Hit a deer over the weekend while driving in broad daylight. Deer just jumped out of the bushes on the side of the road and roughed up my '07 pretty good.

Doesn't look like there's any non-body damage (other than the headlight and windshield), but the deer somehow managed to the hood, windshield, fender, door, rear door, and rear quarter panel.

Should have the insurance estimate today. Can't believe they'd total it -- it'd be a real shame since the car is in impeccable condition everywhere else and has only 60k. Worth between $9-10k; I'd estimate $5k in damages.

The pictures (and goo) tell the story of the deer, though. Such a violent collision. Thankfully we were unharmed. The airbags didn't deploy, which is nice.

All things considered, the Fit held up pretty well; and to its credit it held its ground and kept going straight. Looks like the crunch zones worked as planned.

 

Duct tape will fix that right up!

but seriously glad you guys are ok!

 

Let them total it.
But before you settle on a price, do your research as to what the trade in value, private sale value and retail sales value are.
My wife totaled her 2006 Elantra in September, excellant condition with just 10,577 miles on it.
The insurance company first said it was worth $7,400, minus the $500 deductable.
I refused and submitted all three of the above values, and we settled on $11,600, minus the $500 neted me $11,100.
Once you settle on a value (we settled half way between private sale and full retail value), offer to buy the wreck back.
If they total it, it will go to auction, and they will have to pay fees to sell it that way.
If you can get it cheap enough, you could get it fixed up and still have money left over.
Gregg

 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!! YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY : / sorry for the loss aslong as ur ok that's all that matters over a hunk of metal

 

Got the estimate back today. Insurance is not totaling it, which is good. $5k in repairs, which is about what I thought. Looking forward to having it back in its good old shape again!

 

Wow! Suspect it was worse for the deer.

I was going to tell you I thought it might not necessarily be totaled. Reason is, it's actually not THAT much repair work for a shop. Unbolt panels, stick new ones on. New light. The rear fender can be massaged out probably.

The fact there's so much visible damage from a relatively light, movable object shows how thin body panels have become. Or it was a big deer.

Drive safe, might not always work out so good

 

Definitely could have been worse... Could have been a head-on but looks like you just side-swiped it. Glad you're ok and the car's going to be ok too with a new facelift. Good luck!

 

Thanks, guys!