Hit a dog on the freeway

[esqu1re]

Jalopnik article: Motorist saves 580 dogs

Enjoy the happy story about dogs being saved.

[Nikki]

Originally Posted by esqu1re

Jalopnik article: Motorist saves 580 dogs

Enjoy the happy story about dogs being saved.

awww poor doggies, that is a nice story, thanks for sharing.

[vasaline]

Thanks for your concern and advice Finnigan. The shop I'm going to is a BMW certified collision center. The manager told me that the cars that go through their shop will not be released back to the owner unless it is back to factory specs. I'm still waiting for my insurance adjustor to go out there and estimate the damage. Until that happens BMW is not allowed to work on the car.
Based on other reviews on the shop, I heard that they do good work but the only downside is that they usually take longer to fix the car then the estimate time they quote you. This doesn't bother me much as long as the car is in good hands and gets fixed properly.
Based on observations from my mechanic, he said that I may need a new oil cooler, radiator, and a/c condenser as those parts are bent. He told me they might be salvageable but knowing BMW, they will probably replace them.
I should get pictures tomorrow from the manager which I will post up as soon as I can.

Thanks!

[Finnegan]

Sounds like you've found a good shop! It sounds similar to the one I used which had the same reputation (slower, but top notch quality). The job did take awhile, but the results were simply amazing.

I'm glad to hear they won't release it back unless everything is w/in factory specs--that can be very valuable. My shop went to bat for me with my adjustor, who didn't want to pay more to get things back to factory spec, or as he put it "well, things are pretty close to factory specs and that's good enough, you're not going to notice the difference". Well, as you can imagine I disagreed with that a bit, and so did my shop who refused to let the car go until it was done right. Getting things to spec costs more $$$ than "pretty close", and having a shop that works for you is a huge plus in a lot of dimensions (including dealing with the adjustor).

On the chance you haven't had to deal with this before (hope not) typically the adjustor and shop will do an initial estimate, and that's likely to change over time. Until they really tear things down and get in there it's really impossible to see everything, so the adjusting process tends to be a bit of a moving target that heads in an upward direction. Something like a part being off a millimeter or two (which isn't obvious) can affect things a lot. These aren't easy to see or find until the car is put on an alignment rack and so on, which is another reason why a good shop will take longer to fully fix a car and fix it right.

Keep us posted.

[vasaline]

On a side note, I decided to make this into a more positive note by requesting the shop to have front orange reflectors painted to body color. At least one positive thing can come out of this.

[Hawkeye]

Haha, way to look on the bright side

[ANUSTART]

Makin' lemonade.

[johanness]

Originally Posted by esqu1re

Jalopnik article: Motorist saves 580 dogs

I will not give Jalopnik my clicks anymore. They've RUINED the site w/the update. Boycott all things Gawker!

[Hawkeye]

I honestly do not visit enough to know what update you are talking about. Gawker Media is... well... a typical big media outlet. And those pretty much all suck.

[pbdm4k]

...

[imz4n]

The OP may not even know what happened to the dog. On the freeways out here, you just do not stop and get out of the car and start walking around. Get off the dog thing, crap happens, I'm sure the OP would have missed the dog if he could have done so, if for no other reason, to not damage the car. It's a shame the dog got hit, given, the owner of the dog should be hung by the neck till dead.

[vasaline]

Got an update from BMW. The final cost is $9500. Main things being replaced are oil cooler, radiator, ac system and of course front bumper. Good thing none of the major components are damaged such engine and suspension. I have pictures and will upload them when I get home tonight.

They also found some white hair which was most likely from the dog. I just feel that this wouldn't have happened if the owner was more responsible. Some people really shouldn't be owning dogs.... RIP little doggy...

[MIKe86]

Originally Posted by vasaline

Got an update from BMW. The final cost is $9500. Main things being replaced are oil cooler, radiator, ac system and of course front bumper. Good thing none of the major components are damaged such engine and suspension. I have pictures and will upload them when I get home tonight.

They also found some white hair which was most likely from the dog. I just feel that this wouldn't have happened if the owner was more responsible. Some people really shouldn't be owning dogs.... RIP little doggy...

[vasaline]

Pictures

Here are the pictures finally! I also have the list of items that they will be replacing on the claim.

[CobraR1339]

You have great attitude about it, lemonade is right. Thanks for sharing.

[vasaline]

Yea but I was lucky that it was nothing major damaged. It could have been a alot worse if it's damage to the suspension or chassis.

[Finnegan]

Originally Posted by vasaline

Yea but I was lucky that it was nothing major damaged. It could have been a alot worse if it's damage to the suspension or chassis.

Yep. Been there and it wasn't fun. Yours should come out better on the other end than it went in.