I freaking hate deers :(

[iseeu1001]

FML. I just hit a deer on on july the 3rd around 11:40 ish pm and now my car is front driver side is messed up and even my drivers door is now making a rubbing sound when you rub open the drivers door so it seems like the deer bent the fender. If you look at the 2nd picture with my fingers you can see the door and the driver fender doesn't match up now because the door is higher then the fender now. My bumper is torn up. Nooo I just got this truck in may. I never knew deers could do so much damage.. Imgur: The magic of the Internet

 

[MissouriBreaks]

You seem to have gotten lucky and it appears that your 4Runner is lightly damaged, I have seen deer take out the whole front end of a vehicle (grill, hood, bumper, fender, front door, etc.). My dad hit several deer over his lifetime and I was riding with him for one of those hits.

 

[iseeu1001]

You seem to have gotten lucky and it appears that your 4Runner is lightly damaged, I have seen deer take out the whole front end of a vehicle (grill, hood, bumper, fender, front door, etc.). My dad hit several deer over his lifetime and I was riding with him for one of those hits.

It just sucks lol because I just got that bout 2 months ago but it’s just a car and can be fixed/replaced. Anyways I’m going to have to wait until tomorrow or when I have time so they can look at my damages over the photo I sent to Geico. It may take a week or so until my truck gets fixed

 

[cb1111]

It just sucks lol because I just got that bout 2 months ago but it’s just a car and can be fixed/replaced. Anyways I’m going to have to wait until tomorrow or when I have time so they can look at my damages over the photo I sent to Geico. It may take a week or so until my truck gets fixed

No worries, this is light deer damage. A few points:

Ask on your local forums where the best body shop is. In general, the body shops recommended by insurance companies do sub-standard work. they have agreements with the insurance companies to do work on a fixed rate with no overages, so they will sometimes cut corners to sae money.

Do not wash the car before the appraiser looks at it. It has to be clear that it is wildlife damage as that falls under the comprehensive portion of your insurance, so your rates won't go up based on this accident.

 

[iseeu1001]

No worries, this is light deer damage. A few points:

Ask on your local forums where the best body shop is. In general, the body shops recommended by insurance companies do sub-standard work. they have agreements with the insurance companies to do work on a fixed rate with no overages, so they will sometimes cut corners to sae money.

Do not wash the car before the appraiser looks at it. It has to be clear that it is wildlife damage as that falls under the comprehensive portion of your insurance, so your rates won't go up based on this accident.

Good thing with geico is that they let me use any shop I wish so I just gotta let the adjuster see my car damage photos and it will all be good. I am thinking bout taking it to get it done at a toyota body shop since I won't have to pay for the whole damage and just my deductable.

 

[cb1111]

Good thing with geico is that they let me use any shop I wish so I just gotta let the adjuster see my car damage photos and it will all be good. I am thinking bout taking it to get it done at a toyota body shop since I won't have to pay for the whole damage and just my deductable.

Just because the body shop is connected to a dealership doesn't necessarily mean that it is any good.

you want to get recommendations from various sources - communities, Yelp, Google etc.

GEICO will try to steer you t one of their body shops.

 

[JAXJeremy]

Sucks about the damage to the rig, but as long as you're ok, that stuff can be fixed..Been there done that myself. The one I hit was running across 95 in South Carolina right around dusk..I was doing about 70 MPH in my Bronco..went right over one, found all sorts of deer bits lodged in my axles and underneath the truck, but never found the deer itself..worst part was the damn thing tweaked my frame..

 

[RichinRidgewood]

Im surprised our local resident English major [MENTION=166470]itr1275[/MENTION] hasn't chimed in about this all ready....

It's "deer" not "deers"

Deer is the plural of deer the same for shrimp and shrimp.

 

[Ogre75]

This is the reason I have a CBI bumper on order.

 

[thennen]

I think deer hate cars even more. And totally despise semis.

 

[Drifter2080]

Ah this is always my fear driving down country roads at night. Glad you're okay though.

 

[iseeu1001]

I’m located in MD as you can tell from my tag and in Montgomery county for anyone that knows of a good shop. Geico says they may not use oem as a cost effective thing so any idea on how I can get them to use oem part? They said I may have to pay the difference in price if I want oem but what the heck I been with them since I started driving n now I’m 26 so bout 8 or so yrs

 

[freak4life]

I’m located in MD as you can tell from my tag and in Montgomery county for anyone that knows of a good shop. Geico says they may not use oem as a cost effective thing so any idea on how I can get them to use oem part? They said I may have to pay the difference in price if I want oem but what the heck I been with them since I started driving n now I’m 26 so bout 8 or so yrs

Insurance companies care nothing about how long you have been with them, they want customers who never files a claim.

 

[cb1111]

I’m located in MD as you can tell from my tag and in Montgomery county for anyone that knows of a good shop. Geico says they may not use oem as a cost effective thing so any idea on how I can get them to use oem part? They said I may have to pay the difference in price if I want oem but what the heck I been with them since I started driving n now I’m 26 so bout 8 or so yrs

Actually, I do. Where are you in MontCo?

You need to find a shop that is unable to find aftermarket parts.

Send me a PM and I'll give you a few suggestions.

I whacked 3 deer while I was living in Gaithersburg - so been there, done that. I had GEICO then too.

 

[Drobs]

The most common question asked in Missouri after a deer / vehicle hit...
Did you keep the meat?


Reminds me I should add a big roll of plastic and fixed blade knife to my 4Runner.

 

[patkelly4370]

I have never hit an animal. On a couple of occasions an animal struck my vehicle.
A big difference in deductibles.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[cb1111]

I have never hit an animal. On a couple of occasions an animal struck my vehicle.
A big difference in deductibles.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Unless you are in a very unusual state, there is no difference in hitting wildlife or wildlife hitting you in terms of deductibles.

Wildlife accidents are covered under the comprehensive portion of your insurance. this means that your rates will not increase following this type of accident.

You raise a very important point however about deductibles. Each portion of the insurance has its own deductible so you can have a high deductible (say $1k) for liability (those things that are your fault) and $100 for the comprehensive side (fire/theft, wildlife, glass - i.e. things you can't avoid).

Having a low deductible on the comp side is cheap. For me (YMMV) the difference from a $1k to a $100 deductible is about $26 a year. For the 4R price range car it would probably be $50 a year. To reduce the deductible on the liability side is expensive - several hundred a year, but the lower deductible on the comp side pays for itself the first time you need a new windshield.

I figured that I need a new windshield every 5 years or so. For my car, the windshield is about $500. With the $1k deductible, the windshield costs me $500. With the $100 deductible it costs me $130 (5x$26) plus $100, so $230.

 

[BackOff]

Deer are good and bad.
Gives a good excuse to start in on some t4r mods... front bumper, new lift, bigger tires... yada, yada, yada.

Was the start of my 'rabbit hole'

Damn deer.

Loud exaust and loud mudd tires help to scare animals and small children out of the road.

 

[Jpilot]

Heck yeah!

Totally agree that this is a good excuse to do some mods. I was looking at a t4r with front end damage to repair and drive and this was one of the bada$$ mods I found. Maybe a great start to a great rig.
LFD Off Road - 5th Gen 4Runner Front Bumper - Full Replacement 2014+ TRD Pro Grille

 

[ElectroBoy]

Thanks for pointing out that insurance company technique for using aftermarket parts, @ cb1111. I just looked at my policy. It lists Vehicle Manufacturer Replacement Parts for Collision and Comprehensive. I pay an extra $70 per year for that coverage.