[hserus]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

I finally got a call from the RTA this afternoon, and got the RC cancellation proceedings. I took a colour xerox of it, and will submit it to the Reliance General Insurance office at Abids or Madhapur tomorrow.

Please check with the RTO if you are now able to claim pro rata refund on the road tax for your Fiesta. You will not get much (some small % of the original tax) but still, that's a few thousand more in your pocket.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by hserus

Please check with the RTO if you are now able to claim pro rata refund on the road tax for your Fiesta. You will not get much (some small % of the original tax) but still, that's a few thousand more in your pocket.

I am sure i am not entitled. Life tax is paid in advance for 12 years, and the car is nearly 14 years old. I'd certainly have if it were 11 years old or below.

[hserus]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

I am sure i am not entitled. Life tax is paid in advance for 12 years, and the car is nearly 14 years old. I'd certainly have if it were 11 years old or below.

Please double check, I think you get about 1% of the car's invoice value back.

[tharian]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Here are some pictures of the car being towed out, washed and inspected on Oct 21st and 22nd:

Took quite a bit of effort to lug the 1140 kg car out of the cellar. Marutis were towed out with much less effort though.

The same cellar was filled to its full height for more than 7 days. Now there is hardly a foot of water in it.



I wonder how the mats and other objects made it to the rear seat and the parcel tray region:

]

Sad to to see the car is such a condition. Usually I have seen pictures of cars partially submerged. A fully submerged car is more heart breaking more so because absolutely nothing can be done.

The rubber mats and objects would have been floating around inside the car.

Anyway, life goes on and the good part is that we have options to move on.

[vnabhi]

I submitted the RC cancellation letter to Reliance General Insurance. The next step is to sign and notarize a document that they will provide. They could not provide that today because they did not know which of the 2 formats they have ought to be given to me---I have not seen either though. The regional head was on leave today and not contactable.

Therefore they asked me to visit the office of the surveyor near my apartment on Monday and collect a print of the form---they will have decided on the correct format by then. I will then need to notarize it (luckily the notary i know lives close to that office) and give it back to them, with a copy of my aadhar, PAN and a blank cheque. They promised the credit the amount within a week after that.

So far so good.

Below is a copy of the RC cancellation letter (which the RTA calls 'proceedings'). Sorry for the poor image quality.



The ridiculous thing is the misleading title. Apparently the software with them permits RC cancellation only under that section (55/3)!

[vnabhi]

I finally got the draft of the document that i had to notarize. Basically it states the policy number and the date of accident, the estimate of the repair cost by their assessor, and that i would have no further claim once i got the final payment.

Luckily i found a shop nearby that had a franking machine and a notary attached. Paid Rs 120 for the franking stamp of Rs 100, and Rs 100 to the notary, and handed over the signed document to the insurance office in a few minutes.

Let me now see how long they will take. They said it normally takes less than a week.

The only clarification i sought was that the repair cost was estimated as 2.05 lakhs, though Ford had given a bloated estimate of 5.5 lakhs. As the IDV was 2.79 lakhs, i wanted to check if they will pay me that amount or the lower amount of 2.05 lakhs. The official pointed out to another paragraph below that said that I agree to a full and final settlement of 2.79 lakhs. There is mention in the same line stating 'and the salvage is being retained by me'. I was not sure what this meant, but the official assured me that I'll get the IDV. He also said that the assessment of 2.05 lakhs was exclusive of salvage value of the vehicle--and this has also been mentioned in a paragraph just below the assessment cost para.

Let us see how things unfold.

[vnabhi]

I got a call in the afternoon from Reliance General Insurance stating that the auction winner will collect the car today or tomorrow, and that I will get the insurance payment by Friday or coming Monday.

Soon after that I got a call from one Samir saying he was on his way. I asked him to come tomorrow morning instead, as i wanted some parting moments with the Red Injun today. Took some pictures that I will store for memories sake. Also swapped the gear knob with the Figo, as the one in the Fiesta was shining, unlike the one in the Figo that had scratches. I guess the knob of the Figo was cleverly swapped by FASS when my daughter got it serviced in Bangalore three times in the 3 years she spent there.

I will hand over the original and duplicate keys to him tomorrow. I am not sure if I should take any acknowledgment upon handing over the car. Any clues?

I guess he can make some money selling the mag wheels, the logos, the ORVMs, doors, leather seats, leather steering, etc in parts. Not sure how much he bade for. Will ask him that tomorrow.

Feeling sad that I will no longer be seeing the Red Injun from tomorrow. The shape of the car still looks so proportionate even after so many years!

[vnabhi]

I had to say 'adios amigo' to the Red Injun yesterday. The scrap guys got it towed to their garage in Attapur. He said he paid 31k to the insurance company in the online auction.

Though the blighters were looking rustic, they were pretty much aware that this was the top end model, and a car that enthusiasts prefer. They said they have already bought a dozen car models in the recent past. They said they normally make good money in stripping the parts and selling them. They think the engine can be restored after draining all fluids. Same with the radiator, battery, fluid containers, seats, alloy wheels, leather-wrapped steering wheel, windshield, etc. They also think some electrical parts like the ABS module that costs 50k may still work! Anyways, best of luck to them. I don't think they can sell the car as a whole as the VIN has been cut off and the RC cancelled.

Reliance asked me to take a copy of the guy's aadhar card and an acknowledgment that they got the car and both the keys. They also said they would pay the idv by Friday or coming Monday.

Felt very sad to see the Red Injun being towed away. No car I have owned gave me such melancholy moments! I kept looking at it, savoring memories till it faded into the curve ahead.

Parting shots below:--

Didn't someone say in the official review that such remotes will not last long? That was baloney, as the remote never had a battery change in all the 13.7 years.



RIP my trusted friend! I shall always cherish my moments with you!

[lamborghini]

So sorry to hear about the incident. As a fellow Fiesta owner (albeit 1.4 TDCi) I really enjoyed reading about your fiesta. In fact yours & Suman's ownership reports had me glued!
Looking back, one of the biggest regrets in my ownership was not picking up the 1.6; and the second one was selling her off to early.

Just a thought: have you considered picking up another pre-owned fiesta? There is one 1.6S on the bombay classifieds.

[kiku007]

They don't make cars like these anymore so it's quite disappointing to see one meet its end like this. The Fiesta (Classic) was the peak of Ford petrol-engined cars in India. It went downhill from there.

I'm very sorry to hear about your ordeal. Good on you for doing the right thing by letting the car go and not trying to repair it.

I've enjoyed reading your posts on the Fiesta. Always thorough and appreciate your efforts in documenting your experience for the benefit of others.

I'll end my post with a video of Race Concepts Ford Fiesta 1.6 Turbo that apparently makes 247hp and does a 0-100 in 6.x seconds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8eAWdLo0Ps

[benbsb29]

vnabhi, really sorry to hear about this. Your Fiesta thread has to be among the most comprehensive ones on the forum, and your love for this car is quite apparent from the way you write. Sadly, we must move on and make way for the next object of our affection. After serving us for almost 12-13 years, we had to scrap our Ikon Flair (The Story of MIKE - My Ikon Flair 2006 EDIT : The story concludes), and it left behind a void that cant be explained.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by lamborghini

So sorry to hear about the incident. As a fellow Fiesta owner (albeit 1.4 TDCi) I really enjoyed reading about your fiesta. In fact yours & Suman's ownership reports had me glued!
Looking back, one of the biggest regrets in my ownership was not picking up the 1.6; and the second one was selling her off to early.

Just a thought: have you considered picking up another pre-owned fiesta? There is one 1.6S on the bombay classifieds.

Thank you for your kind words. I recall you were active on Fiesta threads back then.

Originally Posted by kiku007

They don't make cars like these anymore so it's quite disappointing to see one meet its end like this. The Fiesta (Classic) was the peak of Ford petrol-engined cars in India. It went downhill from there.

I'm very sorry to hear about your ordeal. Good on you for doing the right thing by letting the car go and not trying to repair it.

I've enjoyed reading your posts on the Fiesta. Always thorough and appreciate your efforts in documenting your experience for the benefit of others.

I'll end my post with a video of Race Concepts Ford Fiesta 1.6 Turbo that apparently makes 247hp and does a 0-100 in 6.x seconds

https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=o8eAWdLo0Ps

Thanks. I remember your regular updates on Fiesta posts back then. The video looks lovely.

Originally Posted by benbsb29

vnabhi, really sorry to hear about this. Your Fiesta thread has to be among the most comprehensive ones on the forum, and your love for this car is quite apparent from the way you write. Sadly, we must move on and make way for the next object of our affection. After serving us for almost 12-13 years, we had to scrap our Ikon Flair (The Story of MIKE - My Ikon Flair 2006 EDIT : The story concludes), and it left behind a void that cant be explained.

Thanks benbsb29. I used to regularly visit your thread on the iconic Ikon. Sad that you had to let it go.

While on this topic, i got a credit of Rs 277366 a couple of hours ago. The IDV was 2k more, but I guess they have a compulsory deduction of 2k for >1.5 cars. I am really glad i switched to Reliance General Insurance this year, as they agreed to a higher IDV of 2.79 lakhs, for almost the same premium. The renewal IDV quote from my earlier provider HDFC Ergo was 1.95 lakhs. So i gained nearly 80k by switching. And Reliance was very good to deal with, despite the large number of claims they were dealing with after the deluge in Hyderabad on Oct 13th.

[mashmash]

Oh my god. Just went through the entire saga. Feeling really sad. I remember a drive with her in Hyderabad.

Missing my Figo even more now, having not seen her since March 2020.

I am sure as time passes you'll overcome the loss, the memory will still stay however in some corner.

Yes, a years time should see a number of new models coming into the market. Wish you all the best for your hunt.

MaSh

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by mashmash

Oh my god. Just went through the entire saga. Feeling really sad. I remember a drive with her in Hyderabad.

Missing my Figo even more now, having not seen her since March 2020.

I am sure as time passes you'll overcome the loss, the memory will still stay however in some corner.

Yes, a years time should see a number of new models coming into the market. Wish you all the best for your hunt.

MaSh

Thank you Shobit. Did you sell your Figo? I remember you checked with me at Kurnool during our meet there about my opinion on the Figo, which I had bought a few months ago. And I think you bought one a few months later.

[vnabhi]

@Mashmash---were you in this epic tbhp drive on the Nagpur highway, sometime in 2011? You can spot the Red Injun in the later part of the video.

I just got to see this and am feeling kinda nostalgic.

https://youtu.be/6-rkIiYiFNU