[anjanravi]

Mod Note: Moved the posts describing the accident from another thread to this one to ensure continuity is maintained. Post#5 onwards is focused on the poor dealership experience.

After a long time I'm logging into team bhp and do I've an experience to share. I was driving my friends Micra Diesel XV Premium (topend) last week and we were doing a decent speed of 90-100kmph on a highway. I check the road ahead and its clear. Just a truck parked on the side of the road (outside the road i.e)
Continue heading at same speed while sounding horn though. All of a sudden, the parked truck guy, decided to take a U Turn without any hand signal/indicator or anything and he stops midway. In an instant, I hit the brakes on the Micra. Instantly, the wheels locked up and I could hear the car sliding forward. I tried desperately to turn the steering wheel but of no avail. Seconds before the crash, I knew it was inevitable and I hoped for the best. The car hit the front wheel of the truck just missing the fuel tank of the truck by an inch! In the process, the entire front LH was jerked upwards and then turned sideways (pics coming up for better idea)
Me and my friend were shaken up but no injuries. We were happy. Thats it.
Now for the car.
What I loved about it- Very well constructed. The impact beams absorbed the strength and it could clearly be seen as well. No impact inside the cabin. No airbags also.
What I dislike about it- Nissan clearly needs to add ABS as this entire accident could have been avoided.
The brakes of the car are not the best in class compared to a Swift or even an i20 which has an excellent bite and feel. (Micra was 1 year old so no chance of brake pad wearing away)
Added to the non existence of ABS and poor brakes, the car comes with tires which have very little grip just so that it can deliver an extra 1-2kmpl.

Extent of the crash- Left front wheel dislodged from axle! FR bumper,fender completely damaged. Hood can be used and has a very small dent.
LH Headlamp broken as well.
Car at Sherif Nissan, Chennai awaiting repairs. Initial cost for repairs-Rs 1.3lakhs! What I don't understand is this. There is no engine/gearbox damage and from the repair estimate which I'm uploading as well its clear Nissan is replacing only the body components and resetting the wheel.(I make it sound simple but I know its complicated) However, when a brand new Micra is advertised for 3.26lakhs, they are actually saying that nearly half of it is being spent on the FR left side alone?!?! Bear in mind, they are not touching the engine, gearbox or the so called main components. Added to this, for painting the FR bumper, hood,LH fender, FR door they are charging 22,000!!

Does insurance take care of painting as well? I know that they pay only 50% for a plastic part and take depreciation into account for metal parts, but if that part is to be painted, do they pay for the painting? For eg. the hood costs 3400 but painting it costs 8500!

Finally for my fellow Micra owners. Please do drive carefully. This is a world acclaimed product and yet I found the braking not to be satisfactory. Added to that, the lack of ABS only makes things worse.

[ecenandu]

Originally Posted by anjanravi

I check the road ahead and its clear. Just a truck parked on the side of the road (outside the road i.e)
Continue heading at same speed while sounding horn though.

Anjanravi, Happy that you guys were safe after the accident. May be next time if we see a parked truck near the road, we could slow down a bit and honk. I hate being pessimist, but on our roads being pessimist is the best way to be safe.

Originally Posted by anjanravi

Does insurance take care of painting as well? I know that they pay only 50% for a plastic part and take depreciation into account for metal parts, but if that part is to be painted, do they pay for the painting? For eg. the hood costs 3400 but painting it costs 8500!

For labour and painting AFIK they will cover for the full amount. That is what they have done in my case.

Originally Posted by anjanravi

Finally for my fellow Micra owners. Please do drive carefully. This is a world acclaimed product and yet I found the braking not to be satisfactory. Added to that, the lack of ABS only makes things worse.

Why only Micra owners, all of us needs to drive safe on the roads. Most of us think that they are safe drivers and having total control over the car at all speeds. For those who think like that, I have a question "What total control?".

Only during crunch situation does one be tested on how much control they really has over the car. But the thing is, we don't run in those situation often to learn. For example, emergency lane change maneuver at highway speeds say 100Kmph, how to correct oversteer, etc.

So I am saying it again, be a pessimist while driving on the road. But only while driving, OK .

OT: Even I was inside that safety bubble, until one day an accident pricked the bubble and I came crashing down to earth. What an humbling experience it was. From then on, I pay more respect to fellow motorist on the road.

[anjanravi]

Originally Posted by ecenandu

Anjanravi, Happy that you guys were safe after the accident. May be next time if we see a parked truck near the road, we could slow down a bit and honk. I hate being pessimist, but on our roads being pessimist is the best way to be safe.



For labour and painting AFIK they will cover for the full amount. That is what they have done in my case.




Why only Micra owners, all of us needs to drive safe on the roads. Most of us think that they are safe drivers and having total control over the car at all speeds. For those who think like that, I have a question "What total control?".

Only during crunch situation does one be tested on how much control they really has over the car. But the thing is, we don't run in those situation often to learn. For example, emergency lane change maneuver at highway speeds say 100Kmph, how to correct oversteer, etc.

So I am saying it again, be a pessimist while driving on the road. But only while driving, OK .

OT: Even I was inside that safety bubble, until one day an accident pricked the bubble and I came crashing down to earth. What an humbling experience it was. From then on, I pay more respect to fellow motorist on the road.

You're absolutely right about the pessimist part. I've been told many a times by my dad and mom and sometimes I thought they were thinking too much. Not to say that I don't anticipate, I guess I've only been 80% the pessimist I should be. After driving for nearly 5 years and more than 70,000km this was my first ever accident. Till then, not even a scratch even by another person hitting me. I completely agree to your last line especially. The bubble has been pricked and what a fall it has been!

The reason I emphasized on Micra owners is because there are many who think its a modern car equipped with safety features to 'avoid anything'. Not true. First of all, even if a car is equipped with ABS, the driver should know how to make best use of it. Which is difficult because at that panic braking moment, its hard to do a mental calculation of how the car will react to a particular input. I've, however, in many instances avoided such accidents in my SX4 which has ABS and 16in wheels with good grip.
I'm not for a moment saying the Micra is bad. Its excellent. The reason I'm writing this post today still alive is because of the way the Micra absorbed the impact without any damage to the glass or the interior! But, in a car at this price, and this modern, I feel Nissan should give ABS. Even Tata has realized and started offering ABS on the Indica Vista and Manza saloon.

A week after the accident, I went for the Merc StarDrive where the cars were put through emergency and panic conditions. They demonstrated the safety of the Mercs. However, those were planned circuits with plastic cones and trained Merc drivers. Applying the same recipe to the real road, I doubt it may work but thats a little off topic here anyway.

Thanks finally for the query about insurance. I'll let you know how it goes.

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by anjanravi

After a long time I'm logging into team bhp and do I've an experience to share. I was driving my friends Micra Diesel XV Premium (topend) last week and we were doing a decent speed of 90-100kmph on a highway......

Best part of the story is that you and your friend came out without any injuries. Glad to know that the car could absorb the impact well and keep occupants safe. Its true that Micra is a well constructed car, but lack of ABS is horrible omission by Nissan. Your crash situation is almost similar to what I had witnessed, tyres lock up, driver tries to turn away but has no control. I am not sure, but a tyre upgrade might be of some help. Nissan has stinted on tyres a bit IMO ( just like what Maruti/Hyundai did with earlier small cars ). Nissan should also seriously consider looking into braking of Micra and Sunny. During my TD of sunny, I noticed rear stepping out in emergency braking. I have braked hard even in my Waogn R, but the rear does not step out as easily as in case of Sunny.

Thumbs up to Micra ( and nissan ) for a strong cell, thumbs down for not providing ABS in diesel.

[anjanravi]

This is regarding a Nissan Micra XV Premium Diesel which met with an accident on May 22 this year.
First things first, the brakes of the car are not upto the mark. The Micra diesel is a car which can achieve triple digit speeds without much effort. In a car such as this, the brakes are woefully inadequate. Add to this the lack of ABS and low rolling resistance tyres. Complete details of the accident can be found earlier on this thread and this is the least of my worries.

On 31/5/2012, Sherif Nissan, which is a dealer/authorized workshop for Nissan in Chennai contacted me saying that the preliminary insurance formalities had been completed and they presented a grand estimate of 1.3lakhs for repairing the car. Full estimate is available here: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ml#post2805957

First of all, I couldn't believe some of the prices. Cost of the bonnet costs 3700Rs while painting it costs 8500Rs!!
Cost of a headlamp costs 2500Rs but cost of a single foglamp is a whopping 15,000 Rs!! 15,000 for a single foglamp and that means 30grand for a set! In a Nissan Micra! Once again, this is not the reason I'm writing the post. There is something which has aggravated me to a higher extent actually.

Sherif Nissan placed an order for the LH Front door on 31/5. Today is 2/7 and to this date, Nissan India has not shipped a door! Sherif says the order is on 'backlog'. I was really frustrated with the reply given to me by the Service Manager of Sherif. I quote " Sir, the sensor system of a Nissan Sunny has not come after 3months and the customer is still waiting..Your case is not all that major. You've been waiting for 1month only" . All I could do was smile politely and tell him that was not the answer expected. Apparently, Nissan India is not all that keen on supplying spare parts, so claims the dealer.
He says the service is poor from Nissan's end themselves.

I finally decided that I would ask for a spare car. Anything with 4 wheels. To this the Manager replied with much cheek saying "Sir, if you wait for 3-4months, then maybe I can put some request for a spare demo car. Otherwise I can't".

Asked for a tentative date when the door would arrive, the Manager had no answer. He says it may take a week, month, 2 months, god only knows.

I've lost all faith in Nissan. Add to that, instead of restoring my faith in the product, the Manager has further given evidence for me not to choose a Nissan product in the future.

I don't blame Sherif that much. They are just like the 'middlemen' here. Hence I have posted the thread in the ownership area and not the dealer area. The problem lies with Nissan India mainly. The dealership could probably be a bit more polite and a bit more concerned rather than giving me random instances of worser cases.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by anjanravi

This is regarding a Nissan Micra XV Premium Diesel which met with an accident on May 22 this year.
First things first, the brakes of the car are not upto the mark. The Micra diesel is a car which can achieve triple digit speeds without much effort. In a car such as this, the brakes are woefully inadequate. Add to this the lack of ABS and low rolling resistance tyres. Complete details of the accident can be found on this thread and this is the least rts, so claims the dealer.
He says the service is poor from Nissan's end themselves.

I

I don't blame Sherif that much. They are just like the 'middlemen' here. Hence I have posted the thread in the ownership area and not the dealer area. The problem lies with Nissan India mainly. The dealership could probably be a bit more polite and a bit more concerned rather than giving me random instances of worser cases.

Absolutely useless!
This is seriously dangerous.
Most of the manufacturers compromise heavily on things like brakes and other safety stuff ( familiar refrain no doubt!!), in order to control costs and pricing in our market. When will this change?
Only when the government rewrites the safety standards that these manufacturers have to adhere to. And this is likely to happen only when the Indian government starts valuing the lives of the public as much as it does, its own politicians, goons and bureaucrats, all of whom need ZZZ category security, never mind their somnolence, uselessness and general cost to the exchequer!

[carwatcher]

Now this is really crossing the limits !!!
I have read this kind of replies for cars like Fusions, Fiats or even Skodas. But for a car like Micra which is new, doing decent numbers and aspiring to climb up the sales charts, bread and butter car for the manufacturer. It is really pathetic.
Anyway we have already heard horror stories of Nissan at various threads but even by those standards this is really pathetic.
Its high time Govt imposes some kind of heavy penalty on manufacturers not providing the spares beyond a certain period, say 15-20 days.

[DieselFan]

People who buy cars from manufacturers' who are entering the market now or entered in the last few years should do some research on spare parts costs and then buy a car. This is very essential to evaluate Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of the car. People typically get drawn by the discounts or the introductory price of a car (Nissan Sunny) without realizing how much it will cost for spare part replacement and end up paying much more over the total period of ownership and still get pathetic after sales service. Just to draw parallel to MASS - My BIL's car was involved in an accident which needed replacement of quite a few parts in the front portion of the car including windshield. All the repairs were carried out in a matter of 10 days and the car was back into operation. Insurance was settled directly (Cashless) by the insurance company and payment from my BIL was very minimal.

[Mik]

I was toying with the idea of a diesel hatch for myself.
The top contenders were the Micra, Ritz and the Figo. Thanks for this post, now i have to choose between two cars only.
@Nissan: So foolish. A pretty good product with a good beginning will now go down the drain.

[theexperthand]

I was suggesting my friend to pick up a Pulse D, but if this is the kind of attitude Nissan shows, then we may have to seriously re think about the Pulse.

[mac187]

I would suggest you to write directly to Nissan on this issue. These so called 'middle-men' are the ones who create all sorts of confusion. They lie in wait for accident cars so that they can rip-off the customers. I think the dealer is trying to get you to repaint your door as they charge 4 times the normal painting charges.

Any case, write to Nissan India and raise this issue.

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by theexperthand

I was suggesting my friend to pick up a Pulse D, but if this is the kind of attitude Nissan shows, then we may have to seriously re think about the Pulse.

Seems the subject issue is more dealer related. Since Pulse is from Renault the situation could be different.

Maybe Renault owners could pitch in their service expereince.

Cheers!

[shadows123]

Sad to see Nissan treating customers this way!! How do they not understand that they are losing potential future customers by treating existing ones badly!!!

and this accident once again states the use of ABS and why companies(even Maruti) dont give it as a standard across all its version(rather than keeping it optional) is beyond me! Its about time the govt introduced a rule making all safety standards(ABS and Airbags) in car mandatory!!

[sourabhzen]

I completely believe that a case can be filed in consumer courts as it amounts to harassment to the buyer.

Also, such case can be a lesson to all manufacturers and may be helpful for others who may be in a similar situation in the future.

I mean, the manufacturer is treating you like this because he knows that you can not go to anyone else. his income is ensured from your crash and he is least bothered about your sufferings.

[DHABHAR.BEHRAM]

Dear all - that's why I buy what everybody buys, eyes closed. At least the door will be available, if not at the dealership, at least in Chor Bazaar!

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar