[sindabad.sailor]

On a different note, a few years back I was stuck up in Bangkok due to closure of airport over political dissent for 10 days.

I had bought TATA AIGs travel guard policy and when I checked the document I found there was a TRIPDELAY clause.

On returning I filed a claim for the trip delay. I too received just one call asking exactly what happened. We talked for some 5 minutes.

Next week I got a courier containing compensation cheques. THough the amount was really small, I found faith in them. Since then I am with TATA AIG for auto / life insurance.

Apologies for being OT.

[rajeev k]

Nice to see the vehicle back in fine nick after repairs and that too in a customer friendly manner by the dealer.

some evasive action can be taken.(but people try to squeeze in these gaps )

I remember reading in the book of the Lambretta quote If any inconsiderate idiot barges into one's braking space do drop back unquote.

[Johnn]

Originally Posted by guyfrmblr

Got my i20 back this evening. The process of repairing and claiming insurance was butter smooth. It was a hassle free experience.

The guys from Advaith Hyundai, Bannerghatta road were true to their words and didn't give any false promises and dates. I need to specially thank Prakash (Bodyshop manager) and Vinod (SA) of Advaith who were very co-operative during the entire process.

Let me brief the flow of events:
October 29th, Saturday : My i20 was hit by a stone and damaged the underbody at 12 45 pm, NH-48, around 60 kms from Bangalore. Called H.A.S.S and the bodyshop manager quickly arranged for a tow vehicle which reached the spot at 2 45 pm. Towed the car to Advaith and was asked to fill the form for claiming insurance (TATA AIG) and was told that insurance guys may come to inspect the car on Monday, Oct 31st.

October 31st , Monday : Got a call from TATA AIG at around 11 am and confirmed the vehicle number and was told that the inspection will be done at noon. Got a call from Advaith in the evening and informed me that the inspection has been carried out and have asked them to order the parts which may take 4 working days to arrive. (November 1st was a Government holiday). The approximate repair cost was Rs 45000.

4 days later: November 5th, Saturday : I called SA and was told that the parts have arrived and they will be starting the work on November 8th (7th was a Government holiday).

November 8th, Tuesday : Got a call from SA at 7 pm and told me that the work has been completed and the insurance guys may come on Wednesday for re-inspecting after which they'll be sending a letter to Advaith to release my car. I was told that this process may take 1 day.

Today : Got a call from SA at 11 am and told me that all the processes have been completed and I can collect my car. Went to service centre at around 5 45 pm. They took me to the service area, showed me the underbody and explained the parts which have been replaced. The car was absolutely clean (both interior and exterior). Paid the bill and drove home the car with a smile.

Cost Breakup:

Total repair bill : Rs 40,997
Insurance : Rs 36,197
I paid : Rs 4,818

Details of the bill:

1. Engine Oil : Rs 1,274.78
2. Brake Fluid : Rs 149.10
3. Diesel : Rs 468.00 (10 litres)
4. Mirror and Holder Assy-O/S RH : 381.46
5. Crossmember Compl(Assy) : Rs 8987.17
6. Cylinder Assy - Wheel RH : Rs 798.23
7. Torsion Axle Complete : Rs 8266.03
8. Arm Complete FR LWR RH : Rs 1133.33
9. Tank Assy - FUEL : Rs 5130.41
10. PNL- Undercover LH : Rs 165.34
11. PAN Assy - Engine Oil : Rs 6044.10
12. Gasket - Liquid Engine : Rs 874.58

Labour And Services

1. Other charges : Rs 1410.00
2.Cylinder Assy - Wheel (LH) : Rs 203.00
3. Arm Assy - Lower (both sides) : Rs 203.00
4. Tank Assy - Fuel : Rs 348.00
5. Pan Assy - Oil Upper and/or Gasket : Rs 203.00

Plus VAT and Service Tax : Rs 4957.94

After the repair, I drove for around 40 kms and confirmed that everything is fine. I'm totally satisfied with the way Advaith and TATA AIG handled the entire process.

Lessons learnt from this experience:
1. Whenever driving behind a vehicle (especially trucks) on a highway, maintain atleast 3 bus gaps so that if any unexpected object appears on the road, some evasive action can be taken. (but people try to squeeze in these gaps )
2. Don't judge the stone or any other object on the roads by its size. In my case, it hasn't even touched the bumper (but has touched all other parts below). Whatever may be the stone size, please avoid driving over it.
3. Stop the vehicle as soon as any object hits the underbody and check for the leakage of any fluids. Driving with fluids leaking may cause the seizure of engine. If I'd driven with the fluids leaking, the engine would have seized and would have costed me a bomb.
4. Always carry the contact numbers of SA so that they'll tell you the correct steps to follow when such incidents occur. One of my friend met with a similar incident some days back. He called SA and was informed not to crank the engine at any cost since the fluids were leaking. Else my friend had planned to start the car and drive it for few more kilometers until he finds a town which would have definitely seized his engine.

I would like to thank all BHPians who gave wonderful advice and wishes in this thread.

My black beauty, back in action:

Attachment 840598

In my first thread on owning an i20, I had mentioned that tyre size was moved from 185/65R14 to 185/70R14 to get 170 mm ground clearance. The best part was the GPS exactly tallied with the speedo, AFTER the change, as 10% higher speed display is permitted.
New i20s come with the 70 aspect tyre.


I used to hit the crash guard of a M800 regularly as it was very low, but it helped learn the technique of high points.
which is
Always keep the tyres riding on the highest parts of the roads. That way the under body parts are safe, though the bumpiness is more.


hope this helps avoid the next one!

[dhrupadh]

After going through this thread, I realized that the under body of a car is pretty vulnerable. I have a question which might be slightly OT.

I live near a speed bump which is unusually high but somehow my car manages to get past without scraping the under body. Recently, I noticed that immediately on the other side of the end of the bump, the middle part of road has broken and the road tar has started wearing out leaving a large crater. Now one can imagine that the problem of the height of the bump gets compounded due to that and the worst happened.

I slowed down as usual and after my front tires crossed the bump, and the tires landed in the crater accompanied with a loud scratch on the underbelly! I couldnt check underneath but its been a month since that incident and the car is working just fine. Do I need to get it checked?

[guyfrmblr]

Originally Posted by dhrupadh

I slowed down as usual and after my front tires crossed the bump, and the tires landed in the crater accompanied with a loud scratch on the underbelly! I couldnt check underneath but its been a month since that incident and the car is working just fine. Do I need to get it checked?

Since the car is running fine for over a month, you can just get a general underbody checkup done during your next service. I don't think there is any critical damage to any part.

[lemedico]

Underbody damage is sadly very common and most of us have faced the damages caused by rocks and stones or even terribly constructed speed breakers.

I remember an incident from my childhood, we had a Zen (1996) and the family was driving home at very late at night on a highway which I recall to be from Jaipur to Agra via Fathehpur sikri. In the darkness of the night a fairly large boulder suddenly appeared on the tarmac and unfortunately my father had to drive over it as there was no time for evasive maneuvers. The car instantly shut off and pulled to the side of the road. It was pitch black and frightening. Luckily two more cars behind us saw the same boulder and managed to avoid it. Being good Samaritans they stopped next to us to check if we were ok but the car had spilled its juices on the road. (gear box was the victim as we later found out at the service centre)

We were told by the passer bys that the placement of the boulders is so that a vehicle is hit and when the car stops, local tribal criminals would pounce upon the occupants of damaged vehicle and help themselves to the cash/jewellery. Luckily no such thing happened to us, perhaps because the good Samaritans had stopped hence outnumbering the criminals.

Still being 100 kms from home we decided not to leave the car at the next service station, being a dodgy locality and the Samaritans towed us all the way. The gearbox was shattered for sure as the ZEN would not budge in neutral. Dad had to depress the clutch for the entire journey to keep it rolling!

I wonder if the regulatory body could pass a law which says all cars must be factory fitted with underbody protection. Even better would be for the the various companies to wake up and do it themselves! I'm sure such a feature would work well in advertising campaigns like mentioning their product has it and the xyz competition does not.

[reihem]

Background - I wanted to touchup some deep scratches on my wife's Jazz yesterday. Being a Sunday, it was the perfect opportunity to do so; I was sure she wouldn't need the car. More about that here: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/diy-do...onda-jazz.html

However, luck wasn't on my side - the perils of being married to a doctor include her being called away on a Sunday evening to the hospital. I was still not done painting the Jazz (which she is most comfortably driving); at any rate she usually drives my Ciaz when I've had one too many at the end of a long night - so I handed over the Ciaz's keys and went back to my paint job.

At around 9 PM I got the worst call a husband can get from his wife; I was informed there had been an accident. I was quickly reassured that neither her nor anyone else, nor any other car for that matter, was hurt - this brought my BP down significantly.

She said she had hit a large concrete ring and a branch that was placed on top of it (presumably to warn people of the concrete ring's position). And that she was now unable to turn the steering wheel. I jumped into our Scala and reached the spot (Chennai folks - this was next to Park Sheraton, diagonally opposite Amma Nana).

It became clear to me what had happened: The concrete ring was actually the "frame" for a manhole, which the actual manhole cover then sits in. It was a large concrete structure about 3 feet wide and raised about a foot off the road. A large branch had been placed on it as is the custom here to warn people of its presence.

My wife, presumably not having seen it, hit the concrete structure with the front right wheel, got the large branch hooked beneath the car, then hit the concrete structure again with the back wheel, then proceeded to drag the branch for about 150 meters before coming to a stop.

Before I could get there, the branch was dislodged by helpful bystanders and an auto driver was trying his best to replace my front right wheel with the spare.

I inspected the car and note the following:

1. the front right alloy was broken and the tyre' side wall had been shredded.
2. the rear right allow was also dented and the tyre had been shredded as well.

I crawled under the car and noted the following:

1. the oil filter was severely dented by the branch but not leaking
2. the lower control arm of the front right suspension had remnants of wood on it, and presumably this is where the branch had gotten stuck and been dragged.
3. the junction of the exhaust manifold and exhaust pipe which presumably houses a gasket was also covered in wet wood fibres but didn't appear damaged.

I replaced the front wheel with the spare from the Ciaz and the back wheel using the spare from the Scala (same size), there were no warning lights flashing when i started the car.

Maruti Road Side Assistance showed up in due course, checked the car, agreed with my assessment and helped tighten the nuts on the spare tires before leaving.

The only picture from the night itself, I was too stressed to bother taking more pictures a the time:


The front wheel with the Ciaz's spare and the rear wheel with the Scala's spare.


The damage to the front alloy:


The damage to the rear alloy, some suggested this could be beaten back into form, I have no desire to test this solution, especially if I am to get my answer doing 100 KMPH on a highway.


The damaged oil filter.



The exhaust manifold / exhaust pipe junction - I removed most of the wet wood from the branch to assess the damage, you can just about see some wood fibres, looks like it wasn't damaged.


Area around lower control arm where the branch was lodged, no apparent damage, plenty of wood fibres still seen here.


Looks like I will need to change 2 alloys, 2 tyres (don't think i need to do all 4 given that I've only run 5000km), and the oil filter. Will probably get the wheels aligned - that kind of bump would have thrown things off balance for sure.

[condor]

Good that the damages are limited to this, and no one else involved either.

Just that, curious to know how did that alloy get damaged at two spots like that ?

Agree with you on not beating the other alloy back into shape.

[VW2010]

Was she speeding. This is way over 30kmph atleast by the looks of the damage and the dragging.

Hope no phones were involved to miss such a big distraction on road. Replace the rims and tyres. Tyres may last longer based on that picture. There is no major bulging or damage that requires a tyre change per me. But you inspected upclose and you can take a decision.

Even that one tyre that has a cut, use it as that 5th wheel and my assumption is you get full size 5th wheel.

[reihem]

Originally Posted by VW2010

Was she speeding. This is way over 30kmph atleast by the looks of the damage and the dragging.

Hope no phones were involved to miss such a big distraction on road. Replace the rims and tyres. Tyres may last longer based on that picture. There is no major bulging or damage that requires a tyre change per me. But you inspected upclose and you can take a decision.

Even that one tyre that has a cut, use it as that 5th wheel and my assumption is you get full size 5th wheel.

The seat height was set to my preference as I usually use the car. I suspect visibility was the issue. But a lack of experience definitely comes into play in this sort of situation.

Both tyres have sustained reasonably sized tears on the sidewall. I assumed it was best to replace.

Originally Posted by condor

Just that, curious to know how did that alloy get damaged at two spots like that ?

That had be slightly baffled as well. The car, branch and concrete structure had all been moved by the time I arrived. It was a contaminated crime scene so to speak

[ashwinmanuk]

This is the damage my Rapid took while at Munnar. I scraped over a rock, I guess, under full load. This looks like the transmission tunnel and there are two gashes on it.

Sorry for the out of focus pic, I had to struggle a bit to get this bit. I will try to get the car on a scissor lift to get a better understanding of the damage. The car however did a full roadtrip back to Bangalore clocking over 600kms after the damage.

[ashwinmanuk]

Originally Posted by ashwinmanuk

This is the damage my Rapid took while at Munnar. I scraped over a rock, I guess, under full load. This looks like the transmission tunnel and there are two gashes on it.

Sorry for the out of focus pic, I had to struggle a bit to get this bit. I will try to get the car on a scissor lift to get a better understanding of the damage. The car however did a full roadtrip back to Bangalore clocking over 600kms after the damage.

A clearer picture. Looks like the damage is limited only to the protective cover. The gash looks very superficial. Does anyone know price and the labour required for the replacement or am I better of clainkh the insurance?

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by ashwinmanuk

Does anyone know price and the labour required for the replacement or am I better of clainkh the insurance?

Such repairs are best carried out at an FNG without claiming insurance.
The ASC should quote 10k is my estimate seeing the amount of damage.

[ashwinmanuk]

Originally Posted by n.devdath

Such repairs are best carried out at an FNG without claiming insurance.
The ASC should quote 10k is my estimate seeing the amount of damage.

I actually took the car to Bosch service centre and had the car lifted on a scissor fork. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was. It was a fiber cladding which we cut using a file and SA said there's no harm in leaving the piece like that.

[harikrishnansp]

Originally Posted by guyfrmblr

Lessons learnt from this experience:
1. Whenever driving behind a vehicle (especially trucks) on a highway, maintain atleast 3 bus gaps so that if any unexpected object appears on the road, some evasive action can be taken. (but people try to squeeze in these gaps )

Attachment 840598

Those idiots are going to learn the hard way (if they wish to learn them also). Those who don't are gonna pay dearly soon.