Team-BHP - Honda Civic 1.8V A/T. EDIT : 9 months / 8,500KM up!

Sorry to hear about the incident, better to give it at honda for the repair job only downside is the 8-10 days of being without the car, the local workshop can do the same job in 2 days at much lesser cost.

They probably can. But I'm certain they won't. I've had to suffer a fender repair through them and after three repaints, it still looks like crap. That's my biggest worry too. It is not the bill, but the paint job. I dread the day I get the car back. I'm not really looking forward to taking it to them again and again, spending 5L of petrol every trip so they can be bothered to do a half-decent job.

The bumper's edge is ripped off under the tail lamp and the whole side came off thanks to the impact. I pushed it back in though. I'll have to think about it. The car is still with me. I have to fill up the insurance form before giving it to Peninsular. Let's see how it goes. I'll keep the thread updated.

The paint job will be the same if you give the car to Peninsular or to Colour Wheels directly.
Does Peninsular still send cars to CW or have things changed??

The painting work can be done in a day, so why don't you take a day off and wait be at CW while the paintjob is being done. Atleast that way you can see how they're doing it and they will also be a bit more careful i guess and will save you time and money from going back again n again. Just a thought...

Quote:

Originally Posted by 9thsphinx (Post 1238811)

Has anyone heard of the Honda Vtec LEV synthetic engine oil?
I had asked Honda to change the oil to synthetic and this is what they put in. It says "Premium Engine Oil SM0W30" on the invoice. Not sure if it is the real deal or was I duped?

SM could be a semi- or full synth, but 0W30 has to be a synth.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ImmortalZ (Post 1303618)

Anyway, went to Peninsular and the estimate came to INR 20K for :

1) New rear bumper + painting
2) denting + painting of rear quarter panel
3) New brake light

Amount after insurance will be around 6K he says. Time required for the job will be 8-10 days.

Firstly, the dent does not seem so bad that it requires a complete bumper change. Also, the price of replacement seems quite high. Is it just the bumper or the iron grid that holds the bumper in place is also repaired?

Break-up of cost of parts replaces would be nice.

I had to replace my bumper and it costed be 5.5K with a paintjob. This is for an Accent. Honda sure seems to be quite expensive !!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by ImmortalZ (Post 1303708)

The bumper's edge is ripped off under the tail lamp and the whole side came off thanks to the impact. I pushed it back in though.

I had a similar accident on my Civic only a few days back. (posted in another thread) But I was lucky to escape with only a bent bumper, which became all-right when I pushed it into place.

Personally, I would not wish to replace the bumper unless absolutely necessary, because by its nature the bumper will keep receiving hits regularly! Regarding the tail lamps, there is no choice.

Well, the bumper has took a rather nasty hit just below the lamps where it is dented in. Plastic has cracked away where his footrest hit - visible in pic #1.

@karthik : Back in December of 2008, I saw Peninsular's paint booth being unloaded into their facilities. I do not know if it is operational yet. I'll have to ask around.

I think I'll go visit Color Wheels tomorrow and see what they say.

Quote:

Originally Posted by netarchie (Post 1303695)

only downside is the 8-10 days of being without the car, the local workshop can do the same job in 2 days at much lesser cost.

Sorry to hear about the prang. A rather unfortunate thing happened to my Alto two weeks back. While at a farm, a few monkeys decided to live the spirit of the major league baseball and once threw a huge one on the roof (at the back) of my car :Frustrati

Car had a medium size dent. Promptly took it to MASS and they said 4 days and Rs. 6500 for removing the dent and repainting the whole roof! :Shockked:

I was horror struck as all that was needed was to push the roof back into place, a light tinkering job and touch up. Took it to my local mechanic who charged my Rs. 500 to remove the dent. I will be touching up the area with a can of Compaint that I bought yesterday for Rs. 300.

Sometimes, you do not need to go to your A.S.S for small jobs. Will keep you guys posted on what happens with the pics.

Cheers,
gpa

Quote:

Originally Posted by gpa (Post 1304936)

I was horror struck as all that was needed was to push the roof back into place, a light tinkering job and touch up. Took it to my local mechanic who charged my Rs. 500 to remove the dent. I will be touching up the area with a can of Compaint that I bought yesterday for Rs. 300.

gpa

Today I will avoid Compaint. The same chap should be able to get a perfect match (they use the filler cover to scan) and do the job for may be Rs.1000. The finish will be near perfect.

Well, I have good news and bad news.

The good news is, they have switched over to their own internal paint booth.

The bad news is, they have switched over to their own internal paint booth.

The wait begins.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ImmortalZ (Post 1305666)

My curses work :eek:. After their exemplary job on my car, I wished(cursed rather :p ) that they'd lose some of the honda work - that would put their smug behinds on the hot plate !

but do you think honda will be taking up body work as well?

Yep, they've moved the whole thing in-house. I saw the paint booth when it was unloaded into their premises last year and it looked quite spiffy. I asked the dude in-charge and he said it is "state of the art" with "everything required to create a factory paint finish". Well, except for the talent I guess.

Considering it has only been a week since they started operations, my car quite certainly will be a guinea pig. I hope it turns out well. They also told me they'll refinish and repaint my old fender completely free of cost because they've had so many complaints about work done at Color Wheels. I have to remind him of that on Monday when I go to collect my originals after the insurance formalities.

*sigh*

The car is back as of yesterday. Straight to the point - the color matching is excellent - perfect even. However, the paint finish is not what I'd call factory finish. There are dust spots. If someone sits down and looks at it for a minute, it is easy to see how it is not the factory paint. Disappointed at that. But it is not insanely bad as it was with Color Wheels' first job.

The total bill came to 19109/-. Post insurance, I'm about 5K out of pocket.

I forgot to add the bad stuff.

They forgot to connect power to the reverse sensor device. They also left the rear seats in a shabby way - grease marks and tool indents. I hope those aren't permanent. They supposedly polished the car. I wish they hadn't - the boot lid has swirl marks from hell. There are a couple of nicks on the brand new bumper and the rear left door. I swear, I get more scratches from Honda A.S.S than from daily use.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ImmortalZ (Post 1327048)

They also left the rear seats in a shabby way - grease marks and tool indents.

I thought Honda authorized Service had trained their mechanics to be very careful in these things. I have seen mechanics fit plastic covers on the seats after I give them my car for service. They also put paper mats on the floor, etc., so that the interior does not get dirty. Honda is a luxury brand and grease marks on the seats after service is criminal :Shockked:.

I am worried that even sweat from the mechanics when they work inside the car will spoil my seats!