty, but all it says for mine is that the car will be ready yesterday, and that is the only picture they offer. So the reality of it doesn't live up to the hype of all the posters they have on the walls of the shop's office

so today I checked the web site the insurance company has, and there is now this second photo, dated yesterday, 11/23/2009however, the status still says "Expected delivery date: 11/19/09 " I sure hope it will be ready tomorrow

476596=14537-repair2.jpg

*crosses fingers and toes for you* (and I have an extra 10 fingers and extra 10 toes!!)

Did they end up blending into the hood like they stated?

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »so today I checked the web site the insurance company has, and there is now this second photo, dated yesterday, 11/23/2009however, the status still says "Expected delivery date: 11/19/09 " I sure hope it will be ready tomorrowJoatmon, are they gonna paint the rear view mirrors silver also?As long as the paint and mirrors are off..... It should look great color keyed like a 2005 and up.

Quote, originally posted by VforVIBE » in Florida, the only thing we really have to worry about down here is possums, raccoons, armadillos, bunnies and such. Don't forget all the feral pigs! We've almost hit a couple driving through the panhandle area.

Quote, originally posted by epcIII »Don't forget all the feral pigs! We've almost hit a couple driving through the panhandle area.Really? Never had that problem in Tampa.

joat, did they paint the back side of that front pannel? I've heard some not so good stories of really great paint repair and matching that ended up going bad due to rust perforation because they didn't properly treat the hidden side of the metal. I would check on that, just to make sure. Paint in progress picture looks good, though!

Quote, originally posted by vibolista »joat, did they paint the back side of that front pannel? I've heard some not so good stories of really great paint repair and matching that ended up going bad due to rust perforation because they didn't properly treat the hidden side of the metal. I would check on that, just to make sure. That is an excellent point... Many 1st Gen Vibe's had rust weeping stains coming from the door handles.

Now you tell me!

Crappy deal hitting the dear...good to see you're okay though! Could have been much worse :S

Quote, originally posted by vibolista »Now you tell me! http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=36311Took me a bit to find it! Back on topic, do not want to shanghai the thread.

Got the car back. I sure did miss it. It looks like it did before I hit the deer, except cleaner. They also took care of the wax I accidentally got on the cladding (the parts they didn't replace) gaps between the various body panels are even and reasonable, all the lights work, etc.Driving home was pretty cool. After being in a different vehicle for two weeks, I had to remember where certain controls were. Only reached for the column shifter once, and didn't once forget to shift to neutral at a stop light.zippy damn car. I was up to 60 in a 50 zone without realizing it, and quickly. Looking forward to driving it over the river and through the woods for US turkey day tomorrow.I'd post a picture of it after, but honestly I don't see the need. Look at any picutre of an undamaged 03 Silver two tone Vibe, and that's what mine looks like.It's safely at rest at home, all healed, in the garage in it's protected place of honor. Its the alpha car in the pack at the joathouse once again.Quote, originally posted by ou.grizzly »Did they end up blending into the hood like they stated? As far as I can tell, the new parts and the old parts appear to be an exact match. If they didn't, then I guess they didn't need to. Quote, originally posted by MSAGRO »Joatmon, are they gonna paint the rear view mirrors silver also?As long as the paint and mirrors are off..... It should look great color keyed like a 2005 and up. My son's matrix is like that, and it's ok and all, but this was an insurance job, so all the repairs were free to me, and that would have cost extra, so I did not have that done.Quote, originally posted by vibolista »joat, did they paint the back side of that front pannel? yes, the metal fender is painted on both sides. The plastic front bumper, I'm not sure, but hopefully that won't rust Quote, originally posted by ou.grizzly »Back on topic, do not want to shanghai the thread. Fine, but the real question is whether or not they have a problem with feral pigs in Shanghai.

YAY! Zippy's back!! See? My crossed fingers and toes worked for you, as did my extra 10 crossed fingers and extra 10 crossed toes! hahaa...I know what you mean about the shift...after driving my mom's Bonnevilles for many years, I had that habit for the longest time of reaching for that column shift...