Stupid Deer

[mbaee]

Look what I brought home from work tonight. I was driving home down a dark suburban road and I saw a small buck stick his head out about 10 feet in front of me. I slammed on the breaks but he jumped at my bed as I went by. Luckily he just glanced the truck so I wasn't hurt. I tried to look back for him but I couldn't find him.

 

I'm going to get estimates to repair it, but has anyone had similar work done? I'm just curious about rough pricing, ability to restore the fender flair, etc.

 

I know the pics aren't the best. I'll take some better ones in the light tomorrow.

 

Thanks.

 

 

 

[coffeeman2881]

Sorry dude, could have been worse though.

[GPGuy]

Ouch. Sorry to hear about that, but glad it wasn't worse. Most I've had done there is fixing a spot where someone decided it would be a grand idea to key my truck.

[jtupper]

I'm just curious about rough pricing, ability to restore the fender flair, etc.

Rough guess...$800

[C. Charles Hahn]

Take some pics in the morning when there's some light out.... might be easier to tell how bad it is.

 

If the paint isn't damaged much/at all that might even be able to be taken care of with PDR. Otherwise the body shop bill isn't going to be cheap. I'd say $500-800 range depending where you go and how they elect to repair it.

 

Either way, it could have been MUCH worse. At least you didn't wind up with a totaled truck.

[wayland1985]

I was hit in a parking lot when I owned my 99 silverado. The damage went all the way down the side of the bed...

 

 

They had to replace the entire panel skin. It cost about $1700 ($500 for me thanks to insurance). It included a new panel, paint, new z71 decals, etc.... They were able to buff the scratches out of my taillight, otherwise the cost would've been another 100-200 bucks.

 

 

They did have to remove the bed, though....

[mbaee]

Thanks, everyone. I appreciate the feedback and comments. $500-800 is what I was anticipating but I wanted to here some other opinions. I don't know if anyone else has had this happen to them, but I can still see him pause like a deer in headlights (literally ) before he jumped.

 

My sister is an office admin at a collision center. If I get out of work early enough tomorrow, I'll take it in. If not I'll go on Friday.

 

I'll post better pics tomorrow and keep the thread updated with the estimates, etc.

[Sir Dan]

Sorry about your truck man. His antlers must have gouged into the fender or something by the looks of those creases in the metal.. I had half a new rear bumper and lite body work to the tailgate and lower rear fender corner and the bill was around $1200.

[Nytemare]

I got rear-ended 3 weeks after I bought my truck...that cost 5400 to replace under insurance.

 

I looked over the bill, the right fender was replaced with a new one and painted...it was 450 for the fender (GM parts, an after market one would have been 340, but the ins company wanted genuine parts used)and paint and labor..that was the majority of the bill. it was almost 3000 for labor, and 600 for black paint and supplies.

 

I had a kinked rear frame (just where the bumper attached) busted up bumper destroyed fender a shifted box...the box hit the C pillar and dented it. There was a bunch of work. 5400 under insurance...so say about 3500 if I were paying cash.

 

Given that figure...I would say in the area of 800-1000, mostly labor dependent, and how long your willing to wait.

 

Most shops will not fix sheet metal anymore as its just as cheap or cheaper to just buy a new body panel.

 

Sorry to hear that though...but like was said...could have been way worse...you may not be caring about your truck....or anything else right now.

[99silveradoz71]

500-800 is about right. I got hit-skipped last year somewhere and had to have the right side of the bed worked on. The damage was right by the rear crease of the wheel well. Everything got squared away nicely.

[Erichcb]

Thats not cool....Could of been worse....see attached: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...l%3Den%26um%3D1

 

 

 

DAMN!

[mbaee]

DAMN!

 

Damn, indeed.

 

Here's a pic I took this morning. In the daylight, it doesn't look so bad. I got lucky. We'll see what the body shop says on Friday. I'll post an update when I know more.

 

Oh, and sorry about the dirt. It's leaf collection time and the streets are pretty bad.

 

[C. Charles Hahn]

Yeah... I still maintain that PDR may be able to take care of that for you.

[amtz.zero]

Man, that sucks! Hope it gets fixed..

[mbaee]

Sorry for the delay, but the body shop said it'd be about $900 to fix. He said they'd probably weld studs in the dent an pull them out that way. They'll get it as close as they can and fine-tune the contour with body filler. He is going to repaint the entire side of the bed, though to help with the paint matching.

 

I called Geico and they estimated it at $855 with a new tail light. They also authorized 4 days of a rental car reimbursement. I drop it off at the shop on Monday morning to begin repairs.

 

About the body filler, I know the less there is the better, but how does it hold up? It is a truck, after all, and I'm worried that I may bump it a few years from now and it'll crack or chip off. Anyone have any experience with it?

 

Thanks for the comments, everyone. I'll post pics when it's finished next weekend.