Rover 75 Tourer

I suspect that you will find that the Rover was written off by whoever was driving it at the time. I bet they didn't do the deer much good either.

I suspect you'll find that you can't swerve out of the way or do much about anything when a large deer suddenly appears in the road in the middle of the night!

You might as well argue that it's the driver who writes a car off if he happens to be sitting in it whilst it's parked up by the kerb, and a tree falls onto it with no warning.

Michael

Actually, *I'd* argue that it was the insurance company that wrote it off. Your dad just hit a deer and damaged it.

Well, indeed, I was just thinking about that earlier, after my last posting. The "writing off" is purely the act of an underwriter, but has come to be synonymous with the act of damage to the insured property that results in that action. "Writing off" in the insurance sense is entirely a choice of free will after consideration of various financial consequences, whereas an (unavoidable) deer, "act of God" etc, is beyond the control of the insured (unless they were driving without due care and attention to something which could and should have been avoided).

Michael

And so, sometimes it can be that one can cost-effectively repurchase and repair one's older car that has been deemed to be, and paid as, a total loss by one's insurer. This worked really well for me one time, but I don't think it's the general rule. If it's a car that you know well though, then it might me worth considering, if it's not too late.

My father has decided he hasn't got the time or energy for that sort of thing. No doubt the owner of a valuable classic would view the matter differently.

Michael

You can if you're not driving like a tit.

I was wondering when you were going to show up.

Michael Kilpatrick gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

It really does depend on the amount of damage. An older car can be written off on financial grounds very, very easily - insurers will only use the manufacturer's published new parts prices and tend to be charged higher labour rates by bodyshops than private customers.

Then there's the actual value for the vehicle - an insurer will often use a lower threshold than the owner might ascribe, especially when you take into account the hassle-factor of having to change car when you don't actually want to.

If you're happy for good used panels to be used, the bill can be reduced dramatically, and make a repair viable.

Don't know why you feel the need to make such a stupid and pointless remark. You think you can swerve out of the way of a deer that appears

10ft in front of you, even if you're only doing 50mph on a 60mph road?

Of course, if my father had been "driving like a tit" and going closer to (or even faster than) the speed limit, he would, rather perversely, have been past the point of the incident at the time the deer chose to leap out.

If your first reaction to something in front of you is *immediately* to automatically swerve to avoid it, then good luck to you. I await reports of your being crushed under an oncoming lorry whilst swerving to avoid a stoat. Or killing pedestrians on the other side of the road (or your side).

Get real.

Michael

Michael Kilpatrick gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Umm, I know the Owler Bar road fairly well (between Totley Rise & Dore), and can't think of many stretches where there's no cover for the deer to hide in before it just suddenly "appear" in the road...

I used to drive a chap around, and he would reason that if I couldn't stop before a solid brick wall appeared instantly in front of us, only by magic, I was driving too fast. It's quite tiresome trying to explain, so I didn't bother after a few times. He couldn't drive, but I think that was only part of his confusion.

Rob

Ugh, blimey. If it's pitch-black in the middle of the night and the animal approaches quickly from the side, it is only visible in your headlights for a second or two at the most - whether it emerges from woodland or from completely open heath.

Michael

Don't worry, he only responds after closing time.

GMacK

Would you be saying the same if it had been a cyclist, police officer, child... Hmmm?

We have more deer around these parts than seems feasible for the amount of land. We also have badgers and assorted other mobile landscape features. In other parts where I drive the scenery is livened up by the presence of porcupines, wild boar, wolves and bear.

So far I've manager to avoid slamming into any of them, even when they have jumped into the road just a few feet from my car.

But then again I tend to look through the bit of glass in front of my face while I'm driving.

But then again, again, the truth is that you've just been lucky so far.

Or are you saying that you're *absolutely* certain that you're never, ever, going to hit anything at all with your car, no matter what?

I'm certain that I haven't written off a car by hitting an animal in the road yet. Which put me one step ahead of your relatives. As to the future, sure if deer develop the ability to dematerialise and reappear instantly in the middle of a road I may be caught out.

I note you skirted around the issue of what would have happened if the animal had been human.

Have you looked on ebay? I put in a search string "Rover 75 estate" and there are a few of them. I picked some at random:

However, I don't know what you are looking for - there are "Connoisseur" models, "Club" models etc and whether that makes a difference to the internal space I don't know. Also ebay conveniently lists them in order of distance from my home address, and I didn't want to undo that default to look for S17.

Anyway, the idea is there for what it is worth. I bought a nice Morris Minor on e-bay a couple of years ago at a bargain price, so there are some genuine bargains out there.

Jim

Indy Jess John gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Or just look on Autotrader. There's ~260 R75 tourers & ~160 MG ZT-Ts (same car, different badge & slightly firmer suspension) listed at the mo, nationally - about a hundred of which (similar split) are within 100 miles of S17.