My younger sister was driving home yesterday and a deer ran out into the highway right in front of her. She was driving about 75mph and had braked hard but still hit the deer pretty hard. She’s okay, thank God. Interestingly, the airbags didn’t deploy. Maybe the sensors are below where the deer hit. When the hood popped open it hit the windshield hard enough to shatter it. The hood may have kept the deer from coming through the glass. Truck is a ‘21 Toyota Tacoma Crew Cab SR5 with 81k miles.

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I’ve been fortunate enough to have no experience with a situation where my vehicle was sufficiently damaged to be a total loss, so I’d like to know whether this looks like it’s going to potentially be one. State Farm is having her truck towed to a nearby body shop for an estimate. This body shop is near the scene of the accident, 9 hours from where she lives.

Are there any questions she should ask the shop State Farm has specified for the estimate? I don’t think she’s inclined to want the truck repaired, based on what she’s saying.

My suspicion is that the truck is damaged enough to be a total loss.

Thanks for any input.

Did airbags deploy?

Glad she's ok, I'd be concerned with having a body shop that far from home working on the car, they know you'd likely never return for anything with a 18 hour round trip, but, it might be necessary for SF to get a first look.

All depends on how deep the damage is, if it's just the front end all that can be redone, but she might want to ask about SF getting it home to a closer shop.

What a mess. Glad she’s OK.

quote:

Originally posted by BigSwede:
Did airbags deploy?

4th sentence of the first post.

81k miles, MY21, that's totalled.

That is destroyed.

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:
The hood may have kept the deer from coming through the glass.

I grew up in a part of the country where everyone I know who actually drives has hit a deer at some point. My first thought was "looks like the hood saved her." It's so common that they see the car coming and leap up high enough to make it right through the windshield that as a teenager learning to drive, I was told to duck down to the right if I knew I was going to hit a deer and couldn't stop in time. No idea if that was good or bad advice back in the late 90's, but it's what I was told.

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:
Truck is a ‘21 Toyota Tacoma Crew Cab SR5 with 81k miles.
My suspicion is that the truck is damaged enough to be a total loss.

I'll be shocked if it isn't.

If it didn't wreck the alternator, water pump and a/c compressor and the body shop can buy it at salvage cost ( wonder what salvage is on that ), the shop would fix it.
The lower radiator support is ok, the fenders can be reused, upper radiator support can be pulled or replaced.
Major cost would be radiator, condenser,fan, hood and windshield. headlights and front plastic.
If it sells at salvage cheap enough and someone does their own work on it for a daily driver, going to be a good deal.

quote:

Originally posted by BigSwede:
Did airbags deploy?

Third sentence in the original post: "the airbags didn’t deploy."

You have to hit a much more solid object than a deer to deploy airbags. They are small and light compared to a car, are mostly soft tissue, and get pushed aside.

Thanks all.

The chicory is really heavy here in WV right now, especially along the roads. Deer are crazy over it

I hit a deer with my 1998 Tacoma. The damage was similar but nothing structural and, after repairs, I drove the truck until it had 200K miles.

In my case the airbags didn't deploy and the cup of coffee in my console didn't spill. The truck took all the damage.

Glad to read she is fine.

Everything else can be settled.

The front core support is bent. This may indicate similarly bent front inner fenders, the core of the body structure.

If both front doors can be opened, and the gap between the door and the outer fender is uniform, that is a good sign.

Being a body-on-frame vehicle, the front frame rails (the horns) are subject to compression and bending, and if so, would be bad.

21 model year I’d be concerned with the insurance company requiring “like kind and quality” aka used or aftermarket replacement parts. We know used parts are just that and many times they have been subject to prior collision repairs. Aftermarket, well CAPA certified parts have to meet minimum requirements for fit and finish so you have some assurance of quality.

Combine that with the distance from home to the body shop I’d be pushing for a total loss designation.

Nobody's asking how the deer made out?

Glad to hear she is okay.
Lucky she wasn't on a motorcycle, don't ask how I know about that scenario.

Let's say the insurance company totals it, you get $20k check. The insurance company owns the truck now. You have the option to buy it back. I'm curious how much they will sell it back to you. If you can ask, even though you don't want it, that would be interesting.

My kids car(2014niss altima) was hit in June, parked out front.
It folded up like they are designed to, and it slid forward into my truck and trailer hitch going into the radiator.

So more damage than the labor would have warranted for a $8k used car. The other insurance company totaled it. I spoke to the tow truck guy and he said the same-it could be fixed but the labor would make it over 8k at least.

Looking at the frame, gaps between the doors and quarter panels should let you know…if they aren’t even, it’s toast. Just figure $1k for each body panel then 2xs for labor.