Your boot just sounds like the gas struts are dead, warranty job.

The gas struts are fine as they worked perfectly well for a 14 month old car about 20 mins before I hit the deer.

I've just spent 2 weeks at my dads house in Milton Abbas, Dorset looking after his country 'mansion' and 3 dogs whilst he sunbathed at his apartment in Tenerife! Took the dogs for a walk every day at 3.00 pm and I can verify that there are deer galore around that way. Popped into Wareham for the day (to an auction) and saw a dead deer in the road as you approached the town. His house is 7 miles from Blandford and on the 3rd day there I needed bread & milk so went to Blandford & ran over a pheasant that decided to run out under my wheels! Wildlife everywhere.

I am actually moving to Dorset with the girlfriend next year & have already made a mental note of the abundance of wildlife to look out for!

Ah yes, you get LOADS of pheasants around, especially out of the shooting season :o I hit a fox once a few years back, apart from that and a bat the lodged itself in my front grill once of my Fiat Uno (A bat! Work that one out cause I couldn't!!!) then the deer is the only other wildlife I've hit.

On a good note I went to check my boot again at the accident repair shop, it's not as bad as it was but they will take a look again when doing the repairs. The accident caused over £1800 of damage!! luckily I just have a £200 excess but no doubt my premiums will sky rocket It was interesting seeing the car with no lights and spoiler, looked cool I thought haha. I didn't ask but I'm hoping they replace the bonnet, I would have thought so for that much money? They are just waiting for the spoiler to come in but I should get her back next week and they confirmed the chassis is fine.

i would count yourself lucky, i got transferred to our bodyshop 2 weeks ago, and yesterday i ordered 4500 worth of parts for a 59 plate zetec that hit a deer. it need new dash, belts, bumper, bonnet, wings, lights, front panel, radiator and condensor, plus a host of other parts and also a rear subframe after they span and three new wheels

i would count yourself lucky, i got transferred to our bodyshop 2 weeks ago, and yesterday i ordered 4500 worth of parts for a 59 plate zetec that hit a deer. it need new dash, belts, bumper, bonnet, wings, lights, front panel, radiator and condensor, plus a host of other parts and also a rear subframe after they span and three new wheels

Flipping heck!!!! That must have been very close to a write off? Do you think I'll get a new bonnet? The dent isn't big but I didn't check for marks all over it, just near the dent where there are some. I for some reason would just prefer a new bonnet rather then have mine filled and painted.

Flipping heck!!!! That must have been very close to a write off? Do you think I'll get a new bonnet? The dent isn't big but I didn't check for marks all over it, just near the dent where there are some. I for some reason would just prefer a new bonnet rather then have mine filled and painted.

Will the car go down as a CAT C or CAT D ?>?

Will the car go down as a CAT C or CAT D ?>?

No idea, what do you mean and how do I find out?

Will the car go down as a CAT C or CAT D ?>?

Neither, it's not a writeoff!

i would imagine that a new bonnet will be on the cards, bonnets are not USUALLY repaired.

now ive got my new position i feel a few mods coming on, entire boodyshop at my disposal :)

i would imagine that a new bonnet will be on the cards, bonnets are not USUALLY repaired.

now ive got my new position i feel a few mods coming on, entire boodyshop at my disposal :)

Thanks mate, I hope I do. I CANNOT wait to get her back... I am missing her, but maybe not in the snow haha.

Hi all, I thought I would give an update. I got her back a week Christmas Eve, flip me going from my mums 205 auto back into the fezza! I was like wow this thing steers quick and rides hard!!! hahahaha.

So far so good though, they did a pretty good job and the boots been fine, I think it's been weak in the very low temperatures but that's fine. They had to order a bumper and paint it themselves in the end as the one they were delivered already painted was the wrong one!

I have to say the garage has been very good and the insurance company (M&S) was pretty good, they even called me to check everything was alright, the only gripe I had was the underwriters were only open during office hours but that was all really, I've been very impressed with her snow performance too, I've been taking it easy and on my estate which was an ice ring last week, I just drove with the clutch and break and 2nd gear and she was fine, I kept the speed at 10 though. But very impressed.

Anyway, I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and wish you all a Happy New Year.

What did it have replaced

What did it have replaced

No idea, all the front bumper and spoiler and the headlight as far as I can tell, the radiator etc are the original's that I can see so I think they must have quoted a ton for the labour.

Glad to hear that you've got the car back and it's been fixed properly. I got messed around no end by my local dealer when I had a wing replaced on my old car... they kept telling me that it was being worked on but every time I went back the the compound the car was parked in exactly the same place/orientation.

Bet the 205 wasn't all bad though, the one I drove was like a go-kart!

Glad to hear that you've got the car back and it's been fixed properly. I got messed around no end by my local dealer when I had a wing replaced on my old car... they kept telling me that it was being worked on but every time I went back the the compound the car was parked in exactly the same place/orientation.

Bet the 205 wasn't all bad though, the one I drove was like a go-kart!

Haha, if it was a 205 GTI I would have been chuffed but alas not, it handled ok, just not got the space and handling of the fezza! Sorry to hear your garage messed you about, I was actually asked to pop in and show them what I thought was wrong with my boot. I think I'm very lucky with my dealer as they are all good and literally everything they do for you results in them asking you to fill in a satisfaction survey so you can mark them down if you wish.

I had an incident up in Scotland a few years back in my Merc A-Class. Had antilock brakes working overtime and as we approached the daft bugger, I couldn't decide which way it was going to run! A few choice words later, we missed it by about 2 feet.

Thoughts of the 'elk test' flashed through my mind as we were swerving all over the place! No pun intended. We both stayed upright and survived unscathed.

Sorry to hear you weren't so lucky. Still, at least you are unhurt.

Blimey I had to dig for this thread lol!!

I am adding to it as my car is booked in for Thursday, it needs new breaks (grinding noise) done 15k odd miles so not bad? But I am also getting my handling checked as I swear it's got worst over the last month. It was fine after the accident but now the snow etc has gone and I have been back to normal driving it's definitely not as stable IMO?? I'm hoping it's maybe a buckled alloy though I don't think so or something not adjusted??

Oh, and I have gone back to normal BP petrol too, mainly cause of our stupid crazy prices in the UK!!!! ggrrrrr.

bad times...could of been worse, you could of hit it stright on

bad times...could of been worse, you could of hit it stright on

Yeah that is very true. I kinda swept it off it's feet though, it dented the bonnet. None of the air bags went off so I am hopeful my chassis really is fine??

I seen worse that aint done the chassis in.

15k for brakes though...dont seem right!? is that from new?

...mine have done 30k and got loads left and its a learner car and I do a lot of left foot braking as does me best mate in it!

Sorry to hear bout it...we were very close in the new forest to a full on stag back in december...never have I been so scarred in my whole life...life flashed before me...I didnt even manage to touch the brakes before it dived out of the way...phew...my seat was damp that night!

hope garage sorts her all out for ya! :)

I seen worse that aint done the chassis in.

15k for brakes though...dont seem right!? is that from new?

...mine have done 30k and got loads left and its a learner car and I do a lot of left foot braking as does me best mate in it!

Sorry to hear bout it...we were very close in the new forest to a full on stag back in december...never have I been so scarred in my whole life...life flashed before me...I didnt even manage to touch the brakes before it dived out of the way...phew...my seat was damp that night!

hope garage sorts her all out for ya! :)

It's going in tomorrow, yeah I get a grinding sound like they have worn out.

let us know what happens...could just be corroded discs?!

Oh dear!! Well the breaks were sticking so they took them apart and cleaned and greased them. But the handling is a bit of an issue, they had a look and have found that the back end is out of alignment, and it cannot be adjusted so something is bent!!!! they don't know what, just that the alignment is out and the tyre wear is also not consistent. They have booked me into the body shop for a full check on a rig so they can try and find what is damaged.

Not good news and they did say it could potentially be an expensive repair if it's the stud axle for instance. So long as it's no more then say £700 I should be ok but they did say they may be able to put an insurance claim in for it. From what they were saying this is down either to my accident somehow? Or a pot hole.

Not a happy chap, I'm yet to pick it up and again will ask if the chassis could be affected, so long as my chassis is totally unaffected I'm happy as everything else can be repaired. Hopefully!!

I feel for you Mark. The problem is that modern cars are designed to destroy themselves to absorb crash energy and protect us.

The problem is the cost of repairing them - I've got to buy an entire new bumper and fog light unit because some fool bumped into my car in a car park and drove off.

oh bum.

what a shame. it may not be too bad...dont panic yet.

It is true though...everything crumples so you can get out and be ok!

Yeah, the car did crumble and caused £1800 plus worth of damage!! Anyway I did ask them several times when they repaired it if the chassis was all fine and was advised yes it was every time. But when I went to pick it i did ask the service guy if the chassis could be twisted and he couldn't say, he didn't rule it out!! But he does think it's most likely a suspension component which is what I'm hoping for obviously as that can be repaired. A twisted chassis.....

So I shall find out when they put it on their rig in about 2 weeks time. I'll post back the outcome. I would be surprised if the chassis was damaged by the accident or a pot hole to be honest as it would be at the rear. I hit the deer at the front. And a pot hole damaging a chassis!!?? Can't see that.