I picked up my CX-9 at 11am this morning (or yesterday, since I'm posting this at 1:50am on Thursday). They fixed everything perfectly and even gave it a thorough washing and cleaning inside and out at no cost! The brake pedal resistance and pressure required were back to normal levels and it was back to driving like a dream right off the lot....
But sometimes, when you least expect and are least prepared to deal with them, days go straight to hell....and this was one of them! My grandmother passed away on Mother's Day and we just buried her last Wednesday. My dad had semi-emergency colon surgery on the Tuesday prior to my grandmother passing away. The surgeon expected to release him from the hospital on the Friday before Mother's Day, but due to complications he had to stay another six days and just came home last Thursday (the day after grandma's funeral).
I think it's safe to say that I've been a bit stressed, anxious and pretty much crazy for the last few weeks. Then my brake booster went out and I remember thinking "If any more sh!t hits the fan, I'm heading to the airport and going to hide at my cousin's in Los Angeles....and maybe never coming back!?
So, I was about 10-12 miles from my house in my CX-9 heading back from the dealership this morning. I was on a 55mph highway but have a bad habit of going 70-ish when no one else is on the road. I went around a blind curve and there were two deer standing in the middle of freakin' highway!!! I didn't have time to even think about trying to avoid them or steer around them...all I could do was stand on the brake pedal (which worked well at least) as hard as I could with both feet and hang onto the steering wheel as I plowed into them! (eyeballs)
It looked more like I had hit a cow or maybe a utility pole rather than two 130lb-ish deer. One went thru the bumper/grille, right thru the radiator (and right into the engine shearing dozens of small parts and pieces loose in the process. Something happened that caused the engine to spray oil all over the place, so that doesn't sound good. It also appears that the transmission case is damaged and it's very likely that the transmission is trashed also! The other on went up over the hood, slamming into the windshield and somehow leaving several dents in the front edge of the roof, breaking the moonroof glass and knocking one of the roof rails loose. My driver's side mirror and driver's door were badly damaged by hooves as the poor thing fell off the roof when I stopped.
I must have ran off the edge of the road during the collision because both of my left (driver's) side wheels are bent and have major cosmetic damage and both tires on that side are flat. There are also some nasty gashes all the way to the paint on the bottom of the driver's side front and rear doors and the black trim at the bottom was ripped loose. I had it taken the body shop where my bro-in-law works and his boss called and said the damage estimate was at least $16k and that was being very conservative! If the transmission is trashed, that's another $4k. My insurance company told me if the damage is really near the 70% of value mark (which $16k would be), they will let me choose whether to repair it or declare it a total loss. If it hits 80% they total it automatically. I've already decided that I want it totaled.
I was thankful that both of the poor creatures were dead by the time I got out of the car. I'm not a hunter and the thought of killing an animal makes me physically ill, but if one or both of them weren't killed on impact, I was ready to dig my Glock 19 out of the glovebox and go do an "Old Yeller" on them out of sheer mercy! BTW, I do keep a gun in my vehicles (and I have a 'Carry Permit') because I wouldn't hesitate to shoot a person trying to harm me or anyone I care about. Can't kill animals but would put a person down in a split-second and without a second thought if they were a threat! I watched a teenage thug rob an older lady at a drive-up ATM and punch her in the face about seven years ago. I held him at gunpoint until the police arrived and haven't left home without it since!
Anyway, I am sad to say that my CX-9 is a goner! I'm planning to buy another CX-9 (either a new 2015 or slightly used 2014) to replace it. But it's still a little sad seeing such a great car die such a nasty death. On the upside, none of the airbags needed to deploy to protect me and they DID NOT....so that spared me the shotgun ringing in my ears and various contact burns and bruises.
On a related topic, I've reached the conclusion that deer are very stupid animals! They see and hear about their deer friends getting mowed down daily, yet they still insist on standing in the road or crossing it when they hear a car coming! And even if you manage to honk and brake to get them to move before you hit, some will jump back in front of you again at the last second anyway. They're sort of like big squirrels with hooves....and they can do some freakin' damage!(rolleyes)