deer meets Audi...not for the light hearted!

[earhythmic]

So driving home last night at around 10pm I hit a deer. It happened on I80 East in Hercules right where the hwy4 junction is. The freeway there is 5 lanes, I was 2nd lane from the center divider, and how that deer managed to get 3 lanes over without being hit is beyond me! There was a car to my right hand side and about half a car length in front of me that barely missed the deer running past that lane and directly into mine! I was doing about 65-70 (flow of traffic) and had almost no time to react. Had two of my buddies in the car with me. No I was not texting, drunk, or distracted in any way..other than casual car-ride convo. Here's some pics:







what's super annoying too is I just finally got my car back up to par after someone ripped my front bumper off while trying to parallel park, timing belt not too long ago, and tie rods (Freddie does a tip top job btw!). A couple bike cops were about 4 cars behind me and saw the whole thing. They were chill and helped me to the side of the road, after which my car just sputtered and died.

I guess I have the obvious questions...like..what's my next move? I filed a claim last night with my insurance (Mercury Insurance..I DO have full coverage) and they told me that an appraiser would call me sometime today, although, I havnt heard from him yet. My car was towed to a AAA yard off of Richmond Parkway somewhere.

SO is my car F'ed? Any chance to salvage it? Is it even worth it? Is it totaled!? How does car insurance stuff work for stuff like this?...this is actually my first accident (well...on record). Any advice would be great. Thanks dudes!

[piaadoll]

OMG! that is horrible!!! I know that exit well as I have relatives in Hercules. I can't believe it!! I know deer is a plenty on 280, but 80?!?! I'm so glad you are ok though and that it didn't become a multiple car accident. I hope your car is repairable. I guess we'll find out after the adjuster or a shop looks at it.

[SeKKeY]

great, another ravi comes along hahaha

[10MPG]

great, another ravi comes along hahaha

You beat me to it Thinking of the same thing myself

[RAVI]

You beat me to it Thinking of the same thing myself

so was i when i read his post.. haha

join the club!

[NorCal1.8T]

Damn Nick that sucks man, unlucky. Well the car looks like it can be repaired without too many complications, im glad none of you got hurt tho, thats important. Good luck with the insurance, let me know what happens and im here if there is any way i can help.

[speedydragon]

ouch..I think I see guts :|

[earhythmic]

Damn Nick that sucks man, unlucky. Well the car looks like it can be repaired without too many complications, im glad none of you got hurt tho, thats important. Good luck with the insurance, let me know what happens and im here if there is any way i can help.

yea lend me yours in the meanwhile!

ps.

[fapodaca]

That f&%$ing sucks, I just worked on that car. Call me![O_O]

[Trv06kviper]

Heh, THE DEERSLAYER! Glad your alright man, seems your just having a string of bad luck lately. Anyhow, on with the new car, if you need any help like before hit me up.

[Dandrop]

Well I'm glad you're ok. Could have been worse, but this just sucks overall.

[earhythmic]

a little update:

Played phone tag all morning with the insurance co and the towing company and the body shop. It's being towed to Stewart's Body Shop off of San Pablo Blvd...some place that the insurance place deals with often. I guess I'm waiting to hear about the damage. But until then..I'm surfing around looking for a possible replacement. If my car is totaled, it's time to move on to one of these:

[norcatalyst126]

Ravi.....show him the ropes....

You all get hit by a deer....I just got hit by a bird....a big one....but nowhere near that damage....

[teammetric]

ouch man. i hope the deer is ok and not missing that pint of blood!

for the insurance question, yes your insurance company is going to send you a check for the damage. however you're gonna wish it was totaled instead cuz you already have your eye on that s4 (rightfully so).

you're gonna need to make a tough decision whether to take that money and buy a new car, or give it all to a repair/body shop to get it back to (near) 100%. but then you'll always know about the deer that almost got away.....

check out my pics for another severly damaged audi

[A4Avant02]

Good to see and hear no one was hurt!

Having formerly been an Insurance Adjuster dealing specifically with total loss vehicles, I think you will pretty close to getting this totaled. But one never knows.....gotta rip it apart first!

[earhythmic]

updated pics from the body shop. Crappy iPhone pics..but you get the idea.










so is it totaled yet?

[CX-7&A4]

No

[earhythmic]

crap!

[CX-7&A4]

You can hope for engine damage, or frame damage. But as it looks, it doesn't look totalled, it looks expensive.

[earhythmic]

what exactly qualifies it as totaled? I've heard too many different things. is it when the repair charge is greater than the value of the car? or it half the value?

[CX-7&A4]

Depends on your state laws, some site up to 75% percent of the cars value declares it totaled, then unrepairable damage like a seriously warped frame also counts the car as totaled.

[got boost.]

it looks totaled to me.. my first accident looked exactly the same but my radiator support wasnt as pushed in as that. mine had frame damage and im pretty sure yours does too. you should get a new car even if its repairable.

[earhythmic]

in the scenario of it not being totaled, how do I go about getting another car? Just tell the insurance that I dont want it and just pay me out? or...keep the check they give me and just part it out? or...? Again..I have no idea since this is my first major accident.

[Daddy MO]

in the scenario of it not being totaled, how do I go about getting another car? Just tell the insurance that I dont want it and just pay me out? or...keep the check they give me and just part it out? or...? Again..I have no idea since this is my first major accident.

Sucks for you and Bambi's cousin. I guess I wont see you at the SB drive thru in Rodeo in the near future.

I would just take the check and run w/ it if you dont have a car note on the A4. Hopefully it is totalled and you dont have a payment on that car because then, that entire check is yours.

My friends car just got totalled and he kept the check and bought the car back from the tow place for $400. It will have a salvaged title and he pockets the rest of the insurance check. I also dont think this will go on your record w/ DMV since its comprehensive.

I dream of hitting a deer one day so I can get an M3 Hahaha I kid, I kid...

[earhythmic]

just got word. Car is officially totaled! That's one step closer to the S4!

[CX-7&A4]

So what totaled it?

[earhythmic]

I'm guessing the body shop's lack of knowledge about how much crap are in the Audi's worked in my favor. When talking to them they said there's so many little pieces shattered in there that he doesnt even know what the are. LOL. good news tho...picking up the S4 tonight

[norcatalyst126]

<------- Jealous!!!!

[Phantom2.0T]

The remains of the deer are still sitting along side of the center divider on 80. I had a pretty big blow out in that same exact spot when a truck kicked up a sharp piece of sheet metal which impaled my front right tire. I was in the far left lane. Glad everything worked out for you and I hope there will not be a sequel to this thread with the new ride.

[earhythmic]

The remains of the deer are still sitting along side of the center divider on 80.

lol so you know I'm not lying!

Sucks about your blowout...seems like that little spot is cursed. I get this really eerie nervous feeling every day when I drive through there. Watch out everyone!

[RowdyAudi]

Wow, I don't know you, but that totally sucks... stupid deer, I've had a few close calls out on Bear Creek Rd. myself... at least you and your friends are ok....Oh, btw... nice Genesis sticker on the A4, I've had some work done there too... Anyways, Congrats on the S4, very nice upgrade, wish I could ditch my b5 and do the same thing....

[earhythmic]

Wow, I don't know you, but that totally sucks... stupid deer, I've had a few close calls out on Bear Creek Rd. myself... at least you and your friends are ok....Oh, btw... nice Genesis sticker on the A4, I've had some work done there too... Anyways, Congrats on the S4, very nice upgrade, wish I could ditch my b5 and do the same thing....

haha thanks. I used to work next door to Genesis back when it was Spitzer Music. Did pro audio installations and stuff out of there, until Lemer's tripled our rent and pretty much kicked up out, now it's the Ducati dealership. I'll post some pics of the S4 up soon. I love it! Maybe you should try to NOT avoid the deers next time on Bear Creek. Where do you live? used to go to school in El Sobrante (jr. high) and frequent Orinda and Lafayette pretty often.

[RowdyAudi]

haha thanks. I used to work next door to Genesis back when it was Spitzer Music. Did pro audio installations and stuff out of there, until Lemer's tripled our rent and pretty much kicked up out, now it's the Ducati dealership. I'll post some pics of the S4 up soon. I love it! Maybe you should try to NOT avoid the deers next time on Bear Creek. Where do you live? used to go to school in El Sobrante (jr. high) and frequent Orinda and Lafayette pretty often.

Oh, that's cool, I remember seeing Spitzer there... Ummm, glad you're enjoying the S4 so far...I'll look for pics... You do make a good point about just hitting a deer, but I would lose the almost 6k in maintainance that I've had to do in the last 8 months, and I just don't make enough at my REI job to pay for an S4... Anyways, that's funny that you're in Orinda/Lafayette often, I'll look out for the S4 since I live in Orinda, and go to school at DVC... I'm bound to cross your path one time or another....