Hit a dead deer last night and car is out coolant :(

[AlanSubie4Life]

This update, unfortunately, is more like what I expected originally. It would be nice if they would protect vulnerable sections of the battery from impacts that should be inconsequential. Obviously in this case still would have been looking at a 5-10k repair bill, but that would be considerably better, and would help keep all of our insurance rates down.

 

[dmurphy]

I wish this was an option. I think i'd lose a couple of thousand dollars but would be OK. Since Tesla is doing most of the battery stuff, I am sure its going to be fine.

I’m sorry about your situation. I just re read what I wrote above about it being the insurance company’s call, and I realize it sounded harsh. I sure didn’t mean it that way - just an unfortunate reality of it all. The insurance companies rule the roost in that decision... not much we can do.

I feel your pain .. a deer jumped in front of my wife at 70mph and really messed up her Enclave. First estimate was over $16k and that’s just the first cut. I’m sure they’re going to find a bunch more wrong with it.

We’re now into month 2 waiting on parts from Buick/GM. Since their factories were on strike for 2 months, parts are way way backlogged, and GM can’t offer any guidance on when they’ll arrive.

I mention this because I’m in a similar boat. I wish they’d just have totaled it out and cut me a check. I’d lose a few bucks relative to its net present value with me, but I’m going to be in even worse shape once this is done. Once the parts arrive, it’s at least 3 weeks of work to fix.. and then even after that, I’m likely to sell it immediately. Too much damage for me to trust it.

That said - I know your repairs here are going to be done correctly and your car will be PERFECT! Tesla is known to be a stickler for repair work - their standard is that a factory line worker wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between a new and repaired vehicle. That’s an awesome standard!

 

[narenravi88]

This update, unfortunately, is more like what I expected originally. It would be nice if they would protect vulnerable sections of the battery from impacts that should be inconsequential. Obviously in this case still would have been looking at a 5-10k repair bill, but that would be considerably better, and would help keep all of our insurance rates down.

I am hoping this doesn't change my insurance since it is a comprehensive, not my fault claim. I am afraid they will cancel our insurance. My wife had a bumper collision claim.

 

[yerEVan]

Did you have Dashcam footage on? Maybe I missed that in this thread. If so, can you contact the state or township to see if they are liable? At some point, someone’s insurance will pay, so just wondering.

 

[flyingowl]

Did you have Dashcam footage on? Maybe I missed that in this thread. If so, can you contact the state or township to see if they are liable? At some point, someone’s insurance will pay, so just wondering.

State or town will not liable for you hitting a deer. You will never see a penny out of them.

 

[MP3Mike]

I am hoping this doesn't change my insurance since it is a comprehensive, not my fault claim. I am afraid they will cancel our insurance. My wife had a bumper collision claim.

Wouldn't it be a collision claim? A dead deer in the road would be the same as hitting a rock or stopped car in the road.

 

[RED MDL3]

Wouldn't it be a collision claim? A dead deer in the road would be the same as hitting a rock or stopped car in the road.

Deer are typically in motion with sudden directional changes. Much different than a static object. “At fault” is the basis for liability in the U.S. and most auto policies treat animal collision as “not at fault”. The policy specifically lists as a comprehensive loss.

 

[dmurphy]

Wouldn't it be a collision claim? A dead deer in the road would be the same as hitting a rock or stopped car in the road.

No. Animal - without hitting other vehicles or objects - is decidedly comprehensive.
The fur in his undercarriage certainly proves the point ...

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

OK, I am sorry I have been MIA for a while. But there was a massive update on my car only earlier this week. I won't bore you with details of scheduling problems between the body shop and Tesla.

Anyway, It turns out there has been a lot of internal damage (apparently?). The car was towed from the body shop to Tesla, after several days of waiting for a Tesla engineer to show up. Tesla said they will have to replace the battery, the computer , repair the drive unit, replace the hose assembly and replace the coolant reservoir , apart from the body work.

The new estimate has just absolutely blown my mind. [Including labor, the new estimate is $26,800]. This is crazy.

View attachment 482332

Did they tell you what happened to the battery, or can you ask why it needs to be replaced? I am curious about whether it was those hoses that broke, or something else was damaged.

It’s odd that the computer self-destructed. I thought it was supposed to protect itself?

It’s pretty crazy that a relatively soft object requires a battery replacement. I wonder what are the chances of sustaining battery damage if you suddenly hit standing water at high speed?

 

[narenravi88]

I’m sorry about your situation. I just re read what I wrote above about it being the insurance company’s call, and I realize it sounded harsh. I sure didn’t mean it that way - just an unfortunate reality of it all. The insurance companies rule the roost in that decision... not much we can do.

I feel your pain .. a deer jumped in front of my wife at 70mph and really messed up her Enclave. First estimate was over $16k and that’s just the first cut. I’m sure they’re going to find a bunch more wrong with it.

We’re now into month 2 waiting on parts from Buick/GM. Since their factories were on strike for 2 months, parts are way way backlogged, and GM can’t offer any guidance on when they’ll arrive.

I mention this because I’m in a similar boat. I wish they’d just have totaled it out and cut me a check. I’d lose a few bucks relative to its net present value with me, but I’m going to be in even worse shape once this is done. Once the parts arrive, it’s at least 3 weeks of work to fix.. and then even after that, I’m likely to sell it immediately. Too much damage for me to trust it.

That said - I know your repairs here are going to be done correctly and your car will be PERFECT! Tesla is known to be a stickler for repair work - their standard is that a factory line worker wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between a new and repaired vehicle. That’s an awesome standard!

Two months? What! That sucks! I hope you have an extra car while going through all of this...

The body shop and Tesla said it would be two or three weeks more to complete everything. I am not so sure about this...

 

[narenravi88]

Did you have Dashcam footage on? Maybe I missed that in this thread. If so, can you contact the state or township to see if they are liable? At some point, someone’s insurance will pay, so just wondering.

I think I do. Because I did have a USB drive plugged in but I didn't retain it when the car was towed. I'm going to retrieve it this week.

The claim is comprehensive. My insurance agent said it is not going to be counted as my fault. However, my wife's car and my car have had a claim this year. So, I am not sure if they will bump up the insurance quite a bit (because of wife's claim) or cancel ? Wouldn't put anything pass them.

 

[narenravi88]

Did they tell you what happened to the battery, or can you ask why it needs to be replaced? I am curious about whether it was those hoses that broke, or something else was damaged.

It’s odd that the computer self-destructed. I thought it was supposed to protect itself?

It’s pretty crazy that a relatively soft object requires a battery replacement. I wonder what are the chances of sustaining battery damage if you suddenly hit standing water at high speed?

The body shop stalled for several days. Until the car was at Tesla I did not have much information.

I spoke to somebody at Tesla when it was finally towed over there. They said some portion of the battery was damaged and the hose assembly was totally ripped out. Because of this, there was no coolant to the battery or the MCU. I don't remember if they said the lack of coolant caused the battery damage or it was damage on impact. I mentioned to him the car was displaying "OK to drive but schedule service appointment ASAP". And he said Tesla batteries are designed to work w/o coolant for a short while. He mentioned Tesla doesn't repair batteries and they will have to replace it. The same with the MCU. Also some super bottle coolant (I am guessing the coolant reservoir) will also be replaced by Tesla.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

Pretty crazy that they did not design the hose to break away more gracefully in a way that does not result in battery damage. Maybe they’ll update the design at some point and help keep our premiums down...

 

[yerEVan]

Pretty crazy that they did not design the hose to break away more gracefully in a way that does not result in battery damage. Maybe they’ll update the design at some point and help keep our premiums down...

Yeah. Screw it. I’m trading the M3 for Cybertruck, tomorrow.

Those dead deer will never know what hit them.

On the Cybertruck topic. When I reserved, it timed out. So I resubmitted and next morning I wake up to 2 reservations. No complaints here though.

 

[dmurphy]

Two months? What! That sucks! I hope you have an extra car while going through all of this...

The body shop and Tesla said it would be two or three weeks more to complete everything. I am not so sure about this...

Yeah, the situation stinks. And don’t get me started - the dealership that I’ve been using for decades was sold in July to apparently some fraudsters. Dealership went bankrupt and was closed overnight by GM in the first week of this debacle so we had to exfiltrate my car. And that’s how this mess /started/ ....

Yeah, I have a rental for now, but my policy only covers $1000 in rentals ... so I have about another 10-14 days or so until that runs out. Then I’m on my own for the duration. The upside is that I work from home, so unless I’m visiting a customer or headed to the airport, I don’t really need a car. If I do, I’ll rent one here and there.

The other upshot is that my wife’s basically taken my Model 3 - while I’m stuck with the rental, it’s made her very comfortable with the Tesla. If this Enclave needs to go ........ maybe that helps convince her an X makes sense. We’ll see.

good news on your front is at least it sounds like they have everything covered and you’re well on the way to a good-as-new repair. Keep us posted!!!

 

[Garlan Garner]

Get them to total it

Not if you have free supercharging for life.....and use it often like I do.

 

[rshields89]

My wife and I were on our way back home to Austin, Texas from Starkville, Mississippi tonight, and about half way into our trip when we were on a very dark portion of the highway, there was a dead cat and dog in the middle of the left lane. I was able to go over the cat without hitting my tires or anything, but the dog was a big looking lab type (terrible/sad I know), and even though I was able to go over it and not hit a tire, my wife and I could hear/feel something after going over. It was not loud at all and felt like we rolled over a small stick. After 4 more hours on the road the car is still driving perfect with no noticeable issues. I did look under the front of the car at our next supercharger station, and saw some blood underneath, and also my dog was sniffing under the back of the car. I did not see any type of damage other than the blood at the front. Just to be safe, should I take it somewhere to throw it up on a jack to get a closer look? I was just going to hose it down at my local self-wash place with those spray guns, and call it a day. What would you do in my position for those of you that reads this? My wife is still traumatized, but thank god I was driving because she probably would have jerked the wheel hard and we'd be doing somersaults into a ditch. We saw multiple dead animals on our 14 hour trip back, and think animal control in these tiny speed-trap towns are slacking this time of year. I'll post some pics tomorrow when we get up and around.

 

[rshields89]

Update: After getting home I inspected in some more light and noticed there is no damage but a streak of mess about a foot wide going from the plastic cover under the hood towards the back. I need to give it a hardcore washdown underneath. I will get a routine maintenance inspection setup soon after this long holiday road trip!

 

[Garlan Garner]

Update: After getting home I inspected in some more light and noticed there is no damage but a streak of mess about a foot wide going from the plastic cover under the hood towards the back. I need to give it a hardcore washdown underneath. I will get a routine maintenance inspection setup soon after this long holiday road trip!

I have NEVER seen anyone post anything about coming or going from Starkville MS in my life - not in any social media at all. My In-Laws live in Starkville and we drove there 2 years ago in my model 3. Fortunately we didn't hit anything.

I hope all is well with your car.

 

[yerEVan]

I have NEVER seen anyone post anything about coming or going from Starkville MS in my life - not in any social media at all. My In-Laws live in Starkville and we drove there 2 years ago in my model 3. Fortunately we didn't hit anything.

I hope all is well with your car.

Isn’t that where Iron Man was born?