Hit a 'road gator.'

[rdunnill]

Travelling south on I5 near Eugene in the passing lane at 0400 Saturday morning, I had the misfortune to encounter a large road gator on its side.

When I started out on the trip, the 2022 GT Premium coupe was brand new. Not anymore.

The front bumper assembly sustained significant damage. Bumper, lower grille, air dam are all ruined, as is the driver's side wheel well. There is a deep chip on the hood and a scratch on the passenger side door.

Dealership says $4400 to repair the front clip damage, but that doesn't include the hood chip or the door scratch.

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[Torched10]

You have comprehensive insurance right.that shoukd cover it

 

[The Demon]

I hate that that happened to you. To be honest I had to look up road gator. Obviously it was dark outside at 0400. I drive to work in the dark every morning and I’ve been lucky for 70,000 miles. Hope all works out for you.

 

[sms2022]

You have comprehensive insurance right.that shoukd cover it

100% a comp claim. Also lol at road gator.

 

[rdunnill]

100% a comp claim.

100% at-fault collision claim.

Also lol at road gator.

Nearly 40% of road debris-related crashes are due to drivers swerving to avoid these things.

I'd never heard the term road gator before, either.

 

[Sycostang67]

Dang, must’ve been a big gator. I had an SUV kick one up at me, managed to swerve just right and watch it sail over my hood and into the ditch.

 

[MAGS1]

My dad used to call it gator shit

Joking aside, that sucks. They’ll definitely do some damage.

 

[markayash]

LOL I like on the coast and have spotted some big Gators so you got my attention
In face saw a picture recently showing a Gator crossing the road and he was long enough to stretch across the whole 2 lane road.

On the estimate get insurance involved and get them to fix everything! your going to have to pay a deductible probably so might as well get it back how you like it

 

[Buldawg76]

Road gators will destroy a car for sure. I grew up in central Florida and worked at an Olds/Caddy dealer in the 80s and had an 85 Olds Toronado get towed in that had run over a 12 foot long live alligator out on the beeline expressway between Cocoa Beach and Orlando at the St Johns River basin bridge. The gator was up on the road sunning himself when the Toronado driver hit it, the car went over the gator and it ripped the front wheel drive differential and right front control arm/cv axle out from under the car and tore the trans loose from the engine. The gator crawled back into the river on its own so the driver could not say if it was badly hurt or not.

I also worked for Harley in the late 90s till 2009 in research and development at the Talladega test facility next to the speedway where we had test riders on bikes on local roads/interstates riding 24 hours a day and had some riders hit road gators in the middle of the night out on I-20 that totaled bikes and put the riders in the hospital severely hurt. You experienced what a road gator did to your car, think about being on 2 wheels at 70 mph hitting a road gator.

Road gators are no joke for sure.

BD

 

[Johnny maverick]

To the people who dont know what a road gator is. Road gators are the remains of a TT tire coming apart and leaving tread on the road. Recaps litter the highway.

 

[17Magnetic5.0]

In Florida we hit actual gators

 

[Woketman]

I hit an actual gator back in the mid 90s on my way to work, pre-dawn. Saw it at the very last minute, to late to avoid in my CRX-Si. Saw it spin around in the road behind me in the mirror. I turned around and took a look. Appeared dead, but I was not getting out to inspect. Got to work and saw that my left turn signal was busted and the spoiler was dislodged. I came away lucky, not so for the gator!

 

[23GreenGremlin]

Think of this as an opportunity to change out some of your parts with some custom touches on your insurance company. If I had to swap the hood I would seriously consider going to this IKON MOTORSPORTS, Hood Compatible with 2018-2023 Ford Mustang, GT500 Style Aluminum Front Hood Black – Ikon Motorsports

 

[Kabayo]

To the people who dont know what a road gator is. Road gators are the remains of a TT tire coming apart and leaving tread on the road. Recaps litter the highway.

Thanks for the explanation. I had no idea what it was.

 

[GJarrett]

The term originates back to the CB radio popularity in the '70s; it is CB slang.

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