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| What a fat raccoon does to a VW Passat |
Well, the incident which resulted in the pictured damage happened kind of fast and I didn't have a chance to weigh the raccoon which chose to intersect with my moving vehicle. What I do know is that the raccoon at issue appeared to be enormous of not morbidly obese. I probably wouldn't have hit it had I not been driving down a relatively dark stretch of US Highway 87 near Victoria. The obese animal at issue waddled out of a darkened median at a surprisingly rapid pace. I attempted to swerve, but hitting a fat raccoon seemed like a better plan than flying into a ditch at 70 MPH. Moreover, he actually ran toward my car as I started to swerve. Despite evasion maneuvers, there was no way to miss said raccoon.
End result: $2,500 worth of damage.
Yes, that is the correct amount. When I picked up the car from the body shop, I was handed a laundry list of damage caused by reckless wildlife. Not only did he cause the body damage pictured about, he also dislodged the radiator and the turbo's intercooler. Fortunately for me, I carry the full package of insurance on my car and I was able to drive a company vehicle for a week while mine was repaired.
Take-aways from this experience:
- Raccoons can seriously mess up your car. Be alert for them.
- A reminder that no repair is cheap for a Volkswagen Passat (I've had prior experiences with body damage to this car: all expensive)
- State Farm was cool about paying for it. I've gotten my money's worth from their collision coverage.
- Ellis & Salazar again did great work at a fast pace.
- It's really annoying for people to chastise you about hitting a sweet, innocent raccoon when you're looking at serious body damage to your car.
- It might be time for me to buy a Tahoe.
