snizzle

So I was out deer hunting the other day (in my RX8) and I snuck up on this little doe and I figured i'd run into it as hard as possible. I thought 60 MPH would be enough, although I would have preferred 70. I smashed into it and limbs went flying. Success!! but then I noticed the damage it did to my car so i'm thinking now maybe it was a bad idea.

So i'm looking for advice.....

I've filled the claim with the insurance company and they've had their appraiser come out and give me an estimate (which I think they low-balled typically). Now I'm free to take it to whatever bodyshop i'd like. The problem comes in because now i'm thinking this is an excuse to get the mazdaspeed bodykit and have it installed. Has anyone done something like this? How would I go about working this out with the bodyshop and/or insurance company? I was thinking I could just order from Rosenthal and bring the parts up there.

charleybull33

You can always take it to any shop you want. You'll want the shop to prepare an estimate as well, so that your company and the shop have an agreed cost of repairs. At that point, you can add the Mazdaspeed gear but you'll be on the hook for the difference between the part prices and any difference in labor charges. Good luck.

ekid

You'll need to look for a set of ms kit and have the repair shop put it on for you.

I currently have a brand new, unpainted poly-urethane ms front bumper if you're interested. I brought two when I put my ms kit on my 8 as a spare. PM me if anyone is interested.

cleoent

Sorry (or happy) to hear about your successful deer hunting mission. What you could do is go to a body shop and tell them what your estimator's number is. Say he said the damage is 3k worth of damage. You then ask if the body shop can do a mazdaspeed kit and the neccessary repairs for that much money, if you can, then you pay nothing, look around for a shop that can. If they can't, then you pay the difference.

Good luck!

RX-GR8

i hit a deer going about 50-60 in an MR-2 once. really messed the front of the car up.

SilverEIGHT

I have a few questions for you snizzle:

1. Did you have a License to deer hunt with large blunt instruments?
2. Did you save the carcass for dinner?
3. What is the range at which you initiated the trajectory for maximum impact?
4. Did you have to reload and hit him again or was once enough?
5. Were you accelerating to increase the follow through?
6. Is it best to wax the car before going on a hunt?
7. Do you turn your windshield wipers on before or after impact?





Sorry, I couldn't help it. Actually, I'm really sorry to here of your accident. You have a great attitude about it though. It’s nice to see your looking on the bright side. Good luck and I look forward to seeing pics with the MS front end.

LiL BenNy

omg are you friggen serious.

8is>enuff

Funny stuff. I'd be a little more pissed.
You don't have to go by the insurance company's estimate. They are almost always going to lowball it. Usually they have a list of approved shops that are able to do estimates as well as the repairs. If you have a regular mechanic or a friend with a shop, they may be on that list.
As for using this claim as a reason for upgrading, I think dazygirl (?) on this forum has esperience with that and may be able to help. She hit a curb and replaced the OEM front and sides with MS style. Looks good too.

Blue87Sport

Eating venison for month should allow you to save enough money for the MS kit.

shakRpahX8

so..you ran into deer intentionally for deer hunting??,,,and got your car damaged..
what the hell is wrong with you

8is>enuff

No. Frickin. Way.

I really thought this ..
.. was laying the sarcasm on a little thick.
:D

m477

Lol... I think it's great that you can have such a great sense of humor about the whole thing.

You know how Mazda has that ad slogan for the new miata, "Be the car"? Well, I think we should call this one "Be the bullet". Rifles are for pussies. ;P

pcimino

60 ? That's what I did wrong. I went hunting in my Protege a few years back at 40 mph, and the dang animal was just stunned!

Did you strap the deer across your hood? That would have been a PICTURE!

snizzle

1. Yes of course. Why would I illegally hunt like that? Think i'm some kinda crazy?
2. The carcass is still in my trunk. Luckily it was a small doe so I could fit it inside without much manipulation. Of course the missing limbs helped. I always fill the trunk with ice before I leave the house.
3. The hell if I know... car went vroom and then boom.
4. Once was enough. Although I did decide to take the baseball bat to 'em just to make sure I didn't go through a real life version of Tommy Boy. Peanut butter jelly and a baseball batt.
5. I was, 70 was a goal but some things just don't work out in life. I'll get better with time.
6. Actually, there is a reason I got the Velocity Red paint
7. I never turned them on. I felt like it gives my car character. The dried carnage shows i'm a true deer hunter to all those wannabees on the road.

snizzle

Sense of humor? What makes you think i'm not completely serious about the whole situation?!?!?!?

Don't ask LiL BenNy or shakRpahX8! That's cheating!

Hmmm "Be the bullet." I like that. I think i'll get some custom decals done and propose the idea to Mazda. Then they'll have to pay me trillions since I totally came up with the slogan.

snizzle

See? it's rookies like you that give us veteran deer hunters a bad name. You should be ashamed.

Genesis

Man, I'm glad this thread turned out the way it did cause when I first read the title before seeing the posts, I thought somebody was havin' sex with animals :D

snizzle

No, that's my OTHER thread in the Lounge

Genesis

:D

L8APEX

are you far enough south for that, trying to take our redneck games i see! :D

snizzle

Hahaha, apparently I am.

Ok so back on topic (at least for a while). Is it fair to say that everyone thinks I should:

1. Take the car into the bodyshop
2. Get a "real" estimate from them
3. Let the insurance company/bodyshop duke it out
4. Receive check for X amount more than the one they are sending out now
5. Buy Mazdaspeed kit online
6. Have bodyshop install that instead and use the money from insurance towards the complete bill

If I choose to install the kit myself and just have them fix the undercarriage damage, will that create a problem with the insurance company? Just wondering how involved they are as far as looking at the records for the work done. I've heard the kit isn't that bad to install.

Any opinions?

8is>enuff

3. -- They shouldn't have to duke it out if you go to one of their approved bodyshops. Estimates often rise during the teardown process as they can see more damage.

The insurance company doesn't care if you cover the difference between the OEM and MazdaSpeed kits. Their job is to compensate you for the damage done to your car.

An8inLAS

As they disassemble the car to repair the damage they always find the imfamous "hidden damage". As long as you use one of the insurance co's repair shops then they handle the whole transaction, even with hidden damage.
If you do supply the MS kit then watch out for a big gotcha. If the body shop returns the car to stock and then you realize that they did a crap job in one area, then the insurance company is sort of in your corner since they recommended these morons in the first place. But, if you ask the dealer to "modify" the car, even with an approved MS kit and they don't do it correctly, then the insurance co will be more than happy to excuse themselves and blame you for your problems. Even if the body shop does something obviously wrong like not tightening the wheel nuts.

Nubo

DSC/TCS

Did the Deer-Seeking Computer or the Totally Compressed Stag indicators come on?

SilverEIGHT

Lol