[PrasannaDhana]

Originally Posted by 100Kmphormore

Have you considered dropping the rear suspension/lowering stiffer springs for reduced body roll/shaking on bad roads? It looks like the rear is sitting a story higher than the front. Am contemplating doing this for our Scorpio, but not sure if its a good move. ARC has a video on the before/after difference and its close to what i feel.

I am totally a stock guy. I don't like playing around with the OE settings of suspension.

[VwRabbit]

Nice review and a well maintained storme.

[PrasannaDhana]

AC issue - Cooling Coil Replacement

20 days ago, my driver complained that there is an extra hissing noise from the AC vents. As suspected, the cooling coil went kaput and required replacement.

I sent the car to Kaveri Tata and they asked me some time as they have to order the part and it might take time for it to reach. Well I was told that the coil was sourced from 4 different vendors for storme and it had to be opened up and seen to place the exact part from the same vendor.


I agreed and the work started. It took almost 10 days of downtime. Finally it arrived a couple of days back and the work has been completed.

My driver sent a few photos from the service center, which almost shook me. Nothing out of the ordinary, but the dashboard removed and shoved up in the rear bench lol.







Looking at the sheer number of clips/fasteners from the dash, I was pretty sure the A.S.S will not be able to reassemble it like factory and I will be facing a lot of rattles after the work has been completed.

But to my surprise, there aren't any rattles. Kaveri Tata TVKoil branch had done a wonderful job I must say.

Dashboard back on.



AC works like it was when new. Total damage to the wallet was close to 17k



Labour charges exceeding the parts cost. But totally justified in my opinion.

But then, repair work wasn't totally flawless either. There are a few minor imperfections. Like

1. A small scratch on the speedo console. My cars are always spotless, inside out. This scratch sadly, will be seen daily lol.



2. The felt lining on the storage space beneath the ICE was missing, and it just looked like this



I searched and found the felt lining stowed away in the driver door pad



I was pleased that Tata didn't just simply use glue, but had a well engineered lining with these provisions to be fit snug into the holes on the surface



And it was done



3. Interiors weren't cleaned properly, specially the matte silver part of the dash. Smudges everywhere.

Other than that, the exterior wash was very neat.







The car has run 68,000 km. Next scheduled service will be at 70,000 km. Dad felt storme is being abused by the driver. Now it is back to my garage, off limits to drivers. Since storme was out of action for most of the month, the Usage has been pretty low in June

Less than 1000 km



And the little Tata altroz diesel ended up being used all days, clocking 3000 km this June



Storme with the most underrated Tata car ever



A parting pic of both the workhorses which are going to be driven only by me(Altroz has been so since day 1). Storme got new tyres in the beginning of this month. Altroz got new tyres yesterday . I will update about that in the altroz thread.



Next update will be after 70k km service.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

AC issue - Cooling Coil Replacement

AC works like it was when new. Total damage to the wallet was close to 17k

.

Surprising Prasanna - everything about your Storme is really surprising. You get to repair the AC - replacing the inner AC coils for 17k and you get 14-17 km per liter. My DiCor cost Rs.25k for the same AC service and the mileage is barely 13 km per liter. I am not cribbing - for a 2 ton monster even 13 km is good - if you ask me.

Compliments on maintaining your cars in top shape in and out.

[ike]

Originally Posted by Prowler

SYou get to repair the AC - replacing the inner AC coils for 17k and you get 14-17 km per liter. My DiCor cost Rs.25k for the same AC service and the mileage is barely 13 km per liter.

Could it be because you are in Chennai? I mean to ask whether Tata like Maruti has different Labour rates per hour for Metros and smaller cities?

[AntPaul]

Read in Altroz thread that you plan to shift to xtragreen for the safari. Is it safe for use in bs4 diesels in the long run? I was once forced to fill xtragreen as car was almost out of fuel, and my regular bunk was out of normal diesel. Sure the renault 1.5dci had noticibly lesser clatter, similar to running with liquimoly additives. But have stayed away since hearing it's bio fuel blended. Mine is a 2013 model duster, so it might even be bs3.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by ike

Could it be because you are in Chennai? I mean to ask whether Tata like Maruti has different Labour rates per hour for Metros and smaller cities?

I don't know ike. I have to dig out the bill to know why I paid that amount. I have a feeling that it also included the routine annual service which usually comes to about 10k.

[Sen]

For the scratch in the instrument cluster area, potentially a headlight restoration kit might be handy to polish it off? Depending on how deep it really is, you could essentially buff it off.
Your Storme is in legitimately pristine condition, excellent work.

[gururajrv]

This is one those threads I closely follow, Prasanna! I love the legendary Safari and the Storme. Your upkeep of the vehicle is so evidently seen throughout - great work at that! I don't mind if I find a good sample of a Storme and I'll just swap my Brezza for the storme instantly

Have you contemplated on getting some good rims for the truck?

[gauravanekar]

With your inspiration, I got a XZ diesel as well.

[PrasannaDhana]

Originally Posted by gururajrv

This is one those threads I closely follow, Prasanna! I love the legendary Safari and the Storme. Your upkeep of the vehicle is so evidently seen throughout - great work at that! I don't mind if I find a good sample of a Storme and I'll just swap my Brezza for the storme instantly

Have you contemplated on getting some good rims for the truck?

Thank you for your kind words!

I like the stock alloy design as such. I have never opted for aftermarket alloys in any of my vehicles so far.

Originally Posted by gauravanekar

With your inspiration, I got a XZ diesel a well

Congrats on your new car!! Wishing you lakhs of km of safe travel!!

Accident and Repair update

I haven't updated this thread in a while. I was planning to do it after 75,000 km service (which will be at 73000 km as I did 60k km service at 58,000 km).

24 th November 2023

I was driving the storme in the city. We were stopped at a busy signal. An omni was in my front and a government bus was behind me. The signal turned green and we started to move. About 50 meters from the signal, the omni in front of me (about a meter gap from my storme), hit a motorcyclist and stopped suddenly. I slammed the brakes and stopped the car mere mm away from the omni. The government bus behind me didn't have time to brake/ couldn't stop within the distance and slammed into the rear of storme.







The handle below the windshield of the bus broke the storme's windshield, the metal projection below the headlight, near the number plate, tore into the lower part of the storme bumper.



The car took the impact very well. I didn't feel any whiplash to be felt. Got down, checked the damages. Then moved the storme to the side of the road. Since it was a busy signal, cops were already there. The omni and 2 wheeler fled the scene. Cops asked me what I wanted to do. I asked the bus driver if they had insurance, for which he told no.

I then told the cops that I will take care of my repairs through insurance and that I don't want any complaint to be filed on the bus driver. He might have not braked/ the brakes couldn't stop the fully loaded bus in time. Accident wasn't entirely his fault. Even I didn't expect omni to abruptly stop from 30 kmph to standstill. I had no space on either side of the road to evade the impact on omni, as both sides were filled with two wheelers and every one was rushing from the signal that just turned green. Only option was to brake hard. If I hadnt braked, the omni would have had severe damages.

It is my first car accident in over 2 decades and 6,00,000 km of driving. So the procedure were new to me. Traffic investigation wing was notified and an investigating officer reached the spot. He took our statements and asked of I wanted to file a case, for which I said no. TNSTC depot manager and TNSTC Accident surveyer reached the spot and were glad that I wasn't pointing fingers at them. Investigating officer got letters from both parties. I was asked to visit the police station with original DL, storme RC and insurance copies if I wanted CSR. I reached the station and gave a requisition letter and attached photocopies of documents. Received the CSR 3 days later.

On the day of Accident, I also notified my insurance agent (he takes care of all my school vehicles and personal vehicles). Took the storme to Kaveri Tata, which was just 2 km from the spot of Accident.

The repair estimate was 1.05 lakhs!




Entire tailgate had to be replaced. The wait started. 2 weeks went by, still no sign of storme parts from Tata plant. I told the bodyshop manager to tinker the existing door. The work started on 9th December.











The tailgate was tinkered, painted and new windshield was installed and I went today to take the delivery.

I accompanied to see if water seepage was there during water spray test. There wasn't any leakage.










Back on the saddle after exactly one day short of 1 month since accident.



Many thanks to CRM Mr. Rajesh and Bodyshop manager Mr. Raja for the work. Storme parts were rare to find, being a model which isn't being manufactured anymore.

Totally damage to wallet was 55k





The windshield does have a slight misalignment at the top portion. Its visible only when noticed very keenly. Usually, there won't be rubber beading before the windshield, but here there is a rubber beading on the top which causes that misalignment. Since there was no water seepage and the windshield was properly sealed, I didn't mind. I will try sorting it out during the 75000 km service in first week of January 2024.


This accident also led me thinking of the consequences if I was driving my celerio. Celerio is my dad's daily ride. I decided to get another safe car for him, and have booked Tata Punch . Delivery scheduled within next 2 weeks. Celerio will stay as a city beater car. Punch replaces my kwid 1.0 which I sold last year.

[Aviator_guy]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

The car took the impact very well. I didn't feel any whiplash to be felt. Got down, checked the damages. Then moved the storme to the side of the road. Since it was a busy signal, cops were already there. The omni and 2 wheeler fled the scene. Cops asked me what I wanted to do. I asked the bus driver if they had insurance, for which he told no.

I then told the cops that I will take care of my repairs through insurance and that I don't want any complaint to be filed on the bus driver. He might have not braked/ the brakes couldn't stop the fully loaded bus in time. Accident wasn't entirely his fault. Even I didn't expect omni to abruptly stop from 30 kmph to standstill. I had no space on either side of the road to evade the impact on omni, as both sides were filled with two wheelers and every one was rushing from the signal that just turned green. Only option was to brake hard. If I hadnt braked, the omni would have had severe damages.

It is my first car accident in over 2 decades and 6,00,000 km of driving. So the procedure were new to me.
On the day of Accident, I also notified my insurance agent (he takes care of all my school vehicles and personal vehicles). Took the storme to Kaveri Tata, which was just 2 km from the spot of Accident.

The repair estimate was 1.05 lakhs!


Totally damage to wallet was 55k

Thank God you and your family were safe. You handled the situation very calmly and with presence of mind.

I'm wondering about the repair bill. Did you claim insurance and still had to pay such a hefty amount from pocket?

[PrasannaDhana]

Originally Posted by Aviator_guy

Thank God you and your family were safe. You handled the situation very calmly and with presence of mind.

I'm wondering about the repair bill. Did you claim insurance and still had to pay such a hefty amount from pocket?

Thank you! I was driving solo.

Insurance process is on going. I didn't want the car to stay at the bodyshop till insurance came through. So I paid upfront and took the delivery. Insurance company will reimburse me.

[Ravi Parwan]

Similar to the legislation asking car companies to cater to pedestrian safety using softer bumpers and rounded edges on the front of the cars, aren't there any laws governing the body manufacturers of buses?

Those edges created under the headlights are like angle irons which would decimate anybody and anything hitting that bus.

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

- tinker the existing door
- Storme parts were rare to find, being a model which isn't being manufactured anymore
- my first car accident in over 2 decades and 6,00,000 km of driving.

Many learnings from your unfortunate experience Prasanna.

1. If a body part is repairable, it is better to go that route since most of the original paint would be intact.
2. Surprising that even the manufacturer's ASC hasn't been able to arrange parts for a reasonably successful 2015 car
3. You've shown utmost maturity in understanding that the bus driver wasn't entirely at fault; and am also happy that he didn't blame you for the incident.
4. Cops were reasonable, at least based on your description of the incident
5. In a "pile up", one of the vehicles will definitely bear the brunt. It is generally the third or later, but here it was the second and third
6.The incident was caused by someone independent of the two affected vehicles
7. Past performance (your track record) is not necessarily indicative of future performance . But yes, it would have caused you huge disappointment.

Now, a curious question; try to remember - were there any near misses with this car in the last year or so before this incident occurred?