[alikidwhy]

As most of the members have already pointed out about the structural integrity, I would say it’s time to let her go.

I understand your love towards her and even I love mine dearly and would do everything to keep her if I was in your place but that would be my emotions taking over and not my mind. It’s a heart vs head battle here.

If you don’t mind me asking, what is the IDV and how much is the insurance paying if you take total loss?
If it’s a good and reasonable amount, why don’t you try finding another Civic, I know it won’t be Kate but at least the same vehicle inside.

Gold forbid if you do get it repaired and any mishap occurs, you might not live to drive her again.

To conclude, please go ahead with Total Loss and spend the cash on another Civic or any car that gets your heart racing.

Either ways, do update us.

[libranof1987]

I gather you've probably made up your mind to not repair this car - that'd be the wise thing to do post this accident. Glad you guys made it out safe.

Also, while you get the total loss settlement, do also get the car scrapped (RC cancelled) so that people, such as this salvage dealer, do not cheat some unsuspecting customer with a car that won't be 100% safe/reliable to drive.

[for_cars1]

Originally Posted by aroopdas93

... me and two of my friends embarked on this mega drive across ...one of my friends asked if she could drive .......After losing control the car crashed

Totally agree that Gender is irrelevant in this context, but what is generally a concern area is people insisting on taking turns driving one after the other on long journeys.

However good a driver may be, familiarity with driving a particular type of vehicle is very important, expecially about a vehicle's dimensions, handling, acceleration, braking effectiveness, steering response, visibility, clearance, ergonomics, blind spots. These aspects take good amount of time to get well acquainted with and being thorough about these aspects for particular type of vehicle especially on marathon journeys is a critical safety aspect.

Who all will do the driving on long journeys is something that needs to be pre-decided among the people in a vehicle. Even a single person driving the whole marathon journey of thousands of KMs over multiple days is also quite a comfortable thing to do if planned well and lot safer than taking turns with someone who is not thoroughly acquainted with the vehicle (however good a driver they may be).

Ad-hoc requests by fellow travellers to get behind the wheel on such journeys is something that should be totally avoided and can be catastrophic. There should not be any ego issues here if refused, safety comes first.

[Biker Ram]

Aroop, my first reaction when I saw the pics and the thread title was, why does anyone even want to consider repairing the car? Isn't it obvious? Anyway, I'm glad so many members have come up with factual explanations why it's best to just write it off and equally glad that you have made the right decision now.

Just one point to add, you mentioned possibility of the mechanic to procure your car if you are not happy after the repairs. Sure he would then sell it off to a customer who was looking to just save some money, or worse, to someone not knowledgeable and unsuspecting. That would have been a bad decision on your part. Best is to consider it totaled and just scrap it.


You mentioned you are bothered by the smallest of sounds in a car and that you are popular at the service center. Just a bit of advise if I may. There are things that should be repaired, there are things that one can live with, and there are things best ignored. A periodic service or a repair will NOT fix everything and make a car run like brand new forever. There is a reason cars, like almost everything else have an end of life. And they do deteriorate over time before becoming completely unusable. I hope this will help make your next car ownership a bit more enjoyable!

[Mafia]

You should thank your stars about walking away unhurt.

The car is done. No amount of repair can fix the damage done. The end result will not be worth expese and effort. Better to abandon to forget the car now than be forced to forget after effort of repairs.

[Romeo_Mike]

Sad to see the pictures of your car but glad that everyone came out unhurt. Agree with most here that it's time to let go of Kate and have nothing more to add on that front.

However, I'm a bit worried about the deal you described with the salvage dealer. He is going to rebuild the car anyway, whether you take it back or not. And most likely would succeed in selling it to someone else, since you have decided against taking it back. An undiscerning buyer might just walk into a trap here. At the risk of going OT - Isn't there any regulatory mechanism that should prevent a write-off from being on the road again?

[robbie_KL]

We all love our cars and that is why we are a part of Team BHP. We know the ins and outs of our cars and are one with them. So much so that even a slight noise, a minute difference in ride quality or handling, a micro second lag while accelerating or braking, a slight off in the engine note are all quickly felt by us and we dont have peace of mind until we get it sorted.

Being "a bit" obsessive about my cars I totally understand your predicament. But you have to draw a line somewhere and unfortunately your car ended up on the other side of it. You took good care of it and she returned the favor and kept everyone safe. As many have stated before, the results of repairing your car may not be satisfactory to you yourself, based on how you describe yourself. There will always be something that wont feel "right".

Also, with regards to structural integrity, I am not very confident of the methods used in India to repair cars after major shunts. Pros in the car salvage business (especially in US), do actually repair cars that have similar or worse damage than your car but the methods they use are technically sound and those cars have to pass an inspection before being allowed on the road. For example, they cut out damaged pillars and weld in undamaged parts from a donor car in a way that structural integrity is restored (plenty of videos on Youtube). I doubt such expensive and time consuming methods are used here in India.

So sadly I would suggest you scrap the car as a total loss and also get the RC deleted. There are plenty of cars out there that have been well taken care of and could be your next ride. You can start of with Team BHP classifieds. In fact there is an immaculately maintained 09 Civic V AT listed in Kerala Cheers.

[anoopGTkrish]

Really sorry to hear this buddy. Recommendation like most others would be to let her go. There is no dearth of used Civics especially in the Mumbai market. Or maybe try another used enthusiast's choice.

[Moontan]

You mentioned that if you decide to write the car off and collect the IDV, the scrap dealer is then willing to pay you 1L for the written off car, of which he has already paid an advance of 75K.

From my experience of having a car written off after an accident, the insurance company owns the car, if you write it off. They will pay you the agreed IDV only after they auction it. If it's parked in a service centre, be prepared to pay a parking fee, calculated on a daily basis, till the car is sold. This fee very negotiable when the time comes.

Edit: Please look into what I have written above as the scrap dealer may give you grief over the advance paid, claiming that he has already booked the car.

[Sasanka_Sanga]

Glad to know that you all escaped this mishap.

Coming to the facts, the car doesn't drive like the one it was. The structure got damaged and even if you restore it, new problems keep coming.

Now I understand the emotional attachment you have for your car, however, repairs do include replacements so your old parts will be replaced with new ones.

So its never your old car. Let it go and move on with the new old civic (preferably non-accidental).

[anjan_c2007]

After going through your narrative and reading and knowing about your car and the fact that it had flipped three (or was it four?) times over, it is quite soothing to read that the car has thankfully saved all the lives. That's a great job done. From the outside looks, the car does not appear like it was involved in a very serious mishap. All the three pillars are intact. Despite all the goodness the car overtly shows, it should be however obvious that the car needs to be disposed of / salvaged merely due to the fact that it was involved in a mishap of this kind.

This is because today's cars of thhis kind are extremely sensitive and even a few microns missed during restoration/repair here and there would mildly to badly affect driving, handling, maintenance and ultimately the pleasure of ownership of the car. The steering, the four wheels/tyres and suspensions are the first to bear the brunt by manifestation of the internal injuries to the car, that may not be noticeable and/or beyond the capabilities of the best of repairers. There is nothing to beat the factory settings.

It will be evident that the buyer will do some patch-up work and he could attempt to resell it or else even scrap it and salvage the spares for resale. But you should nevertheless bid farewell to the car and go for another one.

[Pashin]

My 2 cents:

Thank the Car for the time spent and more importantly saving your life, and move on

The damage looks severe and no matter how much time and energy you spend, it won't be the same again.

[manchandap]

Originally Posted by for_cars1

Totally agree that Gender is irrelevant in this context, but what is generally a concern area is people insisting on taking turns driving one after the other on long journeys.

However good a driver may be, familiarity with driving a particular type of vehicle is very important, expecially about a vehicle's dimensions, handling, acceleration, braking effectiveness, steering response, visibility, clearance, ergonomics, blind spots. These aspects take good amount of time to get well acquainted with and being thorough about these aspects for particular type of vehicle especially on marathon journeys is a critical safety aspect.

You summed up what I was thinking all along reading this thread. My thoughts are:

Well as far as accident is concerned, it won't be correct to blame the driver or her capabilities. I was pondering it from a different perspective of: Driver's experience with a particular car:

Each car has it's own character. i.e. technically speaking the drive-ability, response to steering inputs, brake inputs, acceleration/pickup, clearance while overtaking etc etc. So, when the things are going hunk dory i.e. the driver has time to THINK and RESPONSE, a tough situation can be brought under control. However, in an emergency situation, the reflex action of the driver would kick in i.e. there is no THINK and RESPONSE. The reflex action is based on our earlier experiences/training.

So, here the driver's experience with a particular car comes handy since driver's reflex actions would be trained to handle that car: how much steering input or how much braking is required to stabilize an out of control car.

May be your friend was not much experienced with the Civic and reacted in a way that she would have done with her car. And Civic didn't liked that.

Due to this reason I hand over my car only when I have 200% confidence in the driver. I prefer to say NO without caring if it offends the other person. It's better to be safe than sorry.This is not to say that I am an expert driver but only to say that I know my car better than anyone else.

@aroopdas93,


Thank God that you and your friends were survived this horrific accident. At the same time, I feel sorry for your beloved beauty.

I suppose your core question has been answered by the experts and you have sufficient inputs to make a logical decision.

My advice would be to learn from this incident and move on.

[aroopdas93]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

I gather you've probably made up your mind to not repair this car - that'd be the wise thing to do post this accident. Glad you guys made it out safe.

Also, while you get the total loss settlement, do also get the car scrapped (RC cancelled) so that people, such as this salvage dealer, do not cheat some unsuspecting customer with a car that won't be 100% safe/reliable to drive.

Originally Posted by Biker Ram

Aroop, my first reaction when I saw the pics and the thread title was, why does anyone even want to consider repairing the car? Isn't it obvious? Anyway, I'm glad so many members have come up with factual explanations why it's best to just write it off and equally glad that you have made the right decision now.

Just one point to add, you mentioned possibility of the mechanic to procure your car if you are not happy after the repairs. Sure he would then sell it off to a customer who was looking to just save some money, or worse, to someone not knowledgeable and unsuspecting. That would have been a bad decision on your part. Best is to consider it totaled and just scrap it.


You mentioned you are bothered by the smallest of sounds in a car and that you are popular at the service center. Just a bit of advise if I may. There are things that should be repaired, there are things that one can live with, and there are things best ignored. A periodic service or a repair will NOT fix everything and make a car run like brand new forever. There is a reason cars, like almost everything else have an end of life. And they do deteriorate over time before becoming completely unusable. I hope this will help make your next car ownership a bit more enjoyable!

Originally Posted by Romeo_Mike

Sad to see the pictures of your car but glad that everyone came out unhurt. Agree with most here that it's time to let go of Kate and have nothing more to add on that front.

However, I'm a bit worried about the deal you described with the salvage dealer. He is going to rebuild the car anyway, whether you take it back or not. And most likely would succeed in selling it to someone else, since you have decided against taking it back. An undiscerning buyer might just walk into a trap here. At the risk of going OT - Isn't there any regulatory mechanism that should prevent a write-off from being on the road again?

Hi, thank you for taking the time to share your views on this thread. While, I have decided to move on and get a new car instead of getting Kate back to life due to (a) the compromised safety (I am immensely grateful to it for saving my and my friends lives (I can’t imagine living with the guilt)); and (b) the fear of having to ruin my experience with Kate (given the crazy work hours I have, this is what used to keep me sane) with the constant issues that may creep up every now and then. That said, I am equally disheartened to have the knowledge of the fact that my car which might not be a safe car anymore and yet would be passed on in the second-hand car market to an unsuspecting customer.

I was actually quite surprised when the salvage car buyer quoted 1 lakh to procure my car, in my estimation for a car which needed an investment of 10.75 lakhs to fix (which can at the best demand a price of 4.5 lakhs in the second hand car market) should have been sold at the scarp value of the metal (I though people would be mad to pay over 20k for my car). But the salvage car buyer from the very beginning was determined about re-building the car (even before I had explored the opportunity to fix Kate) as a matter of fact he only asked me if I would like to retain the car with me. For the lack of regulations/guidelines on the subject matter I don’t think I am in a position to stop him from doing that.

Even if I were to not sell my car to this particular salvage car dealer, there a lot of other people who’d have loved to fix the car (I still keep getting calls from salvage car buyers who’d like to fix my car and sell it in the second hand market).

I honestly also believe that people need to really careful/smart about procuring a second hand car as the second hand car market is predominantly driven by the principles of ‘caveat emptor’, I mean if you see a 9 year old Civic listed for 1.5 to 2.5 lakhs, there’s already something really wrong about it, everyone would like to sell their possessions with the maximum returns and no one’s here to do good to strangers (except for people who believe and implement the principles of Karma in their lives). There’s no scope for unsuspecting customers to encounter any good in the second hand car market. That is why I always keep telling my friends not to buy a second hand car unless (a) they have investigated enough about the car (I took 6 months to get the right match); (b) take professional help and when I say it, I mean authorised showrooms and service centres who specifically offer a package to get a full body check-up of a car. Even though they can expensive, always get it done.

Originally Posted by for_cars1

Totally agree that Gender is irrelevant in this context, but what is generally a concern area is people insisting on taking turns driving one after the other on long journeys.

Originally Posted by manchandap

You summed up what I was thinking all along reading this thread. My thoughts are:

Well as far as accident is concerned, it won't be correct to blame the driver or her capabilities. I was pondering it from a different perspective of: Driver's experience with a particular car:
.

In the hindsight, I completely agree with the two of you. I firmly believe I could have saved the car from at least flipping if I was at the wheel. This is a learning I would take from the whole experience.

[theMandarin]

Originally Posted by aroopdas93

That said, I am equally disheartened to have the knowledge of the fact that my car which might not be a safe car anymore and yet would be passed on in the second-hand car market to an unsuspecting customer.

Hi @aroopdas93,

I'm not sure if it has already been discussed but i wanted to draw your attention to this thread: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...oss-claim.html (The tale of a Total Loss Claim)

It documents how a member was able to get his car's registration cancelled when he had to go for a total-loss claim.

I think having the RC cancelled will disincentivize anyone planning on repairing and selling this car and would also be helpful for you to get a refund on your road tax.

Do keep in mind though that it was a long struggle to go by the book.

Wishing you all the best in your next car search.