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New Mahindra Thar accident, underbody damage; Gearbox changed

Boy, little did I know that the problem starts now. There were 3 major concerns that bothered me.

BHPian rakshith2929 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hi Team-BHP, it’s my first thread here, and it's quite unfortunate to be of my Thar’s accident, which was just 1 month old.

The accident took place on 28th March in the outskirts of Hyderabad in Vikarabad, where my friends and I had just completed an Easy-Moderate trail of off-roading. It was on our return home on the highway when the accident took place. It was a single lane highway and a truck carrying heavy stones had just dropped one right in front of me. I couldn’t swerve right as there was oncoming traffic and I couldn’t swerve left as there was a barren land with trees surrounding, so in that second, my instinct was to go over the rock and brake as hard as I can. The stone being a big one, had shattered my underbody including my AT gearbox. There was gearbox fluid leaking all over along with power steering oil too. Right after the accident happened, I immediately switched off the engine, and my friends and I started assessing the damage and were planning on what to do next. The most sensible plan was to call the Flatbed which arrived after 3 hours of the accident and get the car towed to the service center in LB Nagar, Hyderabad of VVC Motors.

Boy, little did I know that the problem starts now. There were 3 major concerns that bothered me:

  • My Thar’s Temporary Registration had expired, so there would be an obvious problem claiming insurance
  • While negotiating for insurance from 94,000 to 55,000, I did not know that the dealer had removed the add-on of “Engine cover”, and it was my lack of knowledge that led to the negligence.
  • My Thar had a modified grille and bumper and we know how insurance companies frown on them.

The day after the accident, I visited the VVC showroom to talk to the dealer and tell him about the accident and persuaded him to help me in the insurance process as I had zero knowledge about it but it was now my responsibility to make sure I get the insurance claim. We got a call from the service center saying the damage was very extensive and heavy and insurance claim would be difficult owing to my expired Temporary Registration and No engine cover.

The next stop was at the service center in LB Nagar, where they estimated damage to be Rs. 4 lakhs, which includes the replacement of AT gearbox and the transfer case, and the exhaust.

Here are some pictures of the Underbody damage:

On the same day, an insurance claim was filed and my surveyor was allotted after 2 days.

The dealership provided me insurance from Liberty Insurance Company and after talking to the surveyor after his inspection, I requested him to make sure the insurance claim goes through as the bill was very expensive. After about 10 days, the surveyor called me and said the insurance claim had gone through and my gearbox would be covered under the claim but as I had no Engine cover and an Expired TR, he said there would definitely be deductibles of around 15% of the entire bill. After several calls and emails to Mahindra, about the delay of service to my Thar, it was on 16th April 2021 that the parts of my Thar were finally ordered after a minor miscommunication between the service center and surveyor regarding the approval letter which was later resolved through a conference call. As Maharashtra was under lockdown, there was a delay in getting the parts from the Nashik plant but it eventually arrived on 30th April.

As the service center started the work, they had noticed that the gearbox was not fitting properly due to a minor underbody frame damage, which was then fixed with denting and the Gearbox and other parts were at last fixed by 6th May. The service center then took the car for a test run for about 40 kilometers that day and told me the car had no problems whatsoever, I was called for the test drive the next day which went on for about 20 kilometers. I was most worried about the alignment issues of the car as there was minor frame damage to the underbody, but there seemed to be none. The car was then tested in 4H and 4L and everything was just as good as new.

The service center then lifted the car and explained to me how lucky I was to get in an accident that didn’t write off the car. The stone damaged the underbody three times:

  • The first impact was on the steel skid plate which I installed from Bimbra 4x4, which prevented the car’s frame and the radiator from being damaged.
  • The second impact was on the gearbox which completely shattered it.
  • The third impact was on the exhaust, from which it deflected and exited from the right of the car. If the stone had not deflected to the right, it would’ve damaged the rear differential and the axles which would’ve resulted in my car being a total loss.

I took the delivery of my Thar on the 14th of May from the service center where the invoice and my coverage were finally handed to me. The total bill came up to Rs. 4.10 lakhs and insurance covered Rs. 3.32 lakhs, so I was left to pay Rs. 78,000 which is an 81% claim that I had received. The 78,000 may seem like a lot, but considering the situation I was in with No Engine cover and an expired TR, it seemed like I was in luck to not pay Rs. 4.1 lakhs entirely.

The service center of VVC motors, LB Nagar has been really helpful and they always gave me timely updates about the car and took care of it as their own. I appreciate their work and they also told me that my Thar was probably the first one to have it's AT gearbox replaced in the country.

I have driven the car for 100 kilometers now, and there has been no issue whatsoever and the Thar is performing as well as new. It was unfortunate that my Thar had to spend more time at the service center than with me after delivery, but in the end, after a long wait of 45 days, my Thar was back to me to in all its glory.

To all the Thar owners out there, please install as much underbody protection as you can, as these damages can cause a big hole in the pocket and may even cause permanent, irreversible damage to the car.

On a lighter note, here are some pictures of my Red Rage diesel automatic convertible Thar, A Punk’n’Orange metallic Jeep wrangler Rubicon (1/2 in the country), and a Napoli Black diesel automatic hardtop Thar that went off-roading before the accident took place.

Here's what BHPian VKumar had to say on the matter:

Well, that's serious. Glad that the vehicle is back to normal and no safety hazard was experienced by the occupants too.

Every event follows a lesson, and here are a few things to consider:

  • Self Registration: If one has to get it done, it shall be done asap
  • Insurance isn't something where you are supposed to save every single penny. Better cover the larger ground. 15%, as paid by OP, is still a number big enough!

That said, I always make sure that the insurance has:

Zero Dep: It saves you from a lot of hassle

Cashless settlement: Paying from your pocket and then getting it properly compensated from insurer is also a hassle in itself. Hence, I always buy from my dealer only, it costs hardly 1,000 bucks more, at times they even match the quote. But claim settlement is a cakewalk there. In fact, in one claim (August 2020) the surveyor of Reliance was trying to act smug, the service station's insurance manager clearly told him that if his acts affect their relationship with their customers, it will affect the relationship of service station with Reliance too - claim passed within minutes. In the matters of solicitation, it is always important to have the party with arm twisting capability on your side. In the above case, the OP was simply left on the mercy of the insurer by the service station - that is also shocking to me.

RSA: I say this, most most important, else the amount you pay for towing is way higher than the amount you pay for repair. If the car is from these manufacturers like Ford, VW, in budget category or any premium brands; just take the RSA from your manufacturer too, as a safety cover - insurance RSA won't ferry you for more than 50 kms for free. The manufacturer's RSA will tow your car free of cost irrespective of distance. Once we had to get a Skoda Yeti towed all the way from Kalpa to Chandigarh, the owner had no RSA, the bill was eye watering high!

Engine Protect: I believe that the insurer has pulled a fast one here. The damage to oil sump etc is covered in every insurance, I mean 'every' insurance, in case of an underbody hit. Engine protect mainly helps in cases like the damage to the internal parts of engine.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

 
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