1300km on new car and this...

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tuckman

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Nov 2, 2008
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Elk Point, Alberta
I have been waiting months for my 09 ford fusion to come in (special order). Ordered it oct 10 got it jan 8.
I have been reading up on warm up times, looking for the best oil for the climate out here and anything else i can do to make this car last as long as possible. I am gonna try a Counter Act rust prevetor, get a oil pan heater and am buying a battery warmer. Needless to say this car is gonna get taken care pf very well.

So here I am driving to go see the gf. Trying to drive nice to ensure my break in goes well. Out of the ditch on the drivers side bounds a mule deer (over the grader ridge and onto the road, we have gotten lots of snow this year!) headed directly into my path. the road is partially clear with compact snow patches. I apply the brakes and the ABS kicks in almost instantly as does the stabili trac warning light! then POP!!! right in the middle of the hood and off into the ditch goes the deer. 10 yards later the car comes to a full stop. I look at all my gauges...nothing wrong, headlights are still fully lit and pointing down the road like they should. I get out of the car and all i have for damage is the grill is cracked, hood pushed up and some deer hair stuck between the light and the quarter panel. The rad and ac condenser not even moved and nothing leaking. I say to myself WOW am I lucky. so I back up to look at the deer...it is gone just a few marks in the snow where it rolled into the ditch and tracks out into the field!!!

All i got for proof it the messed up front end with some deer hair stuck in it...lol.

So i guess the car is officially broken in now!!!

I will be getting a front end inspection and alignment done for sure. Insurance deductible is $250 with rental coverage included.
I will update later when i get an estimate from the body shop later today.
 
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Ugh.. that sucks! I guess it could have been worse! I will tell you though, every new car I've gotten (new or used) I have had to have at least one tire repaired because of a nail or something within 1000 miles. Luckily, I wont be buying a car anytime soon.. lol
 
I have been spoiled, not one problem with my 06.

But in that time I did hit a 3000lb black angus bull with a 92 aerostar. That was a nasty wreck but everybody lived!

Before that it had been 10 years since i hit any animal on the road.
 
Don't wash it and take a picture of the front with the deer hair there. That is about as definitive of proof as you can.

I had an insurance company try to jerk me around when I was younger about a car-deer collision until I showed the a picture of my car, the hair, and my license plate in frame.
 
My insurance broker and i graduated high school together. I don't see any issues with a false claim accusation from the insurance company. There have been 9 deer strikes on that road in the last 6 months (says the RCMP) those were the reporteted ones...lol

So the gf followed the tracks into the field this morning while i was filing a police report...she says it was a BIG deer. It made it 500 yards and then died
 
Your lucky. With all the deer that runs around my parents place never hit one. But did hit a couple dogs. One Saint Benard and left a small dent on the bumper and small dent on the door.. he never did chase me again go figure. One lab unfortunately slid on gravel and right under the tire.. smelled for weeks.
 
That would be bad. It would make me feel sick on a new car. I'm glad your OK, and there wasn't any major damage. Try to get the Black Chrome grill out of your insurance company. It looks so much better. (of course you'd have to replace the lower one as well).

Good luck with the repair of your new Fusion.
 
I nailed a deer long ago, exactly one week after I made my last payment and dropped the full coverage insurance. It totaled the front end. I drove that little Nissan pick-up for a month without a hood until I could afford one.
 
A town named Elk Point and you hit some game? The insurance will never believe that.
smirk2.gif
 
I am gonna have to do some work with the body shop to get the black chrome grille $375 difference from the OEM...thats just for the upper grille didn't even price out the lower 2-bar one.
When we popped the hood at the body shop, holy [censored]!!! Rad...bent, rad supports...cracked, passenger head lamp...need new, a/c condensor...bent! that was just under the hood!!!

now for the rest...just new parts needed listing...well the big stuff

upper grille...$150
front bumper...$610...including painting...then $160 for bumper absorber.
headlamp assembly...$310
hood...$615
rad support...150
rad...305
a/c condensor...790
and other misc parts

parts and materials total...$4323 CAD
labour total...$2650 CAD

Net total after GST...$7322

Luckily i have a $250 deductible...still I really want the black chrome grille. Does anybody know of a supplier in Canada that actually sells that grille for less than $550?
 
I hit a deer with my Ford Tempo... I'm still here, but the car is telling another story. Too Bad too... was a great car with an indestructible engine!
LOL.gif
 
Originally Posted By: tuckman
There have been 9 deer strikes on that road in the last 6 months (says the RCMP) those were the reporteted ones...lol


You live in Elk Point. It's high time to change the name to Deer Point.

PS: I love venison. Dunno about elk...
 
As much as you don't want to hear this, this is the best time to have work done, and to have the paint match. The car is new and it hasn't faded at all. There's very little guesswork involved in getting the paint to match well.

Figure out who is the best body shop in the area and let them work their magic. Insist on only new OEM metal panels and new parts... because the car is new.
 
You're lucky -- that both you and the car survived!

I was driving my 280CE Mercedes, a Euro gas-engine coupe, in central southern Colorado one day about ten years ago. A smooth two-lane road without any shoulders to speak of, it ran straight as a string between fenced-off grazing land. So I decided to test the MB and run it up to 100.

I was roaring along nicely (I was nervous, but the car was doing fine) when I spotted a sign:

WATCH FOR BISON ON ROAD

Whoa, Nellie --! Do you know how big a bison is? If I hit even a small one, no matter the speed, the car and I would be toast . . . but at a lower speed I might see him in time to avoid him. So I slowed way down.

Never did see any bison wandering the highway, and boy, was I glad.

(It's also cheering to realize that your car was still driveable after the deer strike. More and more the Ford Fusion sounds like a solid car.)
 
I would see about getting a new bumper skin from Ford with the color built in-- the body shop likes the labor $$$ for painting but I get to think they get paid to watch paint dry.

A bumper with its flexibility could have the paint chip off, even if they add the flex agent etc.
 
Originally Posted By: moribundman
Originally Posted By: tuckman
There have been 9 deer strikes on that road in the last 6 months (says the RCMP) those were the reporteted ones...lol


You live in Elk Point. It's high time to change the name to Deer Point.

PS: I love venison. Dunno about elk...



Elk is TASTY.
20.gif
 
Originally Posted By: tuckman
So the gf followed the tracks into the field this morning while i was filing a police report...she says it was a BIG deer. It made it 500 yards and then died


She's a keeper!
 
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