So this morning I was driving back from Montreal and within 20 minutes of being on I-89 in Vermont, a freaking raccoon ran right across the highway in front of my car as I was going 65-70MPH.

I was using the intelligent cruise control and there was no way I could avoid the raccoon. It was maybe 3-5 feet in front of me.

It hit the front right where my Intelligent Cruise Control box was and then my car ran right over it. The damage...

1. My Cruise control box is smashed and broken
2. The undercarriage has damage
3. In the wheel arch on the driver side, the cover got ripped off and was dragging
4. Bumper had damage as well

I pulled into a gas station and it was 5AM so no where had tools or anything so I just used my Swiss Army Knife to cut off the dangling undercarriage piece to prevent dragging on the ride home...

I AM SOOO PISSED...Stupid raccoon. It was HUGE. I thought I hit a medium to large dog at first!!

 

Yes, hate to see this,, where i live there are LOTS of them, as well as dear, skunks, cats, foxes, etc... and they all will make a mess of allmost any vehicles front end, and or alignment. Everyday i leave for work at 4:00 am, so its hard to see these dang animals sometimes,,, have had more than a few close calls over the years now.... hopefully you'll get all that fixed real quick, and back out.

 

Does anyone know a rough estimate of how much this will cost? I feel like it will cost more than $500 so probably an insurance claim is best?

Also, is it possible to try and get a sport bumper this time around?

 

Sorry to hear it.

I'm sure that the damage will exceed 500 since the cruise control module was damaged. You'll certainly want to get an estimate before you spend a penny toward it in case you do end up making a claim.

EDIT: Yep, I just looked online ( http://www.infinitipartsusa.com/part...tance%20sensor ), and the distance sensor is priced at almost 1500 bucks

Definitely read up on your comprehensive policy.

 

That sucks but the pix are soo small. Unless my tablet dont bliw it up. Hope you get it fixed soon.

 

I did the raccoon thing on the first day that I picked up my car. Gods way of reminding me that it's just a car and not to idolize the thing. I took $500 deductible and Nissan dealership did the repair for about $1k which was bumper cover, underside tray, small radiator for oil cooler and I think that was about it. Haven't touched another animal since and it's been 4 yrs now.

 

You can use this an opportunity to switch to the sports bumper but set aside some more $ besides your policy deductible. You'll have to switch out headlights and a few other things. Sorry to hear about the car dude, a deer ran into me last year, i know the feeling.

 

If you click the picture, it should bring you to IMAGESHACK for bigger images.

This is my first car. Can someone explain how this insurance process works? Also, if I wanted a sport bumper, I would have to tell the place repairing my car correct? Also, for the sport bumper, would the Cruise Control Sensor need to be moved?

 

So I let go of my G today for it to go get repaired...

For now I am less baller with a Corolla...I really took for granted how much power the G had and how much more solid the steering was. The leather seats...so comfortable and the nav screen...

And I can't get over how much better the Xenon HID headlights were at night!

 

lol. I have a Corolla S in addition to my G. Its not up to par as far as luxury but I do like the mileage a lot better.

 

I am actually driving a Corolla S. Mileage is great. The steering is SOOO light it is crazy. I can literally turn the wheel with my pinky.

 

hows that raccoon doing? lol

 

Better than the guy driving the Corolla...LMAO...

 

Got my car back! Only took them 2-3 days max to fix it! New bumper and new parts all under the car. So shiny now!