I can't believe this shit!!!

Same road that I was on 4 mos ago when the pickup truck kicked up that rock and smashed my fender.
http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums/cadillac-deville-1985-2005-including-1985/73851-big-rock-dented-fender-1700-00-a.html


This was 3 hours ago...
Damn deer jumped out right in front of me, classic deer story so I am told. I was only doing 40 or so and used every bit of the ABS and traction control with my cat-like reflexes to avoid a huge accident (yeah the car helped too) :worship:

It merely bounced it off my bumper and grille (and tumbled and rolled and skidded on the pavement for about 20 ft). I was doing 20-25mph on impact. I pulled over to the side of the road, got out and immediately run to the front of my car to inspect the damage, like any respectable caddy owner would, I mean it wasn't a kid or nuthin'. Deer was laying down in a ditch on the side of the road across the street.

Get this, 3-4 people pulled up behind me and wanted to know if the deer was OK, and if I hit it real real hard... :holycrap: nah, I just grazed it a lil' WTF!!!!

Like I give a rat's ass (no offense to deer lovers everywhere, but they can always make more deers, well, maybe not this one).

My side marker light is dangling, the grille and the little surround is cracked, chunks missing, pushed in real good, but not broken, and I'm going through a mental list of things we have in the house for venison stew! Is the deer OK...F/U

So, like a good boy, and since people were watching, I walked across the street and the poor thing is panting, laying down, little blood around the mouth. Then, it jumps up, wobbles around a little, and takes off into the woods. Looked a little hurt but not total road kill. The people in the cars actually said HOORAY! WTF!!! Go to the petting zoo then!

So, once the greenpeace crews left, I took another look at the damage. No sheet metal was krinkled (although now I have an excuse to get that pesky dent in front fixed). Maybe I can do this myself with parts.

I am in need of a Concours grille for my 98. I looked on e-bay, but nothing there yet. I already ordered the side marker light for $35.00. The grille surround I might need to get from a body shop, since it will need to be painted anyway. Hood latch is a little funky, but i think I can just straighen, it opens and closes, just a little snug.

Question, does anybody make, or know where I can find a mesh grille? I see plenty of them for 2000+, but none for 1997-1999. Wjhat about the surround, any hidden gems on the web?

So far my choices are:

D'Elegance chrome grille (might be kinda nice, lose the emblem through) $179 shipped

Billet grille (eh, maybe...) $260 shipped

Mesh????

Thanks for listening to my rant, looks like beef for dinner!

They ought to put a bounty on those long legged rats instead of charging us to shoot them.

lol rofl dude Ranger that made my day
i hit one of those bastards in my dads 98 STS
hoot grille bumper fog light all screwed
he wasnt happy
and the damn deer lived damn bastard...

LOL.....guys I can sympathize...here in Alabama, the SOB's have a death wish. They will leap on the road and you do do all the evasives you care to, they are more maneuverable, and will dodge and juke it ENSURE that you hit them square on. I have 1 hit in a 94 PU (about 2K damage in 95) and one very near miss because I got my nose ahead of the bastage and floored it so he could not catch me.....:eek:

I'm not joking. My buddy had his door caved in because one charged out of the woods and rammed the SIDE of his truck. He pulled all the way across the road and gassed it but the 4 legged kamakazi was faster:rant2:

Dear Deer,

Last Nov 2005 I drove from St.Louis To Nashville, TN.

I counted dead deer coming and going 16 down and 7 coming back to St.Louis.

This was really gross because it was mostly meat on the road and I was able to I D the meat/hair stain as a deer by sometimes seeing a long bone. Not a hound dog.

In only one case did I see a car on side of road w driver looking intently at front of his vehicle and a deer laying on side of road about 30 ft from him.

I think he was in "deer shock" Not happy.

ABS and Electronic Stability Control w help avoid deer contact in the future.

I have never seen so much road carnage esp near Paducah, KY. I began to watch the woods w my periphial vision. Deer Stay away from my Cadillac, don't jump in fron of me; I had rather have parkinglot rash, Thank YOU.

regards,
gradyb

Do those deer whistle things I see on some peoples cars actually work? I had a deer run across the road 50 feet in front of me back in 93 SMACK right into a chain link fence. Broke it's back, it was trying to get up just using it's front legs. So I do the humane thing, take out my 1X3 hood prop out of the trunk and put the stupid thing out of it's missery, cracked it right on the head. I had some trash bags in the car, so I lay it down on the bags, take it home, and my family helps me skin, gut, and cut the meat. And at first, they didn't believe I didn't shoot the thing, until they couldn't find any bullet holes, the left horn was broke off, and after skinning, they could see the back was broke. Good eats!
:stirpot:

you see thats how people being to think were lunch time mystery meat comes from...

Yes, I do think the deer whistles work. After having an encounter with one of the vermin (a month after buying my '97 Deville with 17K on it), I put a set on it. One night while on a back road coming home from work at 2330 I noticed about a dozen glowing eyeballs in the corn field to my left side. They had just crossed the road ahead of me beyond my headlight range. I would never have seen them if they had continued straight ahead, but for some reason they stopped and turned toward me so that the outer range of my headlights lit up their eyes. I can only assume that it was the whistle that got their attention. The down side is that they may stop in the road and try to read your license plates.

Everybody has a deer story, what a shitty way to be welcomed to a club, LOL.

Is the dealer the only place to get a stock Concours grille?

Damage is totally fixable, I lucked out there. I can get a grille and primed surround from e-bay for $107.00, sans emblem, which pisses me off a little. I thought maybe I'll get a stuffed buck head, and put it where the emblem should be. Jam those little anti-deer whistles in his mouth, and maybe run a few red LEDS to its eyes. They'll hear it coming, see it coming, and run into, like, Lincolns and shit. :thumbsup:

Would also make a great conversation piece at your run-of-the-mill DUI checkpoint. "This ain't Texas, son..."

Ok, since that is out, I may go with the billet. I have hunted and hunted, doesn't look like there is a mesh variety for the 98 Deville. has anyone ever used the mesh kits that let you make a mesh grille out of your exisiting shell?

One other question, if anyone has a parts book, could you please see if the side marker lights are different on the Concours vs. a regular Deville? I was told they were different, but didn't see much in the way of different to me...

Thx.

Mike

A couple of years ago on the same road and almost in the same place I saw eyeballs just beyond my headlight range. Started braking and when I got closer I saw the biggest damned deer I ever saw. Turned out to be a big black heffer. That would have hurt.