#(*&#!!! Deer...

[sirwired]

Wife was coming home from work Wednesday evening (she drives a bright red '06 Solara Conv. named Roxie), and a suicidal deer decided to walk right onto the interstate. My wife was in the center lane, did the right thing, and hit that MoFo straight on (Hint! Swerving in traffic to avoid a deer is waaaaay more dangerous then just acting in the service of Darwin and running over the thing.)

Somebody else(es) must have hit it too, because by the time I got there 15 minutes later, it was just a side of meat with bones sticking out of it... couldn't even tell it was a deer any more.

Damage:
Hood
Driver's fender
Headlight
Grill
Bumper
Probably radiator and A/C condenser (wife reported some steam after she pulled over)
Whatever bits are behind the headlight
Engine and frame appear ok

AAA showed up in about a 1/2 hr to tow away our Beloved Roxie, and the claims handler for insurance called this morning to get the ball rolling. Body shop is closed until Monday, so we won't know how long she's going to be out of commission until then. I'm guessing that she won't be totaled (Blue Book is $16k), but she'll be laid up for a while in the shop. My Wild Ass Guess is $6k, three weeks.

*sigh*... At least it's covered under comprehensive coverage (which shocked the heck out of me), so the deductible is only $100. Although a rental car for the next two or three weeks is gonna suck...

[Sapphire Silk]

Sorry to hear about your wife car.

Is she OK?

[Gawdzillers]

That wasn't a suicidal deer, that was just a regular, dumb ol' deer.

[ditchdj]

It's even messed up when humans do this. And they're supposed to have bigger brains and "know better".

[dbuzman]

Chances are your insurance will pay for a rental car for at least part of the time needed.

[fma_fanatic]

If it's AAA, you should have the coverage if you have comprehensive and collision, unless you opted out for it. They prefer to use Enterprise for their rental cars and will cover you for 30 days unless extenuating circumstances prevent you from getting repairs done under that time frame.

It's also important to note that if the car is totaled, they only pay for the rental car for a week. I guess they figure you can find a car in that time frame.

[ApolloSZ]

Hope your wife wasn't too shook up.

Oh and I'm betting $7k, but 2.5 weeks, do we have any advance on this? :P

[blas]

I *heart* comphrehensive.

This time of year, not only do you have to worry about glare iced or slick roads, but also deer on those bad roads.

[sirwired]

The wife is fine... the deer didn't even slow down the 3,000lb car, so no airbags, and the deer didn't hit the glass, so no interior problems.

AAA was merely who I had tow the car. My insurance is through Travelers... no rental car, as I specifically declined rental coverage. (I'm a big fan of not insuring something you can afford to cover out of pocket without crying... you win some, you lose some.) Because of the claim, we are getting a good rate on the car though. (Although, truth be told, it's not much better than my corporate rate, which is REALLY good.)

[Dreamstalker]

We literally came within 4 feet of hitting a deer the other day; luckily it was a local street so dad wasn't going that fast. He was more concerned with whether something had chased them across the road (he's seen bear and mountain lions in the neighborhood).

[Frantic Freddie]

Deer are the most dangerous animal in the US,accounting for more fatalities than bears,mountain lions,alligators,poisonous snakes & spiders combined.

[sirwired]

$3700 parts, 30 hours body labor, 18 hours paint labor, $6538 total.

The most expensive part, at $500 used is the "Air Cleaner Assembly" of all things. Who knew a black plastic box that holds the air filter and attaches a bunch of hoses could be so expensive.

Final parts list:
Bumper cover / bumper
Grill
Headlight
Foglight
Left Fender
Bunch of random braces and supports
Radiator
A/C Condenser
A/C and Radiator fans
Hood
"Insulators"
Battery
A couple hours of frame labor

I guess this is what insurance is for...

[teh_blumchenkinder]

Are you still upset at the deer?
Try this! (sfw, but not if you're against eating meat/ killing animals)

[rageaholic]

God, why are animals so stupid? Luckly, the only animals I've encountered were birds and squirrels, but jeez... Running out in front of a moving vehicle is not a smart idea.

[sirwired]

Finally picked up the car today... another $1300, for a total of $7800 (of which I paid $100) + $400 of rental car cost (out-of-pocket.)

That was some really expensive venison.