[rbp]

A couple of days back, I had to drive over broken roads and heard something hit the under of the car, it wasnt the edge, it was exactly at the center of the car and it was pretty loud, but there was no oil leak etc, yestarday night after reading this incident of yours the first thing I do is take my i20 CRDI to HASS and got it examined, luckily no damages to anything, the oil sump was safe, the silencer pipe had a little bruise and the diesel tank too had a little bruise, the service attendant said nothing to worry, came back re-leaved, have to be super careful the next time I drive on such roads.

One thing I observed is that the oil sump and diesel tank in i20 is made of very fragile material, it is metal but on knocking it, it sounded very very fragile, one hit and it is gone.

[DrVjy]

Some 3 weeks back on the NH47, I had a near similar experience when driving my car on one leg of my holiday from Trivandrum to Tirunelveli . It was a winding road, 2- laned, and my speed was thus just about 50 to 60 km/hr fortunately. Suddenly, some 10 metres ahead I noticed a large stone on my path apparently left behind by some rogue who had finished his vehicle repair work. I fortunately managed to swerve my car just in time giving my wife and kid jolts from slumber and spent the next 10 min of my drive cursing the (unknown) rogue for how much he could have changed my day. This is a typical character of the handful of uneducated Indian drivers who have little or no knowledge of rules.

The only way out of this and related hazards seems to be to have electronic monitoring throughout our national highways with cameras.

[Durango Dude]

I think with the way roads are; it's a veritable obstacle course. It's been your unlucky day and very sorry to see the i20 bleeding fluids on the road. It would be good if the fuel tank and oil sump is placed on the roof of the car rather than the present positions.

[amrisharm]

A sad event indeed. You were doing everything a good driver should do, like keeping enough distance from the truck ahead, cruising at 80kmph, concentrating, yet due to some other persons stupidity you had to pay the price. Hope the insurance claim covers most of the expense and you dont have to pay too much from your own pocket.

[fuel_addict]

A very unfortunate incident for no fault of yours. It must be a painful sight to see the damage and the resultant fluid loss. I hope the damage is minimal and restricted to the fuel tank and oil sump alone. An underbody protection mechanism would have certainly saved the day for your car.

Hyundai should probably look at skipping 2 of the airbags (assuming you have 6 in your car) and providing underbody protection guard. Infact all manufacturers should do this. The value of such safety measures can be gauged only when something untoward like this happens.

[bluevolt]

Similar Incident has happened with our WagonR way back in Jan 2009.

The stone destroyed the oil sump and gear box case. Luckily engine was not seized as the car was driven for few seconds to park it safe.

A new oil sump and complete gear box housing was replaced with expenses around 15-20 K (Don't remember exact amount).

Sad to hear similar incident.

[praful]

Really sorry to hear about this incident!

Does your car sport a I Drive Safe sticker?

I saw one Black i20 being towed into BLR on 29th afternoon as I was pulling into NICE Road around 3PM.

[guyfrmblr]

Originally Posted by Durango Dude

It would be good if the fuel tank and oil sump is placed on the roof of the car rather than the present positions.

I think its the best solution for Indian roads where no one can predict the presence of pot holes, speed breakers and other hazardous objects on the road.

Originally Posted by fuel_addict

An underbody protection mechanism would have certainly saved the day for your car.
Hyundai should probably look at skipping 2 of the airbags (assuming you have 6 in your car) and providing underbody protection guard.

There is only 1 airbag in my variant. They should definitely provide underbody protection which is the most essential for Indian roads.

Originally Posted by praful

Really sorry to hear about this incident!

Does your car sport a I Drive Safe sticker?

I saw one Black i20 being towed into BLR on 29th afternoon as I was pulling into NICE Road around 3PM.

Yes. The same car. I too spotted your car with LTD on the RHS just below the rear windshield. I was in the towing vehicle. I think you had parked your car on the side and then overtook us after sometime between Magadi road and Mysore road.

[karizma_devil]

Sorry to see your car in such shape.

But how in the hell the stone didn't hit your front fender and went right in and hit your engine oil guard and again bounced back to hit your fuel tank is truly unfortunate !!

Wish your car a speedy recovery.

But i just cant picture how fuel tank & engine oil sump can be mounted on the roof of the car !!!!

[GTO]

I am just glad that you stopped right away (thus, saving your car from engine seizure) and didn't lose control of the car either. I experienced deja vu from the way you described this accident. Exact same driving condition with the truck tyre in front throwing a stone my way, without the option for me to turn or stop. I ran my Esteem over a fairly huge rock / divider and ended up with a hump on the floor. Luckily, there was no other damage and we were able to drive back home safely.

IIRC, we had absolutely no trouble with the insurance claim. Hope yours is processed smoothly as well.

Originally Posted by Durango Dude

It would be good if the fuel tank and oil sump is placed on the roof of the car rather than the present positions.

Or you could just buy an SUV with a sump / engine guard?

[guyfrmblr]

A person from the insurance company called me up this morning, asked me the details of the car and said that they'll be inspecting the car today.

Later in the evening, I called the Hyundai SA and asked the details of the damage. He said the insurance guys had come to inspect the car and the axle, fuel tank, oil sump and few more things have been damaged. He said he'll give the detailed report on Wednesday as tomorrow is a Government holiday in Karnataka. He also said that insurance guys have asked them to order the parts and it'll take 3-4 days for the parts to arrive. I asked him the repair estimate and got a reply of around 45000. He'll be giving me the actual estimate on Wednesday.

Originally Posted by sdp1975

Let us know once you receive the repair estimate.

[unni.ak]

Sorry to hear. Like many others on this thread, I too have come across stones placed on the road. I do a lot of night driving and this adds to the trouble. An year or so back, on NH7, I was in a similar situation. Somebody had left behind a concrete building block almost near the center of the road. I couldn't swerve away due to traffic, and had to take the hit. Luckily, I was able to steer enough to prevent it from hitting the engine. It hit the lower arm and disintegrated, leaving me with a slightly bent lower arm joint. The F.A.S.S just hammered it and straightened it a bit, to prevent the bush from getting cut.

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by DrVjy

I fortunately managed to swerve my car just in time giving my wife and kid jolts from slumber and spent the next 10 min of my drive cursing the (unknown) rogue for how much he could have changed my day. This is a typical character of the handful of uneducated Indian drivers who have little or no knowledge of rules.

Just out of curiosity : Did you stop the car and try to move that stone away so someone else doesnt come hitting it?

[Suess]

I can understand what you went through and sorry for the damage the car had.(but we should be thankful to God that it's only the car and you are all safe.)

we had a similar accident on Delhi-Jaipur Highway some years ago. it was about 19-19:30hrs and we were doing like 60-70kmph in our Maruti Zen. Suddenly we saw a big stone (ca. 6-7inch cube shape, must have fallen from stone loaded trucks commutating on this highway) on the road ahead my brother who was driving has braked real hard but car still hit the stone and got airborne for some seconds! but we were just lucky that it landed on all 4 wheels and stopped. i think because the car was fully loaded with 5 passengers and luggage in boot it didn't fly away in oblivion!

But there where damage to underbody/Exhaust. After getting it checked with one nice guy who had a truck repair shop we continued to Jaipur(with some missining pomp and too loud sound) and stayed overnight there to get it fixed in next morning and to continue our journey to Jodhpur. but that was hair rising experience.

intersetingly we went back and tried to find the stone to take it off the road but that damn thing was gone and was nowhere to find!

i just want to add that please, keep safe distance when travelling behind a vehicle(1 truck/bus distance at 80kmph is way too less!).

[faustus77]

Hi everybody
It is sad about the damage.What rankles is that due to somebodys laziness in removing the stone somebody else has to suffer.
Unfortunately the option of keeping a safe distance cannot work because you will see a lot of motorists overtaking you and filling that safe gap.Tailgating is such a big problem.
Like Durango Dudes comment.Funny.
Regarding underbody protection:have read a few comments about it not being the right thing.Adds weight and spoils the balance.Somebody please guide about this issue.
Regards