Just hit a deer with a glancing blow on my way back from watching the new Bond movie in Stratford-upon -Avon. Initial inspection in the dark of the damage to my car shows that the front headlight has been pushed in a bit and the cover to the headlight washer is missing. No other obvious damage but will check further in the morning.

I am now undecided whether to claim through my insurance and pay a £200 excess, or go to my main dealer and ask them to fix it and check the car over for me and pay for the repair. I would welcome members thoughts on this dilemma - which do you think would be the cheapest?

The road surface at the time was very wet and the temperature was about 5 degrees. I was accelerating out of a 30 mph zone when the accident happened. The winter tyres were amazing in stopping the car in no time at all, the grip was incredible and prevented me from causing even more damage to the car.

By the way, the deer limped away but I'm sure it will have an enormous bruise somewhere on its body in the morning.

Sorry to hear this.

If the headlight has been pushed in suspect damage to the inner mounting panel, the headlight itself, possibly bumper mountings, and other bits. That could easily come to more than £200.

+1. Get a quote for having the remedial work done first. Compare that with the £200 excess, and add potential for loss of NCB now and in future (if not protected), and increase in premiums next renewal and in future. Then decide.

I had enough damage on my last car just hitting a pheasant, so my sympathies for your predicament.

Were there any deer crossing signs around -

?

Yes sad to hear but most importantly your OK. As Graham suggests there could be hidden damage behind the bumper etc. so certainly get the dealer to have a look and maybe a professional VAG approved bodyshop if the dealer does not offer this service.

TP

Too bad with your car - but it can be fixed. The deer needs to be tracked down and destroyed humanely. I don't know who to contact in the UK, but RSPCA maybee?? If not, the local police will know.

It's cruel just to ignore it and let it die slowly.

Edited 4 November, 201213 yr by Agerbundsen

Too bad with your car - but it can be fixed. The deer needs to be tracked down and destroyed humanely. I don't know who to contact in the UK, but RSPCA maybee?? If not, the local police will know.

It's cruel just to ignore it and let it die slowly.

Agreed.

Hi, wondered where you consider your local dealer to be . I'm in Burton on the water and curbridge skoda near Whitney is my closest although they are No longer a main dealer have a excellent reputation and are very friendly and helpfull. I hope your damage isn't serious and your able to avoid the insurance claim , I protect my no full no claims but I think its a Max 2 claims in 5 years !

It wont be a cheap repair, it could be a little dear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Could have been far worse. At least you're okay and the damage is quite light to what could have been.

I hit a Deer at 60mph a few weeks ago, No damage whats so ever, My train had 4 cars on and weighed over 300 ton's though

Hi there,

I hit a badger is my other car a couple of years back. Only damaged the front fog light and lower grill, but once they removed the bumper it was collapsed underneath and needed to be replaced, along with the air con radiator. Insurance settled that one, but the bill was £900!!!! It was an Audi A2, but the car was drivable and didn't look that bad! Best get it checked out, that is what insurance is for after all.

Thankfully you and your passengers are OK, that's the main thing.

All the best,

David

Edited 5 November, 201213 yr by Dave_B

Ouch! I remember hitting a deer a good few years back on a dual carriageway - needless to say neither the deer nor the car survived. Glad the car and you are OK though.

I would recommend popping in to the local dealers, let them have a quick look as suggested and they might be able to give you a rough price on the parts needed, then it's weighing up the options from there.

Many thanks for your helpful comments.

On closer inspection of my car in daylight there is more damage than I had initially seen. The driver's side of the bumper has been slightly pushed in and has a small crack in it, the alignment between front wing and bumper is not right, and the headlight unit is holding on by a thread. I suspect there may be further damage associated with these problems.

As I have protected no claims I have decided to get this repaired through my insurance as it also provides a courtesy car and I feel that the final repair bill will be well in excess of £200.

It is being collected tomorrow morning and a courtesy car delivered.

I look forward to getting my Yeti back in pristine condition as soon as possible.

A similar thing happened to my wife a couple of years ago in her Suzuki Alto. We tried to get someone interested in the deer's well-being, police and local RSPCA but got nowhere. The deer got up and ran away so they said it was probably OK and impossible to trace!

Similar damage to the Alto, headlight floppy, bumper cracked and a rattle from the front that turned out to be the mounting for the headlight.

Fred

You need to get in touch with one of these accident claim companies. They seem to be able to tell me about all the accidents I've had and how then can get me compensation. Given their superior knowledge they can text the deer directly and start the ball rolling so to speak...........

You need to get in touch with one of these accident claim companies. They seem to be able to tell me about all the accidents I've had and how then can get me compensation. Given their superior knowledge they can text the deer directly and start the ball rolling so to speak...........

Ah, yes but the deer may have already initiated an injury claim :wonder:

Car is now back with me and looks in showroom condition. I do not know the final costings, just paid the excess on my insurance and said thank you very much. Both the insurance company (Saga) and the repairers (Carbody Banbury Ltd) have been brilliant in keeping me informed throughout and getting the repair done as quickly as possible.

Just have to wait and see how much your premium goes up by next time.

I hit a small deer on the M40 just west of the M25 junction coming out of London. This was about 8.10pm in May this year. I was in the overtaking lane, doing 70, when I saw a flash of brown come from the central reservation and an almighty thud. Luckily was able to keep going and pull over with no other cars involved, and limped home (see attached image). Deer was knocked back into the central reservation from where it had foolishly attempted to cross the road.

Funnily enough, Carbody Banbury Ltd also repaired my Superb and did a fantastic job, with all new parts (including the new chrome headlamp washer covers).

Cost of repairs was £3,500, LV covered everything, just over a week to get the car back and the final surprise - my premium actually went down!

I would never have imagined seeing a deer on the M40 at that point - whereas the roads round where i live are littered with the antlered b****ards :-)

Edited 14 November, 201213 yr by chadlington

Not as bad as this one (may have seen it before as it's well known);

http://www.svtperfor...h-autobahn.html

Had to retrieve the remains of birds out of aircraft myself; not pleasent :no:

Oh pleased you have a good bodyshop your way, our local (Hull) VAG aproved outfit from my one experiance of their work is shocking.

TP

Noticed it was a Frankfurt plate. A friend of big sis hit a wild boar. Wrote the car off (and pig). Not sure on how many, but several folk per year get killed when they come through the screen.

They have official "gamekeepers" whos' job is to track don't and finish off any traffic injured wildlife - reporting is obliatoire.