GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

On my way home from my Sister-in-laws I bumped into an old friend of mine. Well more like "ran the hell into" and "a deer" Story goes I was driving down a rural country road at 58 MPH singing along to the radio. Then out of the left ditch jumps bambi. Before I can even so much as think, the deer is hit and I am pulling off the road.Below are a series of pics of the end result. Now I get the joy of getting money out of an insurance company. May as well try and get blood out of a turnip while I am at it. I am guessing it will be about $4500 USD to get the work done.

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Sorry to read of your misfortune. I hope your Vibe can be repaired quickly and you can be on your way again.I think that you've overestimated the total damage to the car. I had an almost identical accident with a deer in my Mustang a few years ago. I had to have the front bumper cover and the driver side headlamp unit replaced. The bumper cover would have been reusable but two of the mounting clips were torn off when I hit the deer so it couldn't be re-hung. The hood was fiberglass and cracked a bit just above the headlight. They were able to repair the hood with a fiberglass kit. The front quarterpanel was bent, but they were able to pull it straight and it didn't have to be replaced. All told was only about $1300 in damage, and that was at one of the more expensive body shops around my area.From the pics you posted, I'd guess that you will need a new headlamp unit, front bumper cover, and probably a front quarterpanel. That fender looks to be bent in too many directions to be fixed right. The hood looks ok, but if damaged should be fixable. The whole front end of your car will be repainted so that everything matches. Can't say for sure without actually seeing it, but I'd guess that the total would be more like $2000 at most.Next time you decide to go deer hunting, try using a gun or a bow and arrow.

Quote, originally posted by Stang2Vibe » Next time you decide to go deer hunting, try using a gun or a bow and arrow. Good advice for all! :-0I hope you are right about the cost of the repairs. I am just a little negative right now. Perhaps I did over estimate. I will find out what the body shop says in the morning. I will post the actual estimate.

I agree, I think you overestimated. I had significantly more (visible) damage when I hit a deer: http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=6823And mine came out to just a little under $3000...

Quote, originally posted by ragingfish »I agree, I think you overestimated. I had significantly more (visible) damage when I hit a deer: http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=6823And mine came out to just a little under $3000...With any luck the money won't be coming directly out of my pocket, but it is good to hear. I tend to get a little melodramatic when I just wrecked my car.

More photos at this link:http://homepage.mac.com/backwa....html

I don't know if I agree that it's overestimated. The damage looks very similar to that sustained in my accident and the total was about $4500.

Ouch. Sorry to hear about your run in. It really looks like you got a hold of that deer. Hope the repairs all work out for you.

should have tracked him down, folded the seats seats down, and thrown his dead (removed) in the back!the ins. company is going to eat your (removed), so you should eat his!

Quote, originally posted by drunkenvibe »should have tracked him down, folded the seats seats down, and thrown his dead (removed) in the back!the ins. company is going to eat your (removed), so you should eat his! Such a way with words. WELL PUT!

Ouch... That sucks!

Well the estimate is in at a low low price of $3493.68.$2000.31 for parts $1493.37 for laborAt the moment my insurance company is going to verify the cost by sending out an adjuster because the cost is more than $2000. Once they are satisfied, I will take it to the body shop for the work to begin. It should be all cleaned up in about two weeks.

What are they charging you per hour for labor. That is friggin crazy.

Quote, originally posted by Mr. Poopypants »What are they charging you per hour for labor. That is friggin crazy.It varies on the process from $26 (paint) an hour to $56 (Mechanical) an hour.

And they think it will take that long?? That is really STEEP for a total figure.

Just to do my rear bumper, (new bumper and paint) it came out to 600 and some change. There's quite abit of stuff to think about in that "minor" looking wreck.

I almost forgot! Where's the pictures of the deer! Not to be morbid, but hey...was he pretty messed up?

Quote, originally posted by MonotoneSatellite »It varies on the process from $26 (paint) an hour to $56 (Mechanical) an hour.That is actually pretty cheap for labor. There are places here that charge upwards of $65 to $70 per hour for labor.That reminds me when my friend hit a deer in his Cougar. It was a mess! He hit it doing around 70 or so. Part of the deer got caught in the front wheel well and it actually ripped the quarter panel off of the car, not to mention the blood and guts all along the side. I believe it was around $4000 dollars damage.

I am sorry to hear about your accident. I got lucky myself. I was driving home from a barbeque and I glanced to my right and there was bambi running along side. It was at my passenger rear and decided he want to cross the street...and WHACK.Lucky my car just had a lil dent(thank God it wasnt a Buck)....I am sure Bambi had a bit of a headache.

Hmmm. Woods Smoked Meats in Bowling Green MO makes THE BEST deear sausage with cheese and Jalpenos peppers in it! They are 4 hours from me and thats is where I go for deer sausage processing-they are that good!Sorry about the car! Glad you were not hurt.

Quote, originally posted by savedbyzero »I almost forgot! Where's the pictures of the deer! Not to be morbid, but hey...was he pretty messed up?The deer actually lived through the hit. I only hit the rear right leg of the deer as he ran across my path of travel. However, I doubt that he lived much past dawn the next morning. I know that his right rear leg was broken badly, but he was still able hobble off. I don't carry any sort of firearm in my car so I had no way to bring him down. Even if I had a gun, it would have been illegal to shoot him due to the season, proximity to a highway, proximity to residential property and the hour of the day. To be honest though, I would have shot him just to save him the slow painful death that awaited him, fines be damned.

eh, screw that deer! you shoul have dragged him into the road and let your vibe get revenge by hitting lift while your tires were on his head!!

Quote, originally posted by MonotoneSatellite »The deer actually lived through the hit. I only hit the rear right leg of the deer as he ran across my path of travel. However, I doubt that he lived much past dawn the next morning. I know that his right rear leg was broken badly, but he was still able hobble off. I don't carry any sort of firearm in my car so I had no way to bring him down. Even if I had a gun, it would have been illegal to shoot him due to the season, proximity to a highway, proximity to residential property and the hour of the day. To be honest though, I would have shot him just to save him the slow painful death that awaited him, fines be damned.That sucks, if he caused that much damage, he should have paid the ultimate price. OK, any PETA members here??? We'll find out in a little bit I guess.

i had to find the pics, but this was what happened when i 'encountered' a deer at 80mph....luckily the airbags didn't deploy and we were within rolling distance of an interstate rest-stop that had a police station next to it!

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and one more....oh ya....$11,000 Cdn...the car at the time was worth about $13,000...they asked me if i wanted to write it off but i couldn't afford to go shopping for a new car at the time as we were buying our first house...so i had it repaired.....it drove well for another 2.5 years and i just traded it in for my Vibe!

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wow! i hope that (removed) died!

D@MN! That hurt!How much was repair on that bad boy?

$11,000 cdn ...(see last post with picture...)

11G! Holy crap! He got you good then! That's sucks. Hope you were alright. The poor Vdub sure wasn't! Is that how you got the Vibe?

Quote, originally posted by savedbyzero »11G! Holy crap! He got you good then! That's sucks. Hope you were alright. The poor Vdub sure wasn't! Is that how you got the Vibe?the good news...a 'preferred' shop for my insurance company was the VW dealer where i bought the car new....the manager of the 'body shop' is a friend of my dad's. so everything was replaced with VW parts except for the hood (out of stock and i need to wait another 2 weeks to get one) so i went for an after market. BIG mistake. it was the only part of the repair that started to rust a year later and the ONLY thing that showed any sort of replacement took place.the A/C, Rad, headlights (obviously!), alternator, dist. cap, battery were all replaced...the quarter panels, windshield, and hood were replaced and new fog lamps installed. a bunch of plastic replaced under the sheet metal and a TON of labour costs. I have a printout with a detailed description with costs for EVERY part...i keep it around to amaze people when i show them the costs of 'all things VW'.Luckily no damage to the frame as the deer hit above the bumper but not so high it could slide up the hood into us! instead it bounced right over us!the deer definitely died....there was a good chunk of skull/brain where the front passenger headlight used to be (cleaned up in the pictures).i ended up driving it for another 2.5 years and then decided about a month ago that it was time to get a new car....and that's the rest of the story....and how the vibe entered my life!

Nice Paul Harvey touch at the end there!

Quote, originally posted by silverawd26 »Hey Monotone Satellite.. I am glad you are ok from hitting the deer. Thanks. I hardly even felt the actual impact. It was a very surreal experience. I had the cruise control on and was driving with my foot over the brake pedal. Even in that position, I don't think I hit the brake until after I hit the deer.

i agree, nice to hear you're not injured, MS.I've seen some deer hits (and one with a moose) where people were seriously injured! One of the major causes (according to the policeman that helped us out) of injuries is from people braking hard...causes the nose of the car to dip and the deer comes in through the windshield.I barely had time to take my foot off the gas! but that may have saved us serious injury!!

Well the insurance adjuster stopped by to look at the Vibe. He took some pictures and confirmed my story. He said he would have his own estimate tomorrow. With any luck, he will find the repair shops estimate fair so I can proceed with the repairs.I've found life in my wife's S10 tedious and uncomfortable. Though I have driven the truck on occasion, I haven't driven it every day and it is not nearly the vehicle that the Vibe is.