Hit a deer!!

  • Thread starter Deleted member 39001
  • Start date
D

Deleted member 39001

Guest
I'll take some pics tomorrow of the damage but on the way home from bloody Tesco shopping I had a lovely incident with a deer. Of course it got up and ran off, unfortunately my car now has damage on the front passenger side.
As far as I can tell:

Smashed, split spoiler, fog light totally loose, headlight can be pulled out by hand and is totally smashed, front black grill bent around, I think the bonnet may be a tiny bit out of alignment now as the gaps next to the windscreen are not even but it's hard to say for sure. Looks like some damage to the black plastic whatever it is behind that corner of the spoiler.

So I called the claim line, they took the details and now of course I have to call the people who actually insure it which are only available on week days office hours!! JUST GREAT. At least none of the airbags went off... Rather annoyed because this is going to cost me entirely...... Not a good time of year

The first time I hit a deer after living in Dorset for 16 years and it has to be in my bloody new car!!! Well I got her new September 2009.
 
Im assuming you have comprehensive cover which should cover you for it minus your excess.

Do you have protected no claims?

What is the car worth? Does sound quite substantial.
 
Im assuming you have comprehensive cover which should cover you for it minus your excess.

Do you have protected no claims?

What is the car worth? Does sound quite substantial.

Yes to all, thank God. It's a Fiesta mk 7 ZetecS I got new in 2009. So it's most likely worth, well was, I guess 12K or 10k?
I got protected no claims too but I still gotta pay the excess... plus no doubt increase in premiums. I'm a practical person as most on here but unfortunately I'm not a mechanic so can't do it myself. :(
Just damn annoyed because it's just one of those things... only person you can blame is yourself but you know you would of hit it either way. And why do the bloody deer get up and run off!!
 
I'll take some pics tomorrow of the damage but on the way home from bloody Tesco shopping I had a lovely incident with a deer. Of course it got up and ran off, unfortunately my car now has damage on the front passenger side.
As far as I can tell:


The first time I hit a deer after living in Dorset for 16 years and it has to be in my bloody new car!!! Well I got her new September 2009.

You're very fortunate to have got away with that.....a close friend of mine was working in the States and a deer jumped out in front of her car(the usual chunky US 4x4) which was totalled by the impact.

It being America of course,the driver of the next big vehicle along got her sorted out,drove her to the next gas station,and carted off the deer over the front of his truck.
 
You're very fortunate to have got away with that.....a close friend of mine was working in the States and a deer jumped out in front of her car(the usual chunky US 4x4) which was totalled by the impact.

It being America of course,the driver of the next big vehicle along got her sorted out,drove her to the next gas station,and carted off the deer over the front of his truck.

Flipping heck! I am glad that I'm not hurt, my mum was in the car as well. None of the air bags went off either so I'm hoping the damage is just the stuff designed to break and give way. But they are solid animals!! Why do they alway's get up and run off after?? Nature having a laugh?
 
Flipping heck! I am glad that I'm not hurt, my mum was in the car as well. None of the air bags went off either so I'm hoping the damage is just the stuff designed to break and give way. But they are solid animals!! Why do they alway's get up and run off after?? Nature having a laugh?

The one above didn't get up!

Seriously though,she was very lucky,as the deer came charging out of woods by the side of the road and landed in the side of her 4x4,and just wrecked it,and itself in the process.

It's not far off being hit by a small car.
 
Found a small dent on the bonnet and some small markings. Also worried because the back wiper is stuck half up and the boot needs a push to open it, the gas cylinders will nearly lift it all the way but not quit had no problems at all with this before. I can't call the insurance company I need to until Tuesday either as I'm out early tomorrow, if I'm home by 7 then I can otherwise it's Tuesday, me thinks 3 weeks at least to get this all sorted :(

IMG_0238.jpg


IMG_0249.jpg


IMG_0239.jpg


IMG_0240.jpg


IMG_0241.jpg


IMG_0242.jpg
 
Wow this was likely a loud sounding impact, you done well to bring the car to a halt safely.

You'll no doubt have got a fright but you get back on keep going.

Not sure what's up with the rear of the car but you'll need a new front bumper and most likely all the associated trims and trays inserts etc, new headlight and new bonnet.

Parts aren't expensive though so hopefully despite having protected no cliams you won't take a huge hit.

Liam
 
Wow this was likely a loud sounding impact, you done well to bring the car to a halt safely.

You'll no doubt have got a fright but you get back on keep going.

Not sure what's up with the rear of the car but you'll need a new front bumper and most likely all the associated trims and trays inserts etc, new headlight and new bonnet.

Parts aren't expensive though so hopefully despite having protected no cliams you won't take a huge hit.

Liam

Thanks mate. Irony had it's part to play, I was overtaking a slow oil tanker, he was doing about 35, 40 in a 60 and on the road I was on there is a nice long up hill straight, it's not far from my home, of course when I was overtaking the lorry was when the lovely deer bounced out from the hedgerow. You think *** then where are you going deer then realise it's decided the lorry is bigger so it'll bounce back into your path and bam!
If I hadn't overtaken the lorry or if I taken the tiny backroad home (which I try to avoid in my car because it was too new to cope with the potholes) instead of the main road but there you go.

I did slam the brakes on but you have seconds to do anything and I had to carry on pass the lorry after. I did stop but had to get pass the lorry. Wasn't nice seeing the deer struggling but I kinda hope it's dead looking at my car.
I'll call my Ford dealer tomorrow and get it sorted, my insurance company did say take it to nationwide repair but had no clue if my 2 years of warranty left would be void or not if I did. No it's ok, Ford can do it thanks....
You can really tell though how cars these day's are designed to crumble at key areas. If I was in my old Rover the deer probably would have gone up in the air! And I wouldn't have been unharmed I suspect.

It could have been worst as if it was at a fast speed or more head on I could have hit the oil tanker but it the tanker was going fast I wouldn't of overtaken I guess.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Most modern cars are mostly plastic as well. All bumpers and wings on my car are what seems like cheap plastic which I would expect from a Renault but at the same time it has a 5 star NCAP rating. My old Corsa was pretty much metal all round!
 
If the boot won't shut, it suggests that the car has done its job, transferring the impact through the car, rather than being completely absorbed in the area that the 'deer strike' occurred.

If bags didn't deploy, it suggests that the car should be in a state that can be repaired, but I'd be asking to have the boot looked at right away, because that's a lot of 'impact' transferred to cause any damage at the back.
 
If the boot won't shut, it suggests that the car has done its job, transferring the impact through the car, rather than being completely absorbed in the area that the 'deer strike' occurred.

If bags didn't deploy, it suggests that the car should be in a state that can be repaired, but I'd be asking to have the boot looked at right away, because that's a lot of 'impact' transferred to cause any damage at the back.

The boot shuts fine, the thing wrong with it is the wiper blade is stuck half up??? And the boot won't totally open on it's own. You can press the button and it begins to open fine but you have to give it a little push to open all the way. Not anything drastic but I'm sure it wasn't like that before.
Think I'll go and have a look at the boot floor inside the car now...
 
Hmm, well I actually need to push the boot lid about 3 quaters of the way open for the gas cylinders to push it up, but the boot lid drops very easily with little resistance. The floor looks ok, the only possible thing is the gas cylinder on the side of the impact is at a slight more angle then the side that didn't have the impact..
Now thinking this should I be looking for a new car? Should I get it repaired and sell it for another one? Or am I being paranoid? It's getting picked up tomorrow.
 
Probably best to wait for the damage to be assesed. From the damage to the front only, it sounds like it could be repaired but they could find other structural damage which could take it closer to being a write off.
 
Probably best to wait for the damage to be assesed. From the damage to the front only, it sounds like it could be repaired but they could find other structural damage which could take it closer to being a write off.

Hmmm, that's the worry. Looking at the front it's cosmetic kinda, but that bootlid worked perfectly fine 30 mins before the accident because I opened it to put the shopping in! I'll know by Thursday/ Friday.
 
Hmmm, that's the worry. Looking at the front it's cosmetic kinda, but that bootlid worked perfectly fine 30 mins before the accident because I opened it to put the shopping in! I'll know by Thursday/ Friday.

Whoops, misread. I thought you said close, you meant open. Could be a related issue though, but I'm not going to speculate with scary thoughts of a twisted chassis etc. :laugh: It could quite easily be a coincidence that the gas lifters are faulty.
 
Whoops, misread. I thought you said close, you meant open. Could be a related issue though, but I'm not going to speculate with scary thoughts of a twisted chassis etc. :laugh: It could quite easily be a coincidence that the gas lifters are faulty.

The boot closes and opens fine, no problems with the catch at all. The issue is that you now have to push the boot lid almost fully open for the gas struts to support it and it will just fall shut once you push it down about a quarter of the way.
The boot was PERFECTLY fine 20 mins before the accident because I put the Tesco shopping in it! And there are no marks anywhere on the car bar the front, this is what's worrying me, that the energy from the impact got sent around the safety cell as expected but has effected the structure or chassis. How else would it affect the boot lid?
 
I really am amazed that no one has passed comment about apolloa's repeated comments suggesting that because the deer that he hit damaged his car it should be dead or at least badly hurt. I am sure I am not the only one on these forums that cares about wild animals.
 
I really am amazed that no one has passed comment about apolloa's repeated comments suggesting that because the deer that he hit damaged his car it should be dead or at least badly hurt. I am sure I am not the only one on these forums that cares about wild animals.

Unfortunately, deers don't log on to forums to discuss their part of what they would clearly deem a 'hit and run'.

Do you happen to have the same concern for pigeons and rabbits, that can also ruin bumpers? ;)

Don't take it personally - this is the motoring forum!
 
I really am amazed that no one has passed comment about apolloa's repeated comments suggesting that because the deer that he hit damaged his car it should be dead or at least badly hurt. I am sure I am not the only one on these forums that cares about wild animals.

I appreciate your care for the animal but looking at my car I would rather just shoot it. I love animals, so long as they don't potentially cost me thousands!! Few animals I would forgive for that, the dog being one, deer - no however.
 
In response to silver fox I certainly don't take it personally and I would be gutted should my car be damaged in a similar way but I really don't think there is any need to wish the animal either dead or badly injured in so many separate posts.

In response to apolloa I would not forgive any animal including other humans for damaging my pride and joy but neither would I wish them dead.
 
Last edited:
In response to silver fox I certainly don't take it personally and I would be gutted should my car be damaged in a similar way but I really don't think there is any need to wish the animal either dead or badly injured in so many separate posts.

In response to apolloa I would not forgive any animal including other humans for damaging my pride and joy but neither would I wish them dead.

Take a forum post as a means to an end of venting frustration - I'm 100% categorically certain that apolloa doesn't wish (or deliver) death upon any animal on purpose.

Perhaps a knee-jerk reaction, but I can sympathise in a similar way that when in a HUGE traffic jam, you think "there'd better be a damned good reason for this jam" expecting to see a huge pile-up, only to see a broken down Metro.

I don't want people to crash, but to cause the inconvenience, you expect a good reason. If you total your car, you'd 'hope' (expect!) that the other party (i.e. animal) sustained more than just a scratch.
 
Well, my car IS going to be repaired, the chassis is fine, thank GOD!!! :thumbsup: But I will get confirmation tomorrow on the boot hatch as the person I spoke to wasn't sure and the engineer had gone home. But at least it's not a right off!!! :clap::clap: I think..

And I do think the deer should be dead cause my cars only 14 months old! I expect it only had a broken leg at worst tough.

As you can tell I am still gutted it happened, mainly cause the car is so young. Bambi just needs to remain in the fields.
 
Sorry Silverfox but your "100% categorically certain" was a bit off according to apolloa latest post "And I do think the deer should be dead"
 
I was overtaking a slow oil tanker, he was doing about 35, 40 in a 60

Just to be a bit anal, HGV's are only allowed by law to do 40mph on a single track road, despite what road signs there are.

Not saying you did anything wrong mind, other than harming one of natures great wonders and worrying only about your car you heartless git !

I am joking of course :thumbsup::thumbsup:
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom