[Bluu]

My car met with an accident yesterday on Varthur Road. :( I was rear-ended by a lorry after an "L" board vehicle in front of mine braked suddenly. The rear right quarter-panel, door (minor scratch) and rear bumper were damaged in the accident.

I will post a photo when I can.

I gave the car to Maruti to get an estimate on the repairs and they have sent me an estimate of Rs 38,000/-

My query is regarding the estimate. It has a set of entries pertaining to the cost of the items. Furthermore, it has cost of painting of all the items. On top of all this, there are a bunch of entries under R&R, which I am confused about. Is R&R the cost of labour for fixing the damage? I ask because the R&R amount is totaling Rs 4,500/-.

Is that a correct amount for the damage involved?

Cost of rear bumper is slated as Rs 2,723/-
Cost of side panel is quoted as Rs 7,244/-
Cost of something called a RR Combination Unit is Rs 1,552/-
Plus there are some smaller amounts for sealant, protector etc.

Total cost of items is about Rs 14,200/- while R&R plus painting comes to Rs 17,000 odd. Total estimate is Rs 31,000 change. I find it too high for the amount of damage involved. Can anyone shed light on whether these amounts are in the correct range or whether the estimate is too high.

Any help will be greatly appreciated. Please do post replies as soon as you guys can since the car is lying in the body-repair workshop and I want to get the worked started asap so that I can get my poor car back. As I said before, I will post a photo of the damage when I get back home.

Thanks!

- A

[windsurfer]

Would the labour and painting not covered by insurance completely? You pay 50% for the plastic parts. Am I missing something or you are not claiming insurance?

[aka_iitd]

Oh My GOD
I think you can try Surkasha etc at Hosur road which can help you with less estimate. How much insurance you will get.I think you will get almost 70 to 80% of it as it invloves few plastic parts. For me for a small dent and scratch MASS is charging 10K (1K i need to sheel out) so I have postponed it for few months. Post a picture. It will help to roughly estimate

[lambuhere1]

Originally Posted by Bluu

Cost of side panel is quoted as Rs 7,244/-

Side panel or are you painting the whole side door ? Just wondering.

Get a quote from Suraksha also to get things cleared up a bit more.

Yes, Painting charges are a bit high with Body colored matching.

[narayan]

RR - could be be referring to REAR RIGHT
so they might be referring to REAR RIGHT tail lights/body panel etc

is there any body part in the REAR RIGHT apart from the body panel ? many cars have a separate panel below the tail light ( and above the bumper ) - you could that

prices of the body panel, bumper look quite reasonable to me

[vikram_d]

Typically the initial quote given by the service centers is always high. They also give a high quote because the insurance companies might not approve all of them.

One of my friends was given a quote of 1 lakh for 80k worth of damage for insurance purposes. The car in question was an Innova. Finally insurance approved 85k.

Edit: RR = Rear Right, R&R = Repair & replace - this is basically labour for repair work carried out.

[ajmat]

My daughter was in hspital - estimate 45k, actual 22k
Swift - branch fell on car - estimate 40k actual 22 k

[Bluu]

Thanks for the quick responses.

@ windsurfer - am definitely claiming insurance. My liability as of now is Rs 6,000/- or so.

@ aka_iitd - will post a pic soon. The entire bumper is plastic, so...

@lambuhere1 - what they mean by side panel is the rear quarter panel. The door is only superficially scratched and requires denting and painting.

@ vikram - thanks, your info is correct. However, shouldn't this not happen in this case since the insurance is through Maruti themselves? Is there such a large disconnect between two arms of the same company housed in the same offices?

@ ajmat - I hope your daughter is fine. I also hope my expenses get halved, like yours!

[D.V.R]

RR=Right Rear
R&R=Removal and refitting

[Blur]

Bluu, like Vikram said, the initial estimate is hiked up because insurance companies usually play hard ball when it comes to coughing up the full amount. So hiking makes a lot of sense. And no, the insurance IS NOT provided by Maruti. It might be New India Assurance or such like. Maruti only has a tie up with them.

[alpha_romeo]

Unfortunate! This is quite common in Bangalore.

Maruti work-shop estimates are generally reasonable, if you are going for a cash-less facility from Maruti-Insurance. I even dont reccomend second opinion.

I dont think you need to worry about anything, they will have a surveyor, who will have the formula's to calculate your contribution. He will explain, if you need.

You just need to fill the claims form at Maruti, give all the documents like policy, DL, RC, PUC and then collect the car by paying a difference amount (i.e. your contribution). You will loose no claim bonus if you go for your own insurance.

[Bluu]

Here are a couple of pics:

[v1p3r]

Ouch. My sympathies. Maruti cashless insurance is generally pretty reliable, though, and so are most MASSes

[aka_iitd]

I think back side door need painting as it is has soem dents near the handle. Also the metal sheet has gone next to door. I think they will replace it with new one. In that case i guess coloring is not needed if they can get the same color. Bumper looks ok need painting i believe. Rear light i think may be intact. Not clear in snaps. Better get it checked at some other place liek Surkasha etc. If you getting claim of almost whole then better go with MASS.
BUT WHY your car is in workshop. you can still use it

[Bluu]

Originally Posted by aka_iitd

BUT WHY your car is in workshop. you can still use it

It can't be repaired unless it stays in the workshop. I don't want to use it in damaged condition.

@viper - tried to call you when the accident occured but the call got forwarded. Will get in touch with you once the car is back, which should be Wed, next.