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I have my own house at Pallikaranai and I lived there in 2007 when I bought the car. I moved inside city, to avoid long driving everyday to be closer to my workplace, at Chetpet.

YouTube - Top Gear - Evo vs Lamborghini part 1- BBC

Though Part2 explains about EVO's downside, he is expecting the response from the 2 liter engine, driving at 30 KMPH on 5th, which is not practicle without Turbo.

Couple of weeks ago, I had a nasty bruise on the left rear body / door, while making a free left. I was turning free-left from Harrington Road, into a smaller T junction to the left, real slow, a Maruti Omni came rushing from inside. Same time a Sumo tried to enter from straight (from my right) squeezing between me and the Omni. I had to turn more left to avoid these two morons, resulting on hitting on a sing board, planted right on the tarmac inside the road on the left side (not on the walkway). The board was almost on ground level and its metallic clamp pierced through my car's body and stopped the car. I had to reverse to get released from the piercing.

Now comes the real story.
The incident happened on Monday 14-Dec-09, at 9.20 am.
Called up Maya Motors for breakdown call, the mechanic came at 10:30 to pickup my car to their shop. Many friends advised to go to an independent garage, I decided to stick with the dealer.
It was raining so heavily that day and next 2 days and the insurance survey could not be done. Car was with Maya Motors.
Survey done on Wednesday 16-Dec-09 evening.

Here is waht the bill read:
Door Handle + installation = Rs. 4,456.00
Tin work and painting = Rs.10,150.00
Total Invoice including all kinds of taxes = Rs.16,209.00
As the door handle was a plastic (!) part, I had to pay half of it and the surveyor charges another Rs.1,000.00, total of Rs.3,500 they made me pay.

Work started after surveyor approval on 17-12-09
Duration taken: 4 Working Days - tinkering and painting done. 17th-22nd.
Car delivered to me on 23-12-09.
Door handle took 1 day more, and I got that fixed during my regular weekend trip to Adayar.

Now take a look at the photos before accident and after accident. The quality of work was outstanding and time taken IMO was the best I could ask for.

(Please bear with the reflections, the body and door are spotless and the color matching with new and old painting was impeccable)

Sorry to hear about the accident. The repair work looks top quality.
The surveyor is not supposed to charge anything from you. He does the survey and the insurance company pays him for the job for which he gives a bill along with his survey report.
What did you pay him for?

hey raja

Sorry about the incident. There are loads of morons on the street. The other day a two wheeler guys just rammed into my car.17 k up in the air generally.

Yep, the job is done very well.

As thirst says, you shouldn't have paid anything to the surveyor. Try to locate the guy and take him to task.

Anyway whats the reason he made you pay for?

Wow! impeccable repair work indeed!
(before and after pics look like from different cars! :D)

I too would prefer the dealer for repair work and panel repaintings!

btw do they mix and match the color or they have already prepaired paint colors??

Man, this was first time I am dealing with insurance guys. Thanks for the info, I am going after the insurance guy and the supervisor of Maya Motors who collected this Rs.1,000 from me saying that it was for insurance survey charge.

Also have sent the query of paint mixing to Maya Motors GM and expect answer soon. Will keep posted.

Maya Motors explained to me that this Rs.1,000 its the Compulsory Deductible mentioned in the Insurance policy certificate. The insurance company would give to the shop thr costs only after deducting this amount, which the shop normally recovers from the car's owner.
This is mentioned in my earlier insurance certificate (Future Generali) and the current on (Bajaj Allianz).
Any comments/ advise please?

Yes then it's correct. There is a deductable amount of 1000 rupees. We got confused when you said it was surveying charge.

Anyway work done is pretty good.

Hi Raja - got delivery of my black Cedia spirit few days ago. Your car looks great even after a couple of years - which means you have been taking care of it in the right way. Would you mind sharing the secret - especially for the exterior? How do you keep the exterior looking so new:thumbs up? Thanks.

I personally train the boy who cleans the car, with few tips. We get a thing here in Chennai called the 'blue cloth'. It is pure cotton cloth, which all the car drivers use for cleaning their cars.
Wit few cautions, it is easy to keep the car new, as below:
- Wash the car twice a week only. Not everyday,though there is dust on the body. this may sound weird, but this is true - Dust acts as protection for the paint and wax.
- Never try to remove dust with dry cloth or feather bunch. Use always flowing water (from hose or from a mug) to take away dust/ dirt and then cloth. My man uses mild soap (i.e. Pril) water and his fingers (no cloth) to remove the dirt/dust and it works perfectly.
- Final drying of the wet surface is very important. Use the blue cloth (or any pure cotton cloth only) and wipe gently, in straight lines, not in circles.

Finally, once a year, get rubbing/ touch-up/ wax polishing done through the dealer.
Try these out and tell me.

Enjoy the beauty - You sure will become so possessive of this baby, all your friends are going to be mad with you. Cheers.

Possesive is the right word. I am not even giving it out to valets for parking.

@ RajaTaurus: Excellent repair work. I could not tell the difference between the repaired part and the non-damaged parts.
Raima Motors of Hyd too did excellent work on my wife's Swift - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ml#post1626819

Sorry to hear about the accident. The work on your car seems pretty good.

I was in Chennai recently. I was scared everytime I had to slow down in traffic. More often than not there would be a two wheeler guy waiting to get into the gap. I wonder why these guys are in such a tearing hurry.

Speaking of cleaning the car - I have swirl marks on my car's bonnet. I wonder if the workshop guys went overboard with the pre-delivery polishing. Any way to get rid of the marks?

I really envy you guys in Chennai and Hyd. The service here is nowhere near what I've read about Maya/Raima. My experience with Maruti over the last few years has been way better than what I saw during the first service of my Cedia in December.

Swirl marks (spirals) come because the guy who cleans cannot reach far enough to do the strokes in straight lines and he goes in circles, to get it done easier and faster.
To get rid of it, go for one more coat of slight rubbing and wax polishing.
More important, train those whoever cleans not to go in circles, wherever he cleans with wet/ dry cloth. Straight strokes are better and always wet.

Thanks Raja for you advice. I could not attend the forum for the last couple of days - hence the delay in responding. As always - you are always ready to help - and that's really appreciatedclap:.