[agambhandari]

Are you OK with the fit and finish of the seat covers? I too have cheap(cost 2K only) art leather seat covers in my car, but the fitting and finish is much better. How much did you pay?

[RavenAvi]

Originally Posted by Caffeinated

Seat covers are looking good; however the fitting in the head-rests looks a bit loose. Which model of AutoForm is this?

And the Steering cover looks decent with the silver ring, but it is of the slip-on variety. I had a similar one in my old car, and have experienced it slipping sometimes after completing a tight turn. So, in my new car I got the steering cover of the stitched variety. No chance of slipping now, and grip is awesome as well for. Cost me ~Rs 300. (Pics from web : http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/beautyequation/P1100899.JPG)

The Autoform ones I had chosen from my local guy turned out to have some loose stitches in the front seat covers. So I went for MGA and chose a matching all-black one. It's of decent quality and will have to do for now.

And that's the best fitting the "official" MGA accessory guy could manage. So much for dealership fittings.

The steering cover is art leather and is a very tight fit, giving a pretty nice grip as well. No chance of slipping, at least for the moment.

Originally Posted by n_aditya

Nicely done seats, Avi. I was planning on leather/art leather seat covers but wondering about the heat in summers.

The AC of the Ritz is pretty powerful and a chiller, Aditya. The cabin stays very cool. You can go for leather/art leather covers without fear. Just remember to park in the shade during summers, as much as you can.

Originally Posted by agambhandari

Are you OK with the fit and finish of the seat covers? I too have cheap(cost 2K only) art leather seat covers in my car, but the fitting and finish is much better. How much did you pay?

No, I am not. I knew my accessory guy would have done a better job but he didn't have any other cheaper matching covers with him, other than the Autoform all-black which I had chosen (which turned out to have some loose stitching). But that's the best the "official" MGA accessory guy could do - guess we have to live with it.

Paid 3950/- for the covers, and 4970/- for the Central Locking.


Like I said in my opening post - Sylver is the workhorse for us. So we are not spending too much on her by way of accessories.

Besides, Dad prefers the inside of his cars as clean and OEM as possible. He doesn't even like the MTX tweeters jutting out on both sides of the inner windshield/top of the dashboard. For the record, he didn't want the central locking, the Alpine HU, speakers, seat covers, nothing. These were done at my insistence. No more spending on Sylver, that's his strict order.

Now, I have handed over Sylver to him (she's crossed 1000 kms so that's enough breaking-in of the engine, according to him) for his primary use, and I have gone back to my Silver Pegasus.

One final snap which I had forgotten to add yesterday - the third button under the steering wheel, which was added from out of the Central Locking box.

It's the Car Alarm button, first from the left. Comes as OEM in the ZXI/ZDI.

[RavenAvi]

First Accident:-

Sylver met with a semi-serious accident today. Luckily Dad, who was driving, escaped unhurt.

He was returning home from the bank when a CRPF truck, which was just in front of him in a traffic jam, suddenly started reversing in some speed and, despite his blowing the horn continuously and some observers yelling that he was about to crash into our Ritzy, rammed Sylver from her driver-side front and tore her front grille/bumper into two pieces. The driver side headlight unit fell out completely detached, it's plastic straps/locks broken. The driver side fog lamp got destroyed as well. Luckily the radiator, engine and the chassis part of that side of the car didn't suffer much, except for some scratches.

The car panel section on the right, just in front of the driver door, needs some serious denting and painting jobs. Sylver will need a new grille/front bumper (since it's a whole complete unit) and new front headlight and front fog light.

Approximate valuation of the damages for now by the Maruti guys = 27,000/-. Exact amount to be known when the valuator arrives tomorrow.

The incident happened at around 12 PM today. Dad called me from the spot and he was barely able to talk, he was so much in shock. I jumped into Pegasus without a second's hesitation and called up a colleague from office while driving and immediately reached the accident spot, which is almost dead-center of the city, just in front of the Yamaha showroom.

Dad was completely shaken and by the time I reached the scene, his hands and legs were shaking badly. Apparently the driver of the CRPF truck came down and walked over to Dad, and instead of apologising, had the extremely rude nerve to give Dad a blast, commenting "Jo karna hai kar lo, truck number bhi note kar lo, mai nahi darta" (translated - "Do whatever you can in your power, you can even note down the truck number, I am not afraid") and left the scene.

None of the watching public/passers-by bothered to get involved. Some tsk-tsked and offered their sympathies before going their ways, leaving him alone in that spot with the wrecked Sylver till we reached the scene.

I reached the scene with my office colleague, and my father-in-law reached there as well on his Pleasure. I called the Maruti dealership to my SA, Dhananjay, and asked him if police complaint/FIR needed to be lodged for insurance claim. They said no need if nobody was hurt, and he immediately inquired about everything, and told me he was sending someone over. I asked everyone present if we should lodge an FIR, but my colleague and FIL voted against it, since it would only result in more hassle. Within 5 minutes, a Maruti SA (who was present in the nearby HDFC bank branch) reached the scene. He surveyed the damage, brought a couple of thick wires from the nearest welding shop and tied up the two parts of the damaged grille/front bumper together and helped Dad drive Sylver to the dealership.

We have cashless, Zero Dep & B2B insurance so claim won't be a problem, but the damage to a practically brand-new car is completely disheartening. Add to it, the sheer audacity of that CRPF fellow who was so rude that he came over to bad-mouth a senior citizen, retired, 65-year old old man who was already so badly shaken by the entire incident and by the damage inflicted to his new car.

Dad hasn't spoken much since the moment he returned home with me from the dealership. I can only imagine how badly hurt he must be feeling. His car getting damaged so badly AND that crude, foul-mouthed beast of a man yelling at him, as if it was DAD's fault, entirely.

I was visibly upset but kept my nerves cool. Barely 4 months old Sylver, 2100-ish KMS on the ODO, and the first sight of her damaged self from the distance made me hold my breath sharply and completely broke my heart. I couldn't even take any pics. I will see if I can muster enough strength to take some pics tomorrow. Sigh!

[RavenAvi]

The front, showing the clean front on the right and the damage on the left.



The point of impact of the truck's rear beam.



The damaged area - headlight popped out and fell on the road, fog lamp casing destroyed. Everything else thankfully intact.



The bumper tore open like a piece of paper.



The cross-section which was touching the road surface propped up by wires and attached.



The panel section just behind the driver side headlamp (in front of the driver door), which requires the denting and painting jobs.




I talked in detail with the dealership manager, and after deliberating with the Workshop Supervisor and the Customer Care Manager, told me that the valuator would be assigned by the insurance company's Raipur office (my insurance is with National Insurance through Maruti's Insurance) and he will come on Monday, take the pictures and do the evaluations and calculations. Since I have zero-dep, so claim won't be a problem.

The front panel (front bumper + grille) has been placed through order and will come directly from the factory, so it will take a good 10-12 days to reach here (maybe sooner, if we are in luck). The headlamp assembly is available so that's no problem.

Just went through n_aditya's latest update and I am impressed by those Osram headlamp bulbs and fog lamp bulbs. Definitely getting them for Sylver as well.

Hopefully everything gets sorted out in the next couple of weeks and Sylver is back in our garage, all fit and healthy again.

[Schoudhury]

Oh man , that is really bad .

Hopefully uncle is ok and not thinking about the incident anymore .
I had faced a exactly same stuff with my ritz , but in my case it was water tanker which ripped my bonnet , bumper etc .
You can check in my ownership thread .

I got my car back in 3 days flat .
Not sure how come MASS doesn't have a bumper in stock .

Don't worry , your car will be back as new .
But try to be there when the inspection happens to make sure they replace all the damaged stuff .


Cheers

[ampere]

The worst part is the person who did this walks away and that too with confidence. Not that I wanted to turn this into a rant but based on what you mention the guy seems to have no remorse for what he did neither fear of law.

Confidence of establishment backing?

[RavenAvi]

UPDATE:-

Finally Sylver is back home with us. She came home on the evening of May 23rd (Thursday), exactly 3 weeks after her accident.

The parts arrived here on the afternoon of 20th May (Monday) and they started the denting/painting work almost immediately. I got the door handles, mirrors and mudflaps painted in body color as well. Charges incurred for that was Rs. 2,000/-.

The explanation given for the delay was that the M.A.S.S. at Raipur collects all orders from the entire state and sends it as a bulk order to the Maruti plant, and which is then despatched back to them as a bulk order, so that they get some discounts on it. The person who does this (at the Raipur-end) was on holiday since his father had expired, so there was some communication problems & delay.

Dad and me reached the dealership at 5 PM to pick her up, and were informed that Sylver was all ready and sent to get top-washed (labour problems) before being delivered to us. We waited for a bit while the workshop manager talked to the insurance guy (at Raipur) about the charges in detail and then prepared the final bill.

We ended up paying Rs. 6,947/- overall for everything (including the body paint work I detailed above). Rest would be paid by the Insurance company. Considering the initial estimate and cost of expenses, we ended up paying 1/3rd of the total bill (I had to pull some strings), and got our work done in priority (again I had to pull some strings).

We took charge of Sylver, checked the headlamp/fog lamp beams for the synchronisation, and Dad climbed in.

Time to take the pics, and to return home.


One for the insurance people. Taken at the dealership.



Driving Sylver home through the city. (pic taken from my Pegasus)



Sylver looks spanking new!



Hard to tell anything happened to her!



Fit and finish = excellent.



The quality of the denting job is simply superb.





Perfect finish. Commendable work!



Door handles painted in body color.



ORVMs painted as well.



...and the mudflaps, too.




Thank you all for the kind wishes. Everything's okay now and Dad is finding his feet back to drive Sylver again. Granpa and grandkid are on a touring spree every morning since then. I can only imagine which parts of India they have already travelled to!

Ciao until the next update.

[ajay_satpute]

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

UPDATE:-

Finally Sylver is back home with us. She came home on the evening of May 23rd (Thursday), exactly 3 weeks after her accident.

Ciao until the next update.

Wow ! Really glad to see that the Sylver is back home as good as (probably better) she was before the sad incident. Good to hear that your father is also getting back to his usual and being on driving spree already.

My best wishes to you and your family.

Cheers !

[bhuvan_prasad]

Congratulations on getting your car back in tip-top shape. She looks as good as new. I also had the misfortune of having my car being dented up, and know how it feels, especially when it is no fault of yours.

The body-colour mud flaps will be cumbersome to maintain, as I have both black and body coloured ones on different cars, and speak from experience. Better keep the cleaning stuff ready

[ZMG]

Congratulations on getting the car back. Could you share the bill details? If you had zero percent depreciation, then shouldn't one be paying only the claim charges, ie 1200 bucks or around that?

[govigov]

Phew! the fit and finish as you said looks great. hard to tell that the bumper and head lamp was replaced. good job by your MASS.

[RavenAvi]

Originally Posted by ajay_satpute

Wow ! Really glad to see that the Sylver is back home as good as (probably better) she was before the sad incident. Good to hear that your father is also getting back to his usual and being on driving spree already.

My best wishes to you and your family.

Cheers !

Thanks, Ajay. Yes, it was a sad period while Sylver's place in our garage was empty. Now the whole family has cheered up. It's funny how the cars you buy suddenly turn into family members, and their absence is sorely missed.

Dad's loving it. He went out for a "short" drive 4 times today already. I can see him beaming every time he returns home.

Originally Posted by bhuvan_prasad

Congratulations on getting your car back in tip-top shape. She looks as good as new. I also had the misfortune of having my car being dented up, and know how it feels, especially when it is no fault of yours.

The body-colour mud flaps will be cumbersome to maintain, as I have both black and body coloured ones on different cars, and speak from experience. Better keep the cleaning stuff ready

Thanks, Bhuvan. Dad insisted we get the mudflaps done as well, so we did it. Now, over to him for maintenance!

Originally Posted by ZMG

Congratulations on getting the car back. Could you share the bill details? If you had zero percent depreciation, then shouldn't one be paying only the claim charges, ie 1200 bucks or around that?

Thanks, ZMG. I thought they gave me 0-dep, but it turns out that it wasn't available with them when I took the insurance (either that or they had forgotten to include it). Anyway, that was their excuse for which I was most unhappy with the Maruti Insurance guys. Sent an email to Maruti Customer Care about it as well. They told me to apply for it immediately and I did so. Let's see what Maruti CC replies to my email.

Originally Posted by govigov

Phew! the fit and finish as you said looks great. hard to tell that the bumper and head lamp was replaced. good job by your MASS.

Thanks, govigov. Impeccable work indeed.

[mkpiyengar]

Hey Avi,
Just saw your post. Sad to see the state of brand new car in that shape, but am happy that your dad was not hurt and safe.

Regarding the repair work, did they replace the whole panel ? I'm asking this because upto 6months any damage to the metal work is considered for replacement than repair.

Now a days courtesy in driving is fast disappearing and for ARMY/CRPF heavy vehicles, the less said the better. Here in Pune they drive as they own the road, with "NO OVERTAKING FROM LEFT" Written clearly at back and they would not budge from Right lane whatever you do. Might is right !!

Sylver looks wonderful, restored to her previous glory.

Cheers
MKP

[RavenAvi]

Got a set of MGA reverse sensors fitted into Sylver a few days back.

Apparently Dad was having some problem reversing and had touched a tree/pole while turning to one side. I was in favor of the camera but he wanted the sensors due to visibility issues, plus he has to squint to see the image from the camera (he does that every time he's in Pegasus).

Got them painted in body color as well. I had ordered the silver-colored ones but they sent the black-colored ones. There was no telling when the silver-colored ones would have arrived so went ahead with this. Cost = 2,850/-. Fitting charges were waived off.

The sensors in their original shade.



Wiring connected.



Work in progress.



Digital display mounted on dashboard on the driver's side.



Body colored paint job done.



A close-up of the display.



When starting up.



Starts beeping when rear object(s) is at a distance of 1.5 m (~5 ft). Bars are at blue.



Beeping increases in tone at distance of 1.0 m. Bars moved to green.



Display when rear object is at 0.5 m. Beeping furious now. Bars at yellow, bordering on red.



Display when rear object is at 0.3 m (~1 ft.). Bars fully lit, beeping is at one continuous beep, signaling "this is as far as you can go, now STOP!"

[Reinhard]

Hey good details about the reversing sensors.

And really glad (although a bit late at that!) to see Sylver back to her best glittering looks. Its really miraculous how those scars are removed - not covered - these days to perfection. Now just forget about the incident and enjoy the drive. Every time we think of these incidents, we feel sorrow - and rage at what we could/should have done at the scene otherwise.

The promptness shown by the MASS guys is worth mention. The CRPF fellow's behavior - lets say - not so rare.

Wish you & your dad - and of course, Sylver - unlimited safe & happy miles ahead.