[vina]

Originally Posted by figo_united

Finally, It has happened

I always had this fear of somebody banging my car from behind. First thing I do after applying brakes is look in the mirror! This was even more prominent from the last couple of days, after reading Captain's thread on a biker banging into his figo!

Sorry about the accident - why couldn't you get the money from HIS insurance, I mean perhaps not now (you let him go), but if he had banged you from behind, the no matter what he says he is at fault by law - and his insurance company will have to pay out 3rd party.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by figo_united

Finally, It has happened

The damage looks pretty minor (at least from the photos). But expect quite a hefty estimate from the AS&S. It may be a good idea to let them know in advance that you’re not going to claim insurance. I feel that will have a direct impact on the estimate they prepare.

[figo_united]

Originally Posted by vina

Sorry about the accident - why couldn't you get the money from HIS insurance, I mean perhaps not now (you let him go), but if he had banged you from behind, the no matter what he says he is at fault by law - and his insurance company will have to pay out 3rd party.

Not sure how to go about that. it would need a police complaint right?
I do have his vehicle and phone numbers.

Originally Posted by vb-san

The damage looks pretty minor (at least from the photos). But expect quite a hefty estimate from the AS&S. It may be a good idea to let them know in advance that you’re not going to claim insurance. I feel that will have a direct impact on the estimate they prepare.

Yes, I shall check both options from A.S.S and decide. But dont expect either estimate to be less than the NCB amount, so claiming insurance would be better I guess?

[anilisanil]

sorry to hear about your crash. Just in case it helps, always make sure that your vehicle comes to stop with some buffer distance so that you could move in case some one is banging into you, for this you need to drive at a good distance of the car ahead, may be accounting for the mistake of others. Since yours is ABS, you can try and swerve your way subject to the contents in your ORVM. All the best!

[Vid6639]

Sorry about the bump figo_united. Somethings to keep in mind to prevent this next time.

1. The Altis has fantastic brakes. They can shed a ton of speed in no time. I think it's the shortest braking distance compared to all cars in the segment.
2. The car you were following was brand new with no registration. That means the driver had no idea how powerful his brakes were since he was new to the car. That should automatically trigger you to keep an even larger distance.

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by figo_united

Yes, I shall check both options from A.S.S and decide. But dont expect either estimate to be less than the NCB amount, so claiming insurance would be better I guess?

I would not recommend claiming insurance at this point. Get an estimate from the dealer, saying you DO NOT want to claim insurance. Once the final estimate is provided, compare this with a quote from an external garage. There are many which offer excellent paint matching and finish. Check out the TBHP Directory for such garages.

Dare to think beyond the dealers!

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by figo_united

Yes, I shall check both options from A.S.S and decide. But dont expect either estimate to be less than the NCB amount, so claiming insurance would be better I guess?

From my experience, if you are claiming insurance, they will go ahead and replace the whole piece (will not even look for an alternative option).
So better will be to let them know upfront that you plan to pay it from your own pocket. And when they get back to you with the estimate, look at the figure and decide if it’s really worth to forego the NCB

[Captain Slow]

Originally Posted by figo_united

Finally, It has happened

Oh Dear, Figo United all I can say is that I know what you are going through right now. But please remain calm and do things slow.
No point trying to get anything from the biker. Involving the police will turn out to be a nightmare. Think of the biker as another idiot on the road and move on.

Good suggestion by benbsb29. Get a quote from the A.S.S but don't leave the car or authorize them to start the work.
Damage doesn't look to bad but the A.S.S might ask you to replace the boot lit and along with that the Logo and figo badges.

Secondly will lose your NCB if you claim insurance now, the best course would be to get this repaired at some other non *** garage.

How bad is the dent on boot? Cant make out clearly from the pictures. I can see the small hole on the boot lid.

If the dent is small, only the damaged area can be repaired in a days time. Shouldn't cost you more than Rs 2,000 at an non *** independent garage.

[figo_united]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

Went to Cauvery ford Mysore today to check what can be done.
Here's the list of options I got from the SA.

1) Replace the complete boot door, costing around 14k. Insurance would cover most of it, and i would have to spend around 2-3k from my pocket. This would give complete original look.

2) Remove the dent, patch up the other one which is almost a hole, with a metal piece welding, and do tinkering. Repaint the whole door. This would cost around 5k, and my contribution would be less than 1k. He said look wise, it will be very close to the original look.

About claiming insurance, He suggested that I dont claim it now since I will be renewing my policy in 2 weeks, so that I can save on the NCB.
He said I can get it done 5-10 days after my new policy comes into effect.

I did check with him if insurer would reject the claim saying it is an old dent. He said it won't happen. worst case, I could say something like I was out of station for a week and couldnt get it done immediately.
He also mentioned that he would surely get it done if its with bajaj allianz (which is my current insurer) since they operate with them regularly.

He also told me to get a brush touch up done, since the metal was exposed and is prone to rust. Again, I checked if it would affect the claim later, to which he said it wont be a problem.
So I got the brush touch up done too (no charges).

I will renew my policy with bajaj allianz and get this done sometime start of next month. Have to live with it for a month now

In the meanwhile, as many of you have suggested, shall try to check out some garages in bangalore too.

Does this sound ok? Is there anything different I should be doing? Am I missing/misinterpreting something? Would the 2nd option really have a good result look wise?
Please suggest

Here are some pics before and after touch up.

Before









After touch up

Originally Posted by anilisanil

sorry to hear about your crash. Just in case it helps, always make sure that your vehicle comes to stop with some buffer distance so that you could move in case some one is banging into you, for this you need to drive at a good distance of the car ahead, may be accounting for the mistake of others. Since yours is ABS, you can try and swerve your way subject to the contents in your ORVM. All the best!

Yes, I always consciously try to keep distance with the vehicle in front. Even when this happened, I think I was at a fair distance behind the corolla. but as vid6639 mentioned, it braked quite quickly and came to an abrupt halt.

Originally Posted by vid6639

Sorry about the bump figo_united. Somethings to keep in mind to prevent this next time.

1. The Altis has fantastic brakes. They can shed a ton of speed in no time. I think it's the shortest braking distance compared to all cars in the segment.
2. The car you were following was brand new with no registration. That means the driver had no idea how powerful his brakes were since he was new to the car. That should automatically trigger you to keep an even larger distance.

Thanks vid6639. I will surely keep this in mind.

Originally Posted by benbsb29

I would not recommend claiming insurance at this point. Get an estimate from the dealer, saying you DO NOT want to claim insurance. Once the final estimate is provided, compare this with a quote from an external garage. There are many which offer excellent paint matching and finish. Check out the TBHP Directory for such garages.

Dare to think beyond the dealers!

Thanks, as I mentioned, I have some time now before I get it done, so I will try to look for some good garage and explore that option too.

Originally Posted by vb-san

From my experience, if you are claiming insurance, they will go ahead and replace the whole piece (will not even look for an alternative option).
So better will be to let them know upfront that you plan to pay it from your own pocket. And when they get back to you with the estimate, look at the figure and decide if it’s really worth to forego the NCB

The guy at cauvery ford was quite helpful. He explained all options properly. Hope he keeps his word though!

Originally Posted by Captain Slow

Oh Dear, Figo United all I can say is that I know what you are going through right now. But please remain calm and do things slow.
No point trying to get anything from the biker. Involving the police will turn out to be a nightmare. Think of the biker as another idiot on the road and move on.

Good suggestion by benbsb29. Get a quote from the A.S.S but don't leave the car or authorize them to start the work.
Damage doesn't look to bad but the A.S.S might ask you to replace the boot lit and along with that the Logo and figo badges.

Secondly will lose your NCB if you claim insurance now, the best course would be to get this repaired at some other non *** garage.

How bad is the dent on boot? Cant make out clearly from the pictures. I can see the small hole on the boot lid.

If the dent is small, only the damaged area can be repaired in a days time. Shouldn't cost you more than Rs 2,000 at an non *** independent garage.

Thank you captain. I do now realize that its not that bad after all. I have attached better pics now.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by figo_united

The guy at cauvery ford was quite helpful. He explained all options properly. Hope he keeps his word though!

That’s good to know. Good experience at A.S&S is always a relief.

Maybe I am wrong, but I see no harm in going with option 1, and do the claim after policy renewal (only if you felt that the guy sounded confident and genuine about the suggestions, and there will not be any legal hassles in the future)

Actually the car looks pretty ok with the brush touch up

[tj123]

Just an off topic question , what is the recommended service interval for the diesel Figo and approx cost ?

[figo_united]

Originally Posted by vb-san

That’s good to know. Good experience at A.S&S is always a relief.

Maybe I am wrong, but I see no harm in going with option 1, and do the claim after policy renewal (only if you felt that the guy sounded confident and genuine about the suggestions, and there will not be any legal hassles in the future)

Actually the car looks pretty ok with the brush touch up

Yes, but the first option would cost me more from my pocket.
I really hope he keeps his word though!

Originally Posted by tj123

Just an off topic question , what is the recommended service interval for the diesel Figo and approx cost ?

1st Service - 2500km - Rs 1318
2nd Service - 10000km - Rs 1752
3rd Service - 20000km - Rs 4515

Costs mentioned are not standard. they are from my bills.

[anilisanil]

i will tell you the option three, get it done from outside and you will get at least 20% NCB and discount up to 30-40% everytime you renew (bajaj refuses to give discount if you have claims).

Outside should not cost you more than 2500-3000 on good bargaining.

One more caution if the insurer refuses to accept it as a fresh accident, he might still go ahead and pay the damages but it would forfeit your NCB. Since you already touched it up, it could be an issue.

[figo_united]

Originally Posted by anilisanil

i will tell you the option three, get it done from outside and you will get at least 20% NCB and discount up to 30-40% everytime you renew (bajaj refuses to give discount if you have claims).

Since I am planning to get it done under next year's insurance, I am anyway going to lose NCB for next year. I have already got a quote for renewal and bajaj is giving 20% NCB and 25% discount. The premium is around 10788 for and IDV of 458385.

Originally Posted by anilisanil

Outside should not cost you more than 2500-3000 on good bargaining.

If it costs 3k, is same as getting it done from A.S.S with option 2 losing next year's NCB. It amounts to almost the same right?

Originally Posted by anilisanil

One more caution if the insurer refuses to accept it as a fresh accident, he might still go ahead and pay the damages but it would forfeit your NCB. Since you already touched it up, it could be an issue.

[/quote]

Yes, I checked with the SA about this, and he said it can be claimed. fingers crossed!

[anilisanil]

just 25% discount? you could bargain up to 30-40%.

yes you are losing NCB for next year, which will be around 30-40% off on IDV (I presume)

And if you are making a claim, bajaj would not give you any voluntary discount.


I am just informing you, that's all.