[EagleEye]

Originally Posted by hyper-VTEC

Have the insurance companies changed from then? I have never taken a motor insurance claim.

Sorry to hear about the bad experience.

Our Hyundai Verna has been in two major incidents. Both times the repair bill ran up to around 60k. And on both occasions, the insurance company (New India Assurance) paid up the amount owed by them after depreciation. It takes them about 30-45 days to process, but they will issue a cheque to the vehicle owner after that.

However before you do anything, either you or the workshop would have to call the insurance surveyor to examine the damage and approve the estimate for repairs. Without this you will not get a single rupee.

[swami.n]

Originally Posted by hyper-VTEC

There is no MASS near ECR. I checked in HDFC website. Will call them as well.

Hi hyper-VTEC, since the type of work is going to take more than 3-4 days regardless of the service center, do give a thought to try out options which may not be closer to your residence. If it is going to be a "leave in the morning, take in the evening" kind of job your concern is ok. But in your case, you can visit the bosch service at vadapalani & yes they have a paint booth too.

Also, I expect the quote to be around 20k or even less at the garage where I used to go for my Bolero & Palio, considering the quotes given by MASS. Which means, you can finish the work by paying a little more out of hand compared to the MASS(after insurance) and not use the insurance at all(saving your No claim bonus). I also feel that this garage would tinker your existing door rather than getting a new one. I don't feel the damage is irreparable to change the door totally.

[hyper-VTEC]

Originally Posted by swami.n

But in your case, you can visit the bosch service at vadapalani & yes they have a paint booth too.

Also, I expect the quote to be around 20k or even less at the garage where I used to go for my Bolero & Palio, considering the quotes given by MASS. Which means, you can finish the work by paying a little more out of hand compared to the MASS(after insurance) and not use the insurance at all(saving your No claim bonus). I also feel that this garage would tinker your existing door rather than getting a new one. I don't feel the damage is irreparable to change the door totally.

Swami, is there any particular reason for going to Bosch Valdapani? I spoke to couple of bhpians and they are of the opinion to stick to MASS if i go the replacement + paint route. Is the paint booth and workers at Bosch better than MASS? I am asking because i am quite new to Chennai. At the end of the day, Bosch will source everything from MUL.

I feel paying up 20K for a job which may not be perfect would be more of a loss than paying up 30K with a almost perfect job. In case the tinkering is not perfect and paint quality and color match is not good then the entire 20K goes down the drain. Moreover, i have another car which has 50% NCB, so if i change my car i can use that for reducing the insurance premia.

[swami.n]

Originally Posted by hyper-VTEC

Swami, is there any particular reason for going to Bosch Valdapani? I spoke to couple of bhpians and they are of the opinion to stick to MASS if i go the replacement + paint route. Is the paint booth and workers at Bosch better than MASS? I am asking because i am quite new to Chennai. At the end of the day, Bosch will source everything from MUL.

I feel paying up 20K for a job which may not be perfect would be more of a loss than paying up 30K with a almost perfect job. In case the tinkering is not perfect and paint quality and color match is not good then the entire 20K goes down the drain. Moreover, i have another car which has 50% NCB, so if i change my car i can use that for reducing the insurance premia.

I mentioned Bosch vadapalani because i had once visited them for running the scan on my palio and i saw a qualis which was fully painted inside the paint booth and was very impressed with the finish. It was painted the previous evening and was with all the masking and polishing yet to be done.There is also a thread here which you may read through. Off late, comments are they have increase their prices.

You are absolutely right on the second part. But those types of garages are those which would quote you only 10k for the kind of job on your car. Also there have been instances where the company authorized centers not doing a satisfying job. So we just cannot outright bash the garages.
I am referring this garage because, i had taken my Bolero a few years back with damaged back door and he advised me to change the door fully as tinkering it was not possible. He changed the whole door(the door with the spare tyre), tinkered the door seating area, painted and got tinted glass for 13k. This included little bit of tinkering and paint touch ups in some other areas of the car, as it was close to 7 years.

[HillMan]

Originally Posted by swami.n

I don't feel the damage is irreparable to change the door totally.

Hi Swami,

Unlike the Palio and old Bolero the sheet metal of cars now a days are so thin that the tinker cant get a good finish out of it. I had a similar situation with the fender on my Spark and my trusted mechanic asked me not to waste time with tinkers and go for replacement.

@hyper-VTEC,

These things are labour intensive work, you never know which shop has the best skills. Only reviews and personal experience can help here.

If it was car engine or its electricals, I would never recommend you outside of MASS. For body work its fine to get good skill anywhere.

Cheers!

[hyper-VTEC]

Originally Posted by swami.n

I mentioned Bosch vadapalani because i had once visited them for running the scan on my palio and i saw a qualis which was fully painted inside the paint booth and was very impressed with the finish.

I will visit Bosch day after tomorrow. Tomorrow i will be busy with office work.

Originally Posted by HillMan

These things are labour intensive work, you never know which shop has the best skills. Only reviews and personal experience can help here.

I concur. But yet to get information on FNG in Chennai with good tinkering and painting feedback.

[anjan_c2007]

Sad to read about the unfortunate incident. I would also advise you to get it done at a good authorised MSIL dealer's outlet.The outlet needs to have a good reputation.
No FIR is needed for such insurance claims these days.
Also I would prefer to get insurance done through a good authorised MSIL dealer (where you get the servicing done) from next time, as it is always easy to get claims since the surveyors are in liaison with the outlet.

[hyper-VTEC]

Now that tinkering is almost ruled out, requesting all Chennai based TBHPians: Please suggest good MASS. Location not a big factor, however closer to ECR, better it would be. I need to take a decision by Thursday on where to go.

Is there something like Sai Colorium (bangalore) in Chennai?

If it is MASS there are 13 options i have for cashless, most notable ones are:
ABT Maruti - Arcot Road, Saligramam
Maruti Service Masters - Thiru Vika industrail area
Car Care Center - Valdapani (i feel this is Bosch)

[hyper-VTEC]

I was casually going through ACI - August 2013 issue Cost of Spares for different cars. I noticed that Swift petrol front door price is given as INR 5200 and Side mirror with casing is mentioned as INR 1333. However, in the estimates which ABT Maruti ECR as well as NSK gave me was approx. INR 8000 for doors each and INR 1600 for side mirror. And they had painting charges separate.

Am i missing something?

I will be visiting MSM , Thiru Vika and Bosch Valdapani and pay more attention to the exact prices of the parts

P.S. I lodged a claim request with HDFC ERGO yesterday.

[Guna]

Originally Posted by hyper-VTEC

INR 8000 for doors each and INR 1600 for side mirror. And they had painting charges separate.

By any chance are they including anything other then the sheet metal, like plastic trim, door lock/handle etc in the estimation of 8000? 8000 is high for just the unpainted door panel.

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by hyper-VTEC

Now that tinkering is almost ruled out, requesting all Chennai based TBHPians: Please suggest good MASS.

From my experience, MSM at Guindy have the best paint shop among MASS. It is located behind the Olympia Tech Park. I had Maruti insurance and it was a breeze.

I am a regular customer there, since they are directly operated by Maruti themselves.

If interested you can contact SA Mr.Dharmendra (9176600809) or Mr.Babu (9176600829) and tell them Ganesan, owner of blue Alto 8006 referred you.

[DWind]

Originally Posted by hyper-VTEC

I will be visiting MSM , Thiru Vika and Bosch Valdapani and pay more attention to the exact prices of the parts

Since your preference would be near ECR, you can try CARS's MASS body shop in Kottivakkam or you can try Khivraj MASS down the road on OMR in Perungudi.

[hyper-VTEC]

Originally Posted by Guna

By any chance are they including anything other then the sheet metal, like plastic trim, door lock/handle etc in the estimation of 8000? 8000 is high for just the unpainted door panel.

No they are quoting only for the door and the handle. Both the handles are INR600 in total.

Originally Posted by Gansan

From my experience, MSM at Guindy have the best paint shop among MASS. It is located behind the Olympia Tech Park. I had Maruti insurance and it was a breeze.

I am a regular customer there, since they are directly operated by Maruti themselves.

If interested you can contact SA Mr.Dharmendra (9176600809) or Mr.Babu (9176600829) and tell them Ganesan, owner of blue Alto 8006 referred you.

Thanks. I went there but i noticed your message only after i left the place. They quoted 42,000 INR.

Originally Posted by DWind

Since your preference would be near ECR, you can try CARS's MASS body shop in Kottivakkam or you can try Khivraj MASS down the road on OMR in Perungudi.

Checked Khivraj motors on OMR, They quoted INR36,000.

How come MASS have different rates? And that also between ABT and MSM there is a 40% increase?
ABT ECR: INR 30,600
NSK ECR: INR 31,800
Car Care Center (BOSCH) - Valdapani - INR32000
Khivraj: INR 36,000
MSM, Guindy: INR 42,000

I have decided to go with ABT, one because they are cheaper, they have a paint booth, i can drop in anytime i want and also the dealing of Mr. Sasikumar (Body Shop in Charge) seemed fair and his attitude is also good.

[audioholic]

Sad to see the damage. My SX4 suffered similar damage when a taxi brushed its side. To give you an idea of repair costs, done at a Dealer itself, they came up to 32k. This included replacement of Front bumper, Drivers side fender, Drivers door as well as painting the entire right side of the car, including Front bumper, Fender, two doors, rear quarter panel and half of the rear bumper. Just ensure that the damage has not crossed the outer panels. Moreover, I think different service centers quote different rates based on whether they replace the panels or tinker them. I think one is willing to tinker the rear qtr panel while the other wants to entirely replace it. Doors have to be replaced though.

When we took the car to the dealer after it got damaged, the insurance co insisted we just tinker the door. However the body shop manager showed us a tinkered door which had got similar damage. The finish was not good and it had a wavy surface. Changing the doors and panels got us a finish that even mechanics couldnt make out that it was replaced.

[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by hyper-VTEC

Now that tinkering is almost ruled out...

This is expected. You have to press for tinkering, or else you will not get it, because if tinkering is done, you will have to shell out only little and insurance company pays more. In replacing doors, you will lose ~50% of the estimate, and insurance company pays less.

Please insist on tinkering. If properly done you will get really good finish. I've seen much bad cases being redone to perfection.