Blew up a Deer, need some input

[ATPJOE]

Was driving back from ATX, and blasted a doe in Southern Illinois going 70mph. Bumper cover, grille, fogs, headlight and the plastic trim on the bottom and wheel well are toast. Also bent the metal around the grille on the hood. Windshield is cracked but it was already, might as well try to get that included, no?

Is there any chance repairs for that stuff would lead to my insurance co. to totalling my car? Or will it be reasonable enough that my deductible would cover it... I know the parts alone are more than my $500 deductible.

I'll throw a picture up soon. It's not even bad.... the deer literally got hit by the front left corner and exploded haha. A bigger deer would've been bad news bears at that speed though. My Texas adventure took a toll on the LS though.... broke a lower ball joint, hit a deer, CEL came on (misfire I'm sure), and my rear tires are toast. She still limped home haha and on 3.25 tanks of gas (ATX to CHI)..not bad.

 

[Kumba]

I'm going with totaled. Just my 2-cents.

 

[T-Money]

Have to see pics to be for sure. But I'd also say its probably totaled. I know with my 06 the headlights alone you know are like 3-4k, but it had 15k or so in damage just on the front end. I thought it was a simple fix but no.

So saying this is an 00. It's probably done for. With my insurance I think if the damage is 80% or more of what the car is worth they just junk it. I don't know your miles but it wouldn't be hard to have a couple grand in damage from hitting a deer, and that would be 80% or more of an 00's value to me.

 

[Stopsign002]

Yeah unfortunately the 2000 LS' arent worth much in the books anymore. Good luck man

 

[LS4me]

IMHO..... Totaled.

 

[1LoudLS]

when i hit a deer in my 2000, there was hood, headlight, bumper, front and rear fender, and drivers door damage, cost about 4k to fix, big deer, hit it and it spun down the side of the car fukcing everything up but the rear door. dont really know if that helps...

 

[RollinLS]

I'm going with totaled. Just my 2-cents.

Have to see pics to be for sure. But I'd also say its probably totaled. I know with my 06 the headlights alone you know are like 3-4k, but it had 15k or so in damage just on the front end. I thought it was a simple fix but no.

So saying this is an 00. It's probably done for. With my insurance I think if the damage is 80% or more of what the car is worth they just junk it. I don't know your miles but it wouldn't be hard to have a couple grand in damage from hitting a deer, and that would be 80% or more of an 00's value to me.

Yeah unfortunately the 2000 LS' arent worth much in the books anymore. Good luck man

IMHO..... Totaled.

when i hit a deer in my 2000, there was hood, headlight, bumper, front and rear fender, and drivers door damage, cost about 4k to fix, big deer, hit it and it spun down the side of the car fukcing everything up but the rear door. dont really know if that helps...

5 out of 5 LS owners say "totalled". Not looking good.

x6 "totalled". So that is 6 out of 6.

 

[ATPJOE]

Adjuster is suppose to call me today or tomorrow to get the ball rolling. I decided if it is indeed totalled, I will go one of two routes: get a 80's pickup, or a motorcycle. Love my car, but the reliability makes me want to drive it, and myself, off a cliff. If it isn't totalled, I probably wont fix it because it's a time bomb anyways... like most these things seem to be.

Will let you guys know what happens.

 

[msgtusmc]

Totaled ! Buy the pickup! Save thousands in future repairs on LS! Can get parts for any pickup anywhere! Go 4x4 or slam it in the weeds!

 

[marcredd]

Just throwing this out there for those who have heavily modified LSes and want to to try and protect their investment. If your insurance company provides an agreed upon value clause, it helps ease the pain on solely having to take what Nada says it is worth. I know they are more often than not for vehicles which have hit classic status but it certainly cannot hurt to call and ask what, if any flexibility you may have.

Interesting enough, Geico allowed me to insure my engine because I was able to provide receipts showing the work done. That alone, combined with the overall shape of my car will get me well on my way toward something(nice) else.

 

[ATPJOE]

Estimator guy just left my house. Damages were $2300 roughly so I had him write me a check for $1700 (deductible subtracted). Car is not totalled. Now I have to figure out what I want to do with the check. Options:

1. Fix car myself, pocket remainder.
2. Pay off car
3. Buy tires/ misc mechanical things and leave the front a little messed up pocket the rest.
4. Do a little bit of all of that

EDIT: I should not I'm real broke haah.

Going to think about it for a little while, I'm sort of ready for a different vehicle but the LS isn't even bad...yet. (95k miles) but I am not down with the inevitable tans solenoid issues and timing tensioners etc. so deff gotta dwell on it.

Heres a really bad picture that only shows the bumper damage

 

[Telco]

That doesn't look too bad. Based on that pic you can probably just hit it with some sandpaper and paint it with parts store paint to get it close. Put in a set of cheap parts store driving lights, then just keep driving it as is with the money in the pocket. No, it won't be brand new looking, but it'll still look moderately OK. Keep adding to the money to the pile until next year, then start looking for something else. Best of all, you now have a beater to drive that you've already gotten half the value out of. If you put some effort into the labor side of it and make it look halfway good, it'll sell for 2000 to 3000 next spring as these days no car that runs and is all one color is worth less than 3 grand.

 

[BlackLS06]

Youre not gonna pocket any money if you try to fix it.

And it may cost more than $2300 to fix.

A new bumper alone is around $250, and paint for the bumper is a good $300. And if youre just gonna cheap out on repairs get rid of the car. I hate when i see cars held up with tape and ghetto fixes.

 

[weezyls03]

dont feel bad man. my 03 got stolen in dallas and they found it an hour later wrecked. it didn't even have 80,000 on it yet and they totalled it. whoever took the car hit a pole so hard it bent the frame and buckled the other side. guess it was too much power to handle

 

[ATPJOE]

Youre not gonna pocket any money if you try to fix it.

And it may cost more than $2300 to fix.

A new bumper alone is around $250, and paint for the bumper is a good $300. And if youre just gonna cheap out on repairs get rid of the car. I hate when i see cars held up with tape and ghetto fixes.

Well I'm not worried about how other people feel about me cheaping out on repairs. Appreciate the opinion but I'll throw that one out. I am not worried about how it looks if the car drives fine.

And the bumper isn't just chipped its cracked in a bunch of places. So sanding and painting it would be throwing money at a still ugly bumper lol.