[Sha]

Which Suraksha centre? It is in bangalore or some other city.

[malgudi]

Originally Posted by lambuhere1

Does it differ by that much ? Nearly 1/3 of IDV is lost in total loss . Is it in reality how the total loss is calculated ?

Why not claim it as a total loss and go ahead with a new one. My personal opinion though !

Even I was thinking the same! I faintly remember my mama had a Omni which had a major accident around 5 yrs back and was declared a total loss. I think he got the entire IDV amount (70 K).

you are in a CATCH 22 situation ! sorry state !

but i know the Surakshaa guys from some years now....my spouse gets the car serviced since she works in E-CITY.

These guys are good from what i have learnt from my spouse, they have infact stopped my spouse from getting anything spares fixed saying its not required. This has happened many times though.

Once they did not even let her fix a new radiator cap saying it work well for few mare days...its been almost an year now...the radiator cap is fine.. just an example .

i think you should talk to them and my personal suggestion is that you sell the car. When the IDV of the car is 90K, there is no point in spending an amount of 150k !...isnt it ? think over ! there is no way the value of the car going up even of you spend so much....

better declare total loss....seeing the pictures, i dont think after the repairs the car may not have good drive quality.

lets us know what you do with it .

Good luck !

[ankit.jhamb]

ok,the reason for which i had asked for details,was due to the following

1.you pay around 90 thousand according to the second proposal,get the car repaired,use it for a 1-2 years and then sell it.
2.you declare a total loss,get around 80-85 thousand as cash,after deducting 5% etc.

the parts used in repairing may not of good quality.further a total loss vehicle will take its own time and the repairs estimate may go up or down depending on the situation.

i would advise you to take the idv as claim and buy another car.you may face problems at the time of resale while selling this car.

[humyum]

Declaring it total loss serves in your best interest, An 8 year old wagon r wont fetch you anything anyway and a repaired wagon R with new approns which seem like definitely damanged from the pics is easily noticable by any mechanic will be rejected in the 2nd hand market left right and center

Let this one go buddy !

[GTO]

Nothing new, a 8 year old car that meets with a major accident is best repaired by the after-market. 8 times out of 10, the repair costs at an authorised outlet will be higher than the book value of the car.

I recommend searching for a competent independent body shop.

Originally Posted by bullinb

No offenses, but I feel "fraud" is way too harsh.

Agreed. Thread title has been changed.

Originally Posted by Sha

Which Suraksha centre? It is in bangalore or some other city.

its near electronice city main junction ...on the left hand side while travelling from BANGALORE.

[morphean]

Thanks everyone for sharing ur views. Really appreciate it.

Originally Posted by bullinb

No offenses, but I feel "fraud" is way too harsh.

I agree, probably i got carried away. I should have said 'incompetent' or 'corrupt' whichever is applicable. Let me elaborate on the reasons with the help of a user story.

Car meets with an accident. Car cannot be moved around ONLY towed around. Owner tows the car to the nearest service centre. Service centre owner looks at the insurance copy and prepares his estimates. For IDV value of 90K, he prepares an estimate of 2 Lacs, and here is the best part - 80K is categorized as "check and report". Which implies that the car can be fixed for 1 lac 20 K and also 2 Lac. Surveyor comes, based on estimate of 2 Lac, he calculates insurance liablility to be 87K. Since it is greater than 75% of IDV, he suggests that total loss should be declared. But the owner insists on repair ( sentimental value ). Surveryor says that insurance will pay 49.5 K for repair ( almost 17 K less than 75% of IDV ).


2 important pieces of information :-
1)owner got the car damages re-estimated by another service centre. The estimates come to 1 Lac 16 K.
2)Current service centre says that of 80K ( categorized as check and report ), max 15-20K expense will be incurred. Rest he has kept only to be on a safer side.

Now, lets say owner goes for repair. Total cost incurred is 1lac, 20K ( confirmed in the estimate ) + 18K ( from check and report ). Insurance pays 50K. Owner pays 88K.

If the estimates was 1 Lac 40K in the first place, insurance liability would have been less than 67.5 K ( 75% of IDV ) and owner would have to pay 70.5K. Owner saves 17.5 K.

The point I am trying to drive is that by simply inflating the estimates burden has shifted from insurance company to the owner. 80K estimate, categorized as check and report, is almost 40% of the total estimate. This is simply unacceptable. In no job one gets a luxury to put 40% as a safety buffer.

Originally Posted by GTO

Nothing new, a 8 year old car that meets with a major accident is best repaired by the after-market. 8 times out of 10, the repair costs at an authorised outlet will be higher than the book value of the car.

I recommend searching for a competent independent body shop. .

Can u pls suggest one in Bangalore ?

Originally Posted by bullinb

No offenses, but I feel "fraud" is way too harsh. What Suraksha is asking seems to be fair, and standard practice. As for the difference in the quote, you've said it yourself - the second service center is going to use used parts. Parts form the junk yard in other words. Their quote will obviously will be lower.

I am assuming here that the other service centre being a Maruti authorized centre as well, will not break from their standard practices.

Originally Posted by lambuhere1

Does it differ by that much ? Nearly 1/3 of IDV is lost in total loss . Is it in reality how the total loss is calculated ?

I was wrong there. In the event of total loss insurance will pay me 89.5 K ( almost the IDV value ). Thanks for pointing that out.

Originally Posted by humyum

Declaring it total loss serves in your best interest, An 8 year old wagon r wont fetch you anything anyway and a repaired wagon R with new approns which seem like definitely damanged from the pics is easily noticable by any mechanic will be rejected in the 2nd hand market left right and center

Let this one go buddy !

Well, here i am thinking, that if the chassis is not damaged ( currently the item is under check and report ) than it might be worth getting the car repaired. If the chassis is damaged then its not worth repair. What do you guys think ?

[GTO]

Search through the forum for recommended body shops in Bangalore.

[MAS]

Hi Morphean,

The photos show that the car is heavily damaged. Whatever the workshop does, it is never going to be the same car it was before the accident. Hence, the reliability of the car, the smoothness, the drive, etc., could be different. After spending about 1.5 Lakhs for repairs, you might end up in a dilemma which will be bigger than what it is today. It might turn-out that you are not happy with the car, but at the same time, you will not be able to change it as you spent a lot of money to repair it.

The car is already 8 years old. Sure, you would not have sold it for another 2-5 years. Unfortunately, the car has suffered a major accident and at this point I would suggest you should change your plans.

In case you want to repair the car and keep it due to an emotional reason, please do so. But, if you are not very attached to your car, please go ahead and change it buddy.

[bullinb]

Originally Posted by morphean

Can u pls suggest one in Bangalore ?

Try Sai Colorium for body repair.

Originally Posted by ravibhat

Sai Colorium near Sarakki Main road, If you start from Devegowda Petrol Bunk side in banashankari ring road take left turn in Kanakpura road junction signal and then within 1 km take right turn where you see vegitable and other road side shops, within 1 km there find sunrise hotel left side and right side road arch. Iis small road junction (its called indira gandhi circle), take left there which is sarakki main road. Travel around 1 km and take left in mud road into residential sort area which leads to this paint/body repair shop Sai Colorium. Its difficult to locate from Sarakki main road but ask locals there about it.

Regards,

Ravi.

[narayanang76]

Thanks for changing the title, in due respect to Suraksha and others some of those words could have been avoided - that is IMHO.

@ morphean: How did the accident happen? Hope anyone possibly inside the car are safe and sound and escaped any major injuries. It is a bad one as we can make out from the picture - take care.

Regarding your earlier messages, I would be doing the following if I were you.

Agree for scraping the vehicle, there is always going to be future issues on repairing such a shaped vehicle and believe me the vehicle is not going to be the same way it was before (understand your sentimental attachment but it might change later)

If only going for repair than scraping, I will go with Suraksha in Bangalore with replacememnt of parts and necessary repairs than going with a garage who mentioned that some repaired parts will be used from other vehicles, I will be more concerned about this than the estimate issue mentioned here.

I see your point about estimates and the contribution from insurer thus varying, may be you have to pay around 20 K more from your pocket. But if you now go with A***n, you have to pay the parking charges etc and then also compromise on the repaired parts - I would suggest you dont go through this A***n route.

Parking charges mentioned are standards and anyone can possible try to negotiate

I also have the following query:

If we scrap the vehicle shouldnt we get the full IDV - some minor figure less may be?

How can you trust A***n that they will stick to the estimate and do a quality of job?

Regards,
narayanang76

[morphean]

Thanks guys for your support.

Based on your inputs and other consultations, i have decided to declare total loss on the vehicle. I would be getting IDV-Rs 500 as the amount from the insurance company. I still havent got the money cos the insurance was done in delhi and the file is still sitting there for approval ( I am based in Bangalore). And being a sarkari company , New India Insurance, its taking its own sweet time. I still havent figured out on how to handle parking fee. Its been almost 2 months and if the dealer charges me Rs200/- per day than it will be huge.

I still feel that the whole drama wouldnt have happened if the Suraksha guys had come up with better estimates. Anyways, everyone in this world is trying to cover his A**, then why not 'Suraksha'.

I have already started to test drive few vehicles and I promise I will keep you guys in loop right from test drive experience, to vehicle comparison, to buying experience, to short term ownership experience, to long term ownership experience.

Thanks again guys.

[swiftLife]

Bumping this old thread to share my feedback on Surakshaa (Electronic City, Bangalore).

This incident is a little old. Happened sometime in last quarter of 2017. Only sharing it now because I just became a member recently. And please pardon for the long story.

My car, a Swift 2005 petrol, broke-down suddenly (thankfully just within 100 meters from my home). What happened was that the gear lever become free and no matter how much I moved it, the car didn't slot into any gear. It was stuck in neutral.

As it happened just outside my apartment, I immediately took help of some auto drivers there. We all pushed the car and parked it inside the apartment complex.

Afterwards when I tried to check what happened, I found that a metal lever on top of the gearbox assembly, to which the two shifting cables connect has broken. Thankfully it broke in neutral position which allowed me to push the car and park it safely.

I then called the Surakshaa's on-road helpline. When the mechanic came, I showed him what went wrong. He briefly looked at the broken lever and told me that the entire gearbox assembly would have to be replaced. Expected cost around 10-15k. When I asked that why can't we just replace the broken part, he said that as the car is so old (it was 12 years old at that time), such rarely requested replacement parts are not available anymore. They would require to place a special request to get an entire new gearbox assembly. And it would easily take around 2 weeks to arrive. I wasn't convinced so I asked him to call the service center and reconfirm about the part availability. He had a long discussion with somebody at the service center and after the call, he confirmed that the part is not available anymore.

As the time for the part to arrive was long, I asked if we can do some makeshift repair so as to get the car running. It would have been very difficult for me to manage without my car for over 2 weeks.

He initially said that nothing can be done. I then asked, if we can get the part welded for now. He strictly advised me against it citing safety reasons etc. But I was convinced that a weld should hold well as it's neither a structural part nor any load bearing component. And the way it had broken, a weld will have plenty of area to hold on to if done properly. But he continued to advice me against it.

So I told him that, firstly I am finding it difficult to accept that the part is non-available anymore, and even it was true, it would be very difficult for me to manage without my car for over 2 weeks. I straightaway told him that he can leave and I will sort it myself. On hearing this, the mechanic's tone changed immediately. He agreed to have it welded and even said that it should work. He took the part and after 2 hours, he came back with the part welded. And the weld was looking decent enough.

On installing the part, we realized that the weld was misaligned. Normally in neutral position the gear lever stood absolutely vertical, but now it was tilted southwards, i.e. towards the gears 2, 4 and R. As a result the northward gears 1, 3 and 5 weren't engaging fully. The engagement only felt partial.

We took a test drive. The car drove okay but the feel of the gear when engaging the northward gears was very awkward and incomplete. The driving experience was totally ruined.

The mechanic on the other hand was convinced that the gears are engaging enough and I will adapt to this fairly quickly. As it was already nearing dinner time now, I paid him and he left.

For next few days, I tried to get accustomed to the gear shift feel but couldn't. And on more than a few occasions, when I started the car from a standstill in 1st gear, the gear slotted itself into neutral. This confirmed that the engagement was not enough and I felt that the gearbox will get damaged if continued to use it in this condition.

I then drove to the service center and discussed with the same mechanic on the proper fix. I also learnt from the SA that he was an expert and that is why he was assigned for on-road service.

I again insisted him to check the service manual himself for the spare part. He was very reluctant and kept telling me that they already checked for it when the incident happened. But I also refused to bow down so he went to check for himself.

Almost 20 mins passed but he was nowhere to be seen. So I went inside the workshop area despite repeatedly and sternly asked to not go, as it's not allowed. I found him checking the service manual with a clueless look on his face. On inquiring what happened, he told me again that the part isn't available.

I then myself took the service manual from him (please read, snatched from him) and looked for the gearbox and the part list. I found the part that was broken and asked him, why can't he order a replacement for it. He told me to talk to the guy sitting in-front of the computer who places the orders.

The computer guy told me that when he is entering the part number, the system is showing it as unavailable but showing an alternate part for it. So I asked him to order the alternate part. Then both the computer guy and the main expert mechanic told me in a very harsh tone that they are not sure if it would fit. I had almost lost my patience by now. I then asked that if Maruti's inventory system itself is quoting it as alternate then it should fit. What is the harm in trying. And I also learnt the alternate part's cost was just Rs. 250-300.

I also thought to myself that if they refuse to order then I would agree to bear the cost on my own if it didn't fit. But thankfully they agreed to place the order.

When the part came after a week or so, I checked it and it was identical to the original part. After installing it, the gear lever was back to normal. I was so happy to finally be able to drive with a perfectly functioning gearbox.

End of story.

With this incident, I learnt not to trust the service center blindly.
And a big thanks to Team-BHP, as only due to the knowledge I gained here, I was able to get this issue sorted without getting robbed

Small correction: I was told that the entire gearbox's shifter assembly has to be replaced.

[NaXal]

You have lot of patience. Truly appreciable effort on being persistent with those reluctant people using harsh tone.

I guess most of us would have simply went to try a different Maruti ASS or any FNG for this repair rather having this amount of patience to deal with these guys.

If it was a different brand other than Maruti with less number of service station, by the end of first argument, I would have been typing complain emails to the manufacturer.

Thanks for sharing the story, lot of things to learn on how to deal with after sales service.