1500 kms of city driving completed.
Nothing extraordinary except for me getting F1esque behind the wheel sometimes.
For Bangaloreans, those who know.
The place where the Bannerghatta Road begins after the graveyard, there is a steep right curve. Managed to take it at 80 kmph. The car felt planted as ever. Had a scary experience taking the same corner on a Santro at 50 a few months back
All was going fine except for the fact that the horrid city traffic wasnt letting me see more than 14 kmpl on the display.Then disaster struck yesterday.
I had to treat my team for a lunch at MTR. With the NIMHANS route always choc-a-bloc with traffic, I decided to take the Wilson Garden route.From Double Road,I took a bylane to reach the Urvashi Theater road. Big Mistake. The road was uphill and downhill. At one point, right after the crest, on the right was a half-man sized hole, thanks to BBMP!!
Since, its absolutely not visible from the driver seat, my right wheel went pop into it with a thud.And then there was horrible vibration in the car. With the help of fellow onlookers (since this was a small junction, I had managed to block the traffic), I managed to get the car out.But there was the horrid vibrations. Felt like something must have given way in the underbody.No visual marks though thankfully. Drove it to MTR and called for the tow van.
The first sign of relief when I didnt find any oil marks below the car.
Got it towed to Concorde, my heart still in my mouth.(I have witnessed how much an underbody damage might cost!!).
Thanks to the Concorde guys & specially Manjunath again. They promptly receive me, did a quick check and put it up on the ramp.
Now came the best part. The entire engine compartment was covered with a thick metal sheet along with a separate metal beam. Now thats what I call protection. Then entire fuel lines were covered with separate covers.
The metal sheet had got bent due to impact. This was touching the engine compartment. The engine vibes were transferred to the body and thus the vibrations. The plates were removed, hammered and put back.Voila, the car is smooth as ever. No vibes.no nothing!(Sorry, exhausted my smilies).lol
Quite a few people have complained about Concorde guys.However, my personal experience has always been quite different. I have always been greeted by almost everyone at the showroom. They help me promptly. Always have time to share experiences and jokes with them.And they dont feel like the gelled hair salesmen!
Yeah, some of the sales guys are a little inexperienced.But they are good enough for a regular customer. For the car afficianado, the customer always know all the details in advance. There is a hint of sadism when I see people try to harass the sales folks with answers they already know.Not everyone is supposed to know everything and everyone has a learning curve. Its like the teacher badgering the weak students in the class.
I have been underneath our good old Ambies( 3 of them at any time), all greased up and fouling with nuts and bolts since I was 14. And with my interests in cars and engineering background, its obvious that I have a much deeper knowlegde than some googlers.I personally feel that these sales guys could do with a break too.
Oh! btw.When I checked the underbody of the car, i found that it was completely coated with a rubberised anti-rust soln. Now I feel that every cent I have spent is worth much more.(no smilies again )