Avy VS Deer @ 80mph

So this happened late November 2017, and I do apologize for my lateness in posting this.

I had taken a trip with my son (2yrs old) up to PA for a family visit. As usual we had a great time and I didn't leave my cousins house until late in the evening. My son fell asleep in the Av on the way back and I was cruising along 81S in WVA at 80mph (limit is 70), going with the flow of traffic which was light at this hour.

I got into the left lane right around exit 8 and the guardrail is right next to the road, all I see is blacktop, lane markers and guardrail. Just then I see a deer head pop above my hood to the left, felt the truck hit it like a pothole and my headlights went crooked. Nothing else felt wrong and I contemplated if I should even stop, but I got over to the left to take the shoulder anyway to check everything. As i pulled over my DIS displayed LOW COOLANT LEVEL and I thought aw damn, I'm screwed. Once stopped I shut off the engine, and checked on my son, who was STILL asleep! I let the radio stay on so he'd have music to fill the void of normal road noise. I hopped out with my light to check the damage. My big girl took a hard hit in the face and was leaking fluids everywhere. As sad as I was, I was happy she sacrificed her looks for my son and I to be unscathed.

I called my wife who was 45 mins away at home and told her what happened, we were okay and get on the road to meet us. Arranged for a tow (whole other story that was ridiculous, but F Allstate's roadside un-assistance...), thank goodness for AAA.

My wife arrived shortly before the Tow Truck and my son stayed sleeping right up until we needed to load onto the flatbed (he was then transferred to my wife's car).

The Tow Truck Driver was chill, he said (and I'm sure any of you who drive the 81 corridor between Winchester VA and Martinsburg WVA know), that the area is notorious for deer strikes. He got me to the only body-shop i knew in Winchester and the picture is what I took from the drop-off. I have more, but this one shows the most damage.

To continue this sage that was unfolding for me, I had contacted my insurance company to alert them of the accident. A claim was opened and an adjuster would be contacting me when they wanted to look at the Av. Since I left it a local dealer with a body-shop I did the normal after-hours drop-off to follow up in the AM.

On the drive home with my wife and son in her car we discussed the possibilities of what might have happened if I had taken her car that night instead. Quite honestly, her Sonata has good crash ratings and was 10 years newer than my Av, but with the way the deer rolled under the Truck and felt like I hit a pothole, then shrugging it off to still drive normally afterward (albeit loosing coolant in the process), that a hit of the same caliber would have had obviously drastically different results in a sedan. I'm glad I was in my Av, I truly don't think the night would have ended the same if I was in her car.

I went back the next day to get some daylight pictures.

Time past and the adjuster made his visit. He was calculating the cost and I had pretty much written off the possibility they would pay to fix her given the age, rarity and mileage. But, on my birthday I got a great present, they were going to pay to fix her 100%!!! They sent me the list of known issues, estimated amount of repair cost and gave me final say in approving the completed work.

The adjuster said in all his years he'd never seen a 2500 Avalanche! I was proud to give him that opportunity.

So now the work began from the shops perspective of locating parts! That was a stressful time, i was finding parts myself and sending links to the shop manager, looking for upgrades and offering to pay the difference, but that never panned out. Turns out body shop hours double from what a vendor says about how long a competent installer can perform a task in. Ugh.

Another daytime pic.

It had been almost 6 weeks, but the day finally arrived when I could drop off my F-150 rental (100% paid by insurance, wouldn't trade the Av for it), and pick up my girl!

I had gotten the body shop to paint the power bar body color since my original was flat dark gray. New front everything!

No major damage to engine or frame, although they did have to bend the frame horns apart a bit, likely due to my tow chain catching the deer impact.

I couldn't be happier! She protected me and my family and we are back on the road.

Nice! Looks like new.

That came out beautifully!

Good to see they are still repairing them, most time it's here's a check and do what you want with it.

Your 2500 came out like its good as new.

Thanks guys! I am very happy they fixed it like new. In total, the repair bill was just over $6k!

Truth be told, I expected a check from insurance so much I was researching replacements.