It Figures
Above is our brand new car, less than four weeks old, still smelling like that new car smell.
Sigh.
Back from our vacation, a few days later we took my brother-in-law and his family to the airport for their trip home over seas. We got back home in good time and decided to go ahead and return the rental van a day early. So I set off in the rental van and my wife soon followed in the new car to pick me up at the rental place 80 miles away.
The drop off went smoothly and my wife being tired, asked me to drive her car home so she could take a nap. Feeling fine, I obliged and set off towards home. Less than 30 minutes later, at 1:30 on a hot sunny afternoon, a deer ran out in front of me from seemingly nowhere. I had a split second to swerve violently and attempt to brake. The swerve helped somewhat to make it a glancing blow on the hindquarters of the deer but my foot never had time to hit the brake before impact.
They say here in Iowa it isn't if you will hit a deer but when you will hit one. It happens to everyone eventually. It took 35 years of driving for me to hit my first one. I just wish it hadn't been in a brand new car though. What surprised me the most was that it was in the middle of the day when deer are all bedded down. They are typically active in the dusk of evening until dawn of morning. This one, small enough to probably be a yearling born last year, hadn't figured out proper procedures yet evidently.
After slowing down (my foot finally hit the brake a second too late) and regaining my composure and informing my now awake wife what had just taken place, I continued on without stopping. It had been a glancing blow and well away from the radiator and there was really nothing I could do in the middle of nowhere anyway but to keep driving.
As I continued towards home, I kept hoping that there was just some fur stuck in the corner of the bumper but about 20 minutes later, I got an error popping up on the screen informing me that the parking assist feature had malfunctioned and to take care when parking. Not having driven this vehicle much at all, I'm not sure what that actually is. I'm guessing it is a front facing camera or sensor to help in tight parking spots. But I knew at that point, that damage had been sustained.
When I got home and got out to look at it, my heart sank. It looked pretty bad. But after inspecting it further, I realized that all that was broken was the plastic bumper and the parts that hold it in place. I was able to push it back into place somewhat so it wasn't hanging away from the body and so to the casual observer, might not notice any damage anymore. However, I know all those pieces and the labor to fix them will be quite steep.
I took it into a body shop the next day and got an estimate for the repair and had them proceed with ordering all the necessary parts. Most of the bill will be labor taking parts from the 3/4th of the old bumper assembly that are still fine and putting them on a new bumper assembly. It is more than my deductible so I could make a claim on my car insurance but my agent guaranteed me that my rates would probably go up pretty significantly and the way things work, would probably never return to my current rates. So right now I'm leaning towards just paying it with cash and calling it a learning experience, not that I really learned anything from all this.
As the saying goes, it was just a matter of time. I just wish I had been driving one of our older vehicles.
The same thing happened to me a few years, but I couldn't even swerve. The cops will take a record of the event, but they won't file a report because it happens so often here in Eastern Ontario. Our insurance did cover, and our premiums didn't go up. it seems we are good if there are three years between claims.
ReplyDeleteWe had a vehicle totaled in a hail storm some years back to the tune of $16,000. That might have some part in my recent conversation with my agent.
DeleteI hate that for you. Collisions with deer are common here, too. I remember getting rear-ended in my brand new red Pontiac Grand Prix many years ago. I think it was maybe six weeks old.
ReplyDeleteAt least we didn’t have a scratch on us. That’s really what counts.
DeleteWith EVERY new car I have had, I get a pretty good dent within the first months of ownership. I just sigh and get over it. It is almost a relief, if you know what I mean.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that first dent is always the hardest. But this is broken plastic flopping in the wind. It cut a bit deeper.
DeleteUgh! I drove for nearly all my life before I hit my first deer. I hit my second in the same month. If I ever had a new car, I'd probably cry.
ReplyDeleteI hope I can go a bit longer before hitting the next one!
DeleteEd, the last time I was hit (last year) I settled off insurance because I was fearful of the fact that given the age of my car they would just total it and the amount I would get would be nothing compared to the down payment I would need for a new one. Car repair is shockingly expensive.
ReplyDeleteOn the bright side, you make it sound that parts might not be an issue. A blessing: it took Nighean Bhan's car two months to get fixed waiting on parts.
As I type this response, I have been promised three times that "today" is the day it will be finished. Three days ago I was told it would be ready tomorrow. Two days ago it only needed buffing and to visit the service department to clear the codes. Yesterday it had been buffed but was still waiting on the service department. Parts don't seem to be an issue as they had ordered several parts they didn't need and had to order a few more broken parts they hadn't known about in the estimate. (Cost difference between new parts and returns was an addition $10 out of my pocket.)
DeleteHurry up and wait.
I hate that first ding or scratch in a new car but you took it one step further. :( Glad that no one was hurt--what about the deer though? We have numerous deer collisions here too but not generally where I live.
ReplyDeleteI didn't stop to see but I saw the tall grass in the ditch moving where the deer probably entered sideways. I hit the hindquarters so best case was a deep muscle bruise, worst case was probably broken bones and death.
DeleteOn our last new vehicle, the minivan I currently drive, my mom parked next to it on a windy day and put a ding in the sliding door within a couple weeks after I purchased it. She offered to fix it but I declined. It was a small dent. But now that mom is gone, I kind of like having that reminder of her handiwork with me where ever I go.
It's doubly frustrating when it's a new car.
ReplyDeleteFor sure. If it had been my oldest vehicle I sold right before Covid, I probably would have just found some color matched duct tape and beat/tape everything together and call it good.
DeleteOh Ed, not the kind of experience anybody wants. Somehow, it just seems worse with a new car. At least you both were okay.
ReplyDeleteFor sure. The road was deserted, wide and in good repair so I could try my best to avoid it and still have room to maintain control and not enter the wide shallow ditches on either side. Some of the minor roads in the very rural areas have no shoulders and very deep ditches with brush growing right up next to the road making it nearly impossible to see an animal until it is on the road itself.
Deleteconsider it as a minor scratch. It is better that the vehicle gets bruised than than anything happens to the occupants of the car. ....
ReplyDeleteMost definitely!
DeleteSorry to hear about this, Ed. Glad you and the wife are OK. Hope the bill isn't too steep.
ReplyDeleteIt was steeper than I liked for sure. But what is done is done.
DeleteI remember a teacher friend of mine who was traveling over the vacation in Canada. She was several days late returning to work after school had started again. She told us that they were on the road at night and hit a moose and both the car and the moose died. Wow.... We were sad for the moose but glad she was OK.
ReplyDeleteCar bumpers, etc. are so fragile these days that it seems it doesn't take much to damage it. I sure hope this is the last time you get hit by any animal.
I can't imagine hitting a moose! This one was a glancing blow. I can't imagine what kind of damage would have happened had I hit him dead square.
DeleteOh man I am so sorry about this! We also cohabitate with deer, and collisions with them are part of life around here. Glad nobody is hurt.
ReplyDelete