The first bad hit to my PBP Fit happened Sunday night. What looked like a 50 pound racoon ran up to the left front fog light then ripped it off, punched the front bumper in about 6 inches and then took off for parts unknown. ..I'm in a Chrysler 200 till the collision center can fix it. When I called Liberty Mutual they reminded me that the deductible on the collision part of my insurance was changed to a thousand bucks several months ago. .I had changed it from a hundred to save a little bit of money. Well,lesson learned. There's a thousand dollar Racoon running around central Florida so watch out folks! Possibly not running now. .

 

Fear not the high deductible if you are not prone to accidents!

I've filed one claim in the last 25 years of coverage from a deer strike, and all of those years with a high deductible saved me a ton of cash on reduced premiums and although that one cost me 1,000 deductible, I still came out WAYYYY ahead in savings.

 

Here in NJ, hitting a deer or other animal is part of Comprehensive coverage, not Collision. Our deductible on that segment is $100 USD...

 

It's the same in NY. Animal collisions are on comprehensive coverage.

 

I hit a large raccoon with my '00 New Beetle maybe 10-12 years ago that did over $6,000 damage to the car. Thankfully the original estimate was much lower (they found more damage as they took the car apart), otherwise they likely would have totaled it.

We've only had one other animal strike, when a deer hit the front fender of our '98 Grand Caravan about ten years ago. It was on the "up" bound, so it dented the fender and cracked the windshield as it rolled across (my wife said it grinned at her on the way past). Our sons saw it hit the ground, and said it lay there for a moment, then shook itself and hopped up and ran off.

Saw a beautiful ten-point buck just the other day that I would have hit had I not noticed it out of the corner of my vision in time to slow down and let it run ahead of me.

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Interesting that a hit like this does not deploy the airbags.

 

Two coyotes ran right in front of me in heavy traffic in Rockford IL. Near miss but amazing to see.

 

It's $910.00 and should be ready Friday afternoon. ..My concern is the front bumper cover was polished and had 3 coats of ReJex to protect against bug damage and the new cover cannot be sealed for 3 weeks. I am leaving for a 1500 mile trip to Clarksdale Mississippi and I know that it will be splattered with bug debris the whole way. It will be hard to get it perfect but there is nothing I can do till it cures. It's a source of pride to me to keep my Fit looking new.

 

One more thing is that the Liberty Mutual rep said he himself has had over 20 Racoon hits/claims going on recently and it was very odd there was so many. I think something weird is happening in the woods. ..

 

Since moving to the Middle West, I've noticed (after ten-plus years) that they are seasonal... Skunks, too. Won't see a roadkill skunk for months, then they're by the dozens all of a sudden.

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I was at the VA in Gainesville till 3:45 am on Wendsday and on the way home seen 7 or 8 road kills of various kinds...When a rabbit run out in front of me I slowed down then 50 yards latter I came up on a big falling tree blocking both lanes..I am resolved to look and be more careful now that all of this has happened. It was a expensive lesson I learned ...

 

I'm in Clanton Al on the way to Clarksdale and on 82 west there was a 50 mile stretch with lots of deer...A really stressful drive. Fortunately for us none crossed the road but it was very unnerving and we were forced to slow down. I was talking to my wife KJ ( kathyjo.net ) about finding a bumper guard for the Fit that might keep us from a total breakdown if we did hit something...Anybody ever seen one?