Insight Meets Deer :'( (pg1 HEAVY w/ Images)

[sheepdog 44]

35mph shouldn't yield too much damage. Someone hit a deer in his Insight at 55mph and is still driving around. He just replaced the hood with a black unprimered one.

[Cobb]

Have you considered looking up a battery on ebay or from one of the battery vendors and sending it to them? Tell em its part of the emissions system and its more valuable than the cat.

Originally Posted by UltArc

They tried to tell me the battery has no value. My immediate reaction was to jump through the phone to Wisconsin.

Got my drive shaft replaced, and heading up to the dealership to pick up my documents.

[RedDevil]

Originally Posted by sheepdog 44

35mph shouldn't yield too much damage. Someone hit a deer in his Insight at 55mph and is still driving around. He just replaced the hood with a black unprimered one.

Somebody wrote off her car by scooping up a 10 year old that crossed the road without looking for traffic. The speed was not very high and the boy survived the impact with just some bad bruises. That boy is typing this message right now.

I've been in Finland and when I saw a herd of reindeer on the side of the road I came almost to a stop, to study them and just in case. And indeed the herd set in motion and suddenly turned to cross right in front of me. I could just come to a dead stop, would have hit them otherwise. Later on I learned they can be as heavy as 200 kilograms, and high speed collisions often kill the driver as their body smashes through the windscreen. They can be man size high, got a photo of one of my friends head to head with a semi-tame reindeer to prove it.

Whether it is a writeoff or not depends on animal size and weight, speed and good or bad luck.

[usmclowrider]

Glad your okay. Looks like you might be able to save some money and source some of the parts from craigslist or the junkyard.

[UltArc]

I am picking up my second Insight on Saturday. Depending on the total details, it might be a donor- or it might be the new base. The price is decent, and it'll get me started,

[redpoint5]

I refused insurance claim offers for 3 months once, and the guy finally gave into my price (which was a fair price). Make 'em wait long enough and they just want to get that liability off their books.

[UltArc]

We already settled- but it might be a good idea to collect these points and make a quick stickie/thread on what to do for an insurance claim.

My big concern now (been googling for a while), is if I am actually allowed to not have a driver air bag. I removed mine, and really don't care to have my new one installed. I see evidence pointing in both direction, unfortunately.

[Cobb]

redpoint5, good point. I had a USAA customer's minor hit me. No police report, no witnesses. The driver admitted fault, but was a minor and gave me her info. My car was driveable, just not pretty.

The guy who answer the phone was very smug. Once we did all the phone work and I went to one of their dealers he was unavailable to talk to me on the phone and everyone else was more than willing to take a message. All said they are deciding if USAA will accept liability for the accident.

Three weeks, no progress and some phone tag. I had written a compliant ready to submit to the BBB and got a message from the agent they accepted liability and to go to the same shop to get it fixed and a loaner car.

Just think, I had some friends tell me to go against my insurance and take the hit to get it fixed.