Deer ran into wife's Elantra :(

[97tbird]

A deer ran into the driver's side of my wife's 2003 Elantra

just shot out of the foliage by the side of the road on a rainy night.

wifey was unharmed deer bumped off the car and ran away, apparently also unharmed - hopefully it knocked some sense into the deer brain

damage to car: - all minor.
driver's and pass. doors dinged (power windows were still working)
driver's side power mirror hinge damaged (mirror still worked fine)
front fender dinged.

Car is at the shop getting surgery - insurance paid for everything. About $1,300 worth damage.

(wife got a rental Nissan Altima till she gets the Elantra back - OMG what a cheap POS that Altima is !!! un-freaking-believable!!! perhaps because it's a rental, but the interior material quality of our Elantra is so much better, and the Altima is FULL of all kinds of rattles, and it only has like 37k miles on it!)

 

[jigen]

Is this a new Altima? I haven't been in one but I have heard the same exact thing from a few people about the interiors. I heard they have gotten very cheap in the past couple of years.

I am glad the wife (and Elantra) are okay.

 

[SMB]

Sorry about your car. Glad your wife is OK.

Same thing happened to my friend's Camry. The deer broke the mirror, fender, and wiper blade. Passenger front door was dinged as well. Cost about $650 total to fix.

 

[pbm]

Nissans haven't impressed me since the marriage to Renault. Bon Jour.

 

[97tbird]

thanks guys. i am glad the wifey and the stupid deer is ok, too..

the Altima is a 2009 with about 37k miles on it! It would be funny to see how much [censored] it compared to a current SONATA, when our 2003 Elantra interior is more solidly made and rattle-free compared to that thing...

everything in that Altima is just so "plasticky" and rattly with all kinds of edges that have an "unfinished" look and feel. Seats are horrible too.
it also has the annoying gimmicky push button start .
the dash illumination is a cheapish looking red color - a real eye sore.
The engine feels powerful enough (2.5L), but noisy and the auto trans is horrible.
While having less power, our Elantra feels like it has more positive and better shifts, and just more "exact" in driving somehow...perhaps because we're used to it, and can drive it better, but still that plasticky Altima was a real shock.

EDIT: wifey just called; she's in the Altima and I made her look up how many miles it has - it's 27k !!! not 37k like I thought.

 

[eljefino]

Coworker hit a deer in his Vibe last weekend and I did emergency surgery to keep the bumper cover from falling off.

Headlight busted 2 out of 3 of its mounting tabs and the hidden part of the fender underneath the light bent really easily. The bumper and reinforcement end about halfway under the headlights on these cars so if you hit something further out a lot gets munched. It's just masquerading as having real metal.

Funny how under the aero surface of these modern cars they look just like stuff from the 80s and 90s.

 

[Gary Allan]

Deer ran into Dear's Elantra

or, if frum NuWingland

Deah ran into Deah's Elantra

 

[97tbird]

 

[sciphi]

Heh, look at any GM. That's 1970's tech for ya!

Glad to hear your wife is okay! Bonus is the Elantra getting fixed too.

 

[The Critic]

Glad your wife is OK. Usually in deer encounters, the damage is a lot worse.

Originally Posted By: 97tbird
wife got a rental Nissan Altima till she gets the Elantra back - OMG what a cheap POS that Altima is !!! un-freaking-believable!!! perhaps because it's a rental, but the interior material quality of our Elantra is so much better, and the Altima is FULL of all kinds of rattles, and it only has like 37k miles on it!)

That's impossible. I've sat in base model Altimas and the seats are fairly comfortable and the interior was on-par with other cars in its class. My former neighbor had an Elantra that was identical to yours and the seats and the interior looked and felt very dated compared to other cars in its class, even five years ago.

 

[97tbird]

Impossible? no; it just IS, like i said.

Hm - i really have no reason to lie about an Altima - I usually like Nissans: I love the interior of my friend's 2002 Maxima.
I can take pics if u want, but i doubt it will convey the creaks and the cheap plasticky feeling you experience when you actually sit in it. Our Elantra's interior feels just great compared. At 130k miles, it doesn't have a SINGLE creak or a loose panel/interior parts. everything's still rock solid.

it can't be a coincidence of rumors/lies when jigen (see his post above) has also heard it from some people.

and btw, most of the cheapish material on this Altima is found on the center console, where the storage bins, shifter and cup holders etc are.

 

[97tbird]

and the CEL just came on, wifey called and said; It drives fine though.

I will try to post pics of the CEL and the interior.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: 97tbird
Impossible? no; it just IS, like i said.

Hm - i really have no reason to lie about an Altima - I usually like Nissans: I love the interior of my friend's 2002 Maxima.
I can take pics if u want, but i doubt it will convey the creaks and the cheap plasticky feeling you experience when you actually sit in it. Our Elantra's interior feels just great compared. At 130k miles, it doesn't have a SINGLE creak or a loose panel/interior parts. everything's still rock solid.

it can't be a coincidence of rumors/lies when jigen (see his post above) has also heard it from some people.

and btw, most of the cheapish material on this Altima is found on the center console, where the storage bins, shifter and cup holders etc are.


It's like comparing a Big Mac to a burger from The Counter-- the burger from The Counter is still going to be better. Of course, tastes, like interior quality, is subjective so everyone is going to have their opinion of what's cheap.

Remember it's a rental, so the interior is going to be treated pretty harshly so rattles are a given.

 

[97tbird]

yeah the rattles, i do understand - rentals are abused.
still it has only 27k+ miles. you'd still think a smaller econo car like Elantra would equal that amount of rattles after 130k miles of normal use !!! like i said the Elantra has zero rattles even now.

what I find shocking is the quality of the material inside. That came from the factory, and is not influenced by rough use; even when that car rolled out new, that material is just [censored]!

 

[97tbird]

couldn't get the CEL to show up very well, but you can see it still a bit despite being blurred, and you can see the "!" in the triangle lit up? the SES light is right next to it on the left.

2nd pic shows a bit of the interior.

the combo of a CEL at 27k miles (which our car never had in its 134k miles) and the interior really doesn't help the (current) Altima image, IMO. It's possible they cut corners nowadays and just have to make them like this...

again i am aware that the CEL could be due to this being a rental (abuse, etc) but still can't overlook that interior.

 

[CharlieJ]

blah

 

[CharlieJ]

Ninja'ed

 

[97tbird]

pics are up (of the Altima CEL and interior)- see above.

or did you mean you want to see damage to the Elantra?

I have those, too - hehe.

 

[CharlieJ]

Originally Posted By: 97tbird
pics are up (of the Altima CEL and interior)- see above.

or did you mean you want to see damage to the Elantra?

I have those, too - hehe.


Sure! If you got 'em flaunt 'em! That interior looks dirty, but it is difficult to hear squeaks from pictures.

 

[97tbird]

yeah i know - i already stated that before I posted the pics

(that you can't hear the squeaks and/or FEEL how [censored] those materials are)

Elantra pics will be posted tonight. (have to go out and come back).

The damage is a bit difficult to see due to reflections in the black paint, but not impossible to see.