[mukundz]

This incident occurred a couple of weeks back when I was returning from work with a friend on Outer ring road. I couldn't post this back then since I just got my membership approved a few days ago!


We were on Nagawara flyover headed towards Hebbal around 5:30 in the morning and I had overtaken a truck from the right when all of a sudden out of nowhere, a sudden flash of metal and lights, a crashing sound and immediately a cloud of debris and dust flying into our path. My immediate instinct was to swerve to the left to avoid the unknown but I realized the truck I had just barely completed overtaking was still on my left and I hit the brakes instead. A louder deafening crash and it felt just the way you crash and go flying down from your bike but only it was my car sliding down the flyover on its knee. Once we came to a stop, I noticed the car was still idling (I guess I held down the clutch with the brakes) and I immediately switched everything off. My first concern was to make sure no one was hurt (thanks to the seatbelts) and we got out of the car to figure out what hit us.

Turns out a container truck speeding from the other side of the flyover lost control and hit the huge concrete slabs temporarily dividing the flyover. Since this happened just as we were reaching the spot, the impact sent 4-5 of those slabs flying at us. What happened in the next couple of seconds was purely Newton's laws of motion and uncontrollable (Well partly controlled since I still tried to hold the steering tight from crashing into the divider further down). The truck guy had already managed reversing and fleeing with his truck within seconds of us getting out of the car.





I assessed the immediately visible damage in the front and it initially didn't seem much. Just a broken bumper and fog lamp and the radiator was sure damaged since the coolant was merrily pouring out. We called a tow truck and tried clearing a path for a vehicles behind us by pushing the car to the left which was when I realized the right wheel and rim were twisted along with the suspension. The tow truck took half an hour to reach us by which time we managed to clear one of the blocks that had flown to the other side of the road and vehicles dangerously braking or swerving to avoid it. The rest of the stones were too heavy for us to move and I just setup my warning triangle ahead of them.

Damages to the car:







The tow truck arrived and 10 minutes later after negotiating on the amount (Rs. 1900) we were on our way to Metro Ford at Hesarghatta road since most Metro Ford's body work happens there. The security at the gate confirmed that the vehicle was not in a drivable condition and asked us to have it placed in the yard. The place was more like a Ford and Volkswagen graveyard where brave cars come to their final resting place. During that time we noticed that the suspension was bent on the right and the suspension lower arm was cut. The Ford service rep came shortly and took down the details and after an hour of insurance paper work (Which was going to be the beginning of my next nightmare) we left homewards since there was not much they could do on a weekend.

More pics after placing the car in the yard:






The insurance surveyor checked the vehicle on Monday and the next day I received the pre-estimate as 1.3L which included 94K in parts and 35K as labor! The service advisor mentioned that it might go higher since they haven't put the vehicle on the ramp yet. I have attached the estimation below. I still wasn't worried much since barely 10 days ago I had renewed my insurance with Royal Sundaram and this time I had paid the extra and opted for the zero dep policy.

5054parts_Estimate.pdf
5054_labour.xls

Since the service advisor mentioned that they were waiting for the insurance approval to start, I called the surveyor and received a shock. He mentioned that it will take a couple more days since they were also considering constructive total loss as an option and were waiting for quotes. I argued that CTL is considered only when the repair cost exceeds 70% of my IDV which was 2.9L and he asked me to talk to his manager. His "Manager" told me blankly over the phone "CTL is completely at the discretion of the Insurance Company". I had taken insurance for my car from these people, not written its ownership over to them! I have done everything I could to maintain the car the way it was and even if they were ready to pay me the entire IDV I'd choose the car unless they gave me a strong reason not to! Furthermore the car has grown to feel like another member of the family.

Finally after another 15 minutes of arguing he agreed to give the approval to have the vehicle moved to a ramp to check the actual damage. I made sure I was there the next day while they finally moved my car out of that morbid yard and onto the service ramp. I met one of the workshop supervisors, Babu who was our first ray of hope that the vehicle would make it alive! He quickly checked and dismissed my worry of having the vehicle written off mentioning the damages were nothing to worry about. Here's the list of the parts which were damaged and the insurance surveyor had immediately signed the approval to start work on:

1) RENEW FRONT BUMPER & PAINTING
2) RENEW RH HEAD LAMP
3) RENEW RH FOG LAMP
4) RENEW RH SUSPENSSION
5) RENEW RH WHEEL RIM
6) RENEW CROSS MEMBER ASSY
7) RENEW RADITOR,CONDENSER & FAN MOTOR
8) RENEW A/C HOSE
9) REPAIR RH FENDER & PAINTING
10 ) RENEW CROSS BAR

CHECK & REVERT TO INS CO

1) RENEW RH FRONT TYRE
2) RENEW RH CHASSIS

He mentioned that it would take 15 working days and I left finally feeling at peace! A few days later I rechecked with the service advisor and he mentioned that two more parts, the rotor (I think he was referring to the brake disk?) and a knuckle had to be replaced too and the fender couldn't be straightened and they had to replace the right fender. He still couldn't provide me with further information (I am not the happiest with the attitude of the service advisor when it comes to clear information. Or maybe I've annoyed him too much requesting for updates often.

20/08- Finally took delivery of the car!

The whole process took a few trips back and forth to the service station to check on updates and suggest changes. All along the process I am extremely grateful to Babu from the Metro Ford SA for patiently answering all my queries and ensuring all my requests were met. He also assured me that the tyres had not been damaged and can continue to be safely used since it lost pressure only due to the bent rim. The car was ready by the 14th except for a few minor stuff such as the Chrome grill, wheel well cover, etc. But due to the long weekend and time taken by insurance when they started processing the claim on Monday, I finally received the car on Wednesday. Actually even on the 19th they hadn't received stocks of the chrome grill yet. Me as impatient as I am, went to Cauvery Ford and bought the part for 650/-.
The final bill came to around Rs.1.13L and Insurance covered Rs. 1.02L. The rest Rs.11,200 was out of my pocket.

5054.PDF
Insurance_Liability.pdf

Finally back at the wheel:



I was relieved to notice that the car still drove the same way it used to! But I guess just a normal drive within the city roads wasn't enough to satisfy my doubts. I managed to wake up early on Friday and left home by 05:30 AM headed towards my favourite local test track (NH4).



After ensuring that the vehicle remained stable at around 80 and didn't have any alignment issues, I floored the accelerator to ensure it could handle the speeds it was used to earlier. I felt that with adequate testing, the car remained stable at highway speeds. (Obviously I ensured all safety parameters were met including long stretch of roads). I am thrilled to report that I have absolutely no issues with the car at the moment including any rattles which I was worried about. The car continues to remain well planted at high speeds and is able to take curves at ease. Looking forward to years ahead of happy motoring with this one!

And finally the car:

Before:



And wait for it............

A much more bolder and aggressive after look:







Yep, you guessed it right. I had them upgrade the headlamps and the front bumper to the new Figo's design. I had to pay for the Left headlamp which was around 2.5K out of the 11K I finally paid. The throw is pretty good too (I'm still using Osram Night breakers). In case anyone is looking for getting the same done on their 1st Gen Figos, should cost you around 14-15K which requires you to replace the Front bumper, Head lamps (they don't fit in the old bumper), Fog lamp bezels, the Ford logo (they mentioned they can't use the old one since its stuck to the old bumper) and the Chrome grill.

I am extremely grateful to everyone in this forum for all the advice and help rendered. Wish you all a happy and safe motoring!

[n_aditya]

Note from Support - Moving thread to the public forum.

Sad to read about your accident and hope everything works out and you get the car back in pristine shape. All the best.

[ajaypjayaraj]

Sorry to see your loss. If I'm not mistaken CTL is considered only beyond 75% of IDV. It should be mentioned in your policy document.

Hope all goes well and you get your ride back in good shape. Good luck.

[Dry Ice]

Sorry to read about the accident. Hope you get it back in top shape.

About the total loss, you should have calmly asked him by when should you expect the 2.9 lakh ruppee cheque. I think he was just trying to delay the work.

[arnabchak]

Ford spares and labour cost is very high.
This just gives further proof to that.

My neighbours stationary Figo Titanium got hit by a Maruti 800. The bonnet dent, Front Bumber, LHS Fender Dent and repainting cost him Rs. 84,000/-++.

Got 75% through the insurance and the balance through self funding.

Pls. recheck your quotes as Ford ASC tend to inflate the bill with items which may not be required for replacement.

Experience of owning and maintaining a Ford earlier made me wiser...

[mukundz]

Originally Posted by ajaypjayaraj

Sorry to see your loss. If I'm not mistaken CTL is considered only beyond 75% of IDV. It should be mentioned in your policy document.

Hope all goes well and you get your ride back in good shape. Good luck.

Thanks, I just checked that and its actually 75% and not 70%. And now that the work has started on the car I don't think the insurance company would back out and again consider that option.

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

Sorry to read about the accident. Hope you get it back in top shape.

About the total loss, you should have calmly asked him by when should you expect the 2.9 lakh ruppee cheque. I think he was just trying to delay the work.

Truth is I was worried that they would agree for it. Just last year I came across a Titanium variant at a local used car showroom with a friend. It appeared to be in a completely pristine condition with a tempting price tag that we almost bought it. Luckily, we got it checked at Cauvery Ford and turns out the vehicle was written off by insurance as TCL!

I wonder what tales the insurance people spun to get the owner of that car to part with it.

Originally Posted by arnabchak

Ford spares and labour cost is very high.
This just gives further proof to that.

My neighbours stationary Figo Titanium got hit by a Maruti 800. The bonnet dent, Front Bumber, LHS Fender Dent and repainting cost him Rs. 84,000/-++.

Got 75% through the insurance and the balance through self funding.

Pls. recheck your quotes as Ford ASC tend to inflate the bill with items which may not be required for replacement.

Experience of owning and maintaining a Ford earlier made me wiser...

Thanks for your input Arnab. I got the quote rechecked for the same parts at a different Ford body shop and it came to about the same total. A few months earlier I had come across the repair manual on a thread on this forum. Turns out Ford doesn't really repair any damaged part and most of the instructions recommend replace.

However, I have no regrets choosing a Ford and especially a Figo. Especially the way the car took the impact without us feeling anything but the vehicle coming to a sudden stop tells it all.

So far my expenditures on the car have been pretty much minimal and even my 30K service bill was within 3.5K. I agree the mileage isn't great (I'm getting about 11-12 kmpl in city), nothing in the segment beats the driving experience and satisfaction of owning this car!

[aneezan]

Very sorry to hear about this incident. Hope you get your car back soon. Did you capture any shots of the truck?

[mukundz]

Originally Posted by aneezan

Very sorry to hear about this incident. Hope you get your car back soon. Did you capture any shots of the truck?

Unfortunately no! :(

The truck sped away immediately after reversing even as we were getting off the car and since we were down the flyover with the truck on the other side nothing we could do.

[batterylow]

Originally Posted by aneezan

Did you capture any shots of the truck?

I did OP did not, he mentions the truck fleeing the scene pronto.

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by mukundz

By the way, could anyone clarify if its true that insurance companies can still consider CTL even if the repair estimate didn't really reach 70% of the IDV?? Also the tyre isn't going to be replaced and they are retaining it. Would this be something I need to be concerned about in future? I just recently upgraded all 4 tyres to Yokohama Earth 1s and they have barely clocked 2000 kms since.

A very unfortunate incident. Hope you will get the car in good condition.

Regarding total loss, yes if the repair cost is more than 75% of the IDV then they will consider it as a total loss. But there is something else called Salvage loss.

Few months back I met with a accident and in my case, the IDV was 5.05L and the estimated repair cost was 2.67L.
Since the estimated cost was more than 40% of the IDV, they had the rights to put the car for auction and in my case they got a buyer for 3.2L in the auction.

Now, 5.05L - 3.2L = 1.85L(this is way less than the repair cost of 2.67L). This means they have the rights to choose the lowest amount to settle the payment.
After coming down to the above number(1.85L), insurance company had two option,

1) Paying me 5.05L(3.2L from buyer and 1.85L by the company)
2) They will pay me 1.85L and I will have to pay the remaining amount to repair the car which comes close to a lakh for me.

So, instead of 2.67L repair cost, they had to pay 1.85L only which is the lowest.

Now, if the highest bid was only 2.2L, then it would have been 5.05L - 2.2L = 2.85L, in this case 2.67 is lowest and they might have agreed to go ahead with the repair of the car.

I went with option 1 because I was getting 5.05L for a 75K Kms run car. Repairing it means it will be very difficult for me to sell at a later stage as it will be considered as a accident car. Plus airbag also required replacement. You can find more details here,

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...d-my-life.html

In your case they might have tried the Salvage loss thing but may be they didn't get a buyer to their expectation.

[mukundz]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

A very unfortunate incident. Hope you will get the car in good condition.

I went with option 1 because I was getting 5.05L for a 75K Kms run car. Repairing it means it will be very difficult for me to sell at a later stage as it will be considered as a accident car. Plus airbag also required replacement. You can find more details here,

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...d-my-life.html

In your case they might have tried the Salvage loss thing but may be they didn't get a buyer to their expectation.

I just went through your thread and I'm glad you escaped unhurt from an accident like that!

Thanks for the information regarding Salvage loss. I was puzzled about it until I read your post now. Since I haven't come across the Salvage loss clause much and I also see that you too had insurance from Royal Sundaram, is this something followed only by them? But still I wish they had mentioned that information on the terms and conditions so that as consumers we know that we are agreeing to. In some scenarios like mine, this wouldn't really be the best feasible option since even if I were getting the full IDV, I'd be losing out an otherwise well maintained car and I'd still have to shell out more from my end to buy something similar in the used car market.

Furthermore, I had just recently spent on a brand new set of tyres and a few other accessories. I'd also have to shell out on the towing, parking and estimation charges to Ford.

Speaking about tyres, any suggestions if it would be safe to retain that tyre? The service rep says its not damaged and will be retained but I wouldn't want to take a risk even if there was a remote chance that the tyre has some damage that could cause harm later.

[arnabchak]

Originally Posted by mukundz

Thanks, I just checked that and its actually 75% and not 70%. And now that the work has started on the car I don't think the insurance company would back out and again consider that option.
........

However, I have no regrets choosing a Ford and especially a Figo. Especially the way the car took the impact without us feeling anything but the vehicle coming to a sudden stop tells it all.

So far my expenditures on the car have been pretty much minimal and even my 30K service bill was within 3.5K.

We just sincerely hope and pray that the car is back on track as fast and as good as possible.

Happy that you are a satisfied Figo customer and sincerely hope that it gives you many more trouble free miles.

From the accident pics, the car is very much within the purview of a complete repair and since other than the suspension, most of the other damages are superficial and limited the bumper et all, I am confident that your Figo will come out as good as new from the ASC.

Just press your insurance providers to give you the maximum payout possible.

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by mukundz

I just went through your thread and I'm glad you escaped unhurt from an accident like that!

Thanks mate!

Thanks for the information regarding Salvage loss. I was puzzled about it until I read your post now. Since I haven't come across the Salvage loss clause much and I also see that you too had insurance from Royal Sundaram, is this something followed only by them? But still I wish they had mentioned that information on the terms and conditions so that as consumers we know that we are agreeing to.

As far as I know this is followed by all the private insurance companies. And yes this is not mentioned in the policy. There is also a chance that they can hold hands with the service center and inflate the repair cost to try out the salvage loss option. They may succeed if the model of the car has good resale value. End of day their objective would be to pay the lowest possible.

In some scenarios like mine, this wouldn't really be the best feasible option since even if I were getting the full IDV, I'd be losing out an otherwise well maintained car and I'd still have to shell out more from my end to buy something similar in the used car market.

I understand your feeling. It was one of the toughest decision for me to let the car go this way

Speaking about tyres, any suggestions if it would be safe to retain that tyre? The service rep says its not damaged and will be retained but I wouldn't want to take a risk even if there was a remote chance that the tyre has some damage that could cause harm later.

IF there is no crack at all then you can use it. But I would advise you to check with a tyre shop guy or may be you can check with Nikhilb2008.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/bangal...bangalore.html

[Gannu_1]

Really sorry to hear about your predicament. I sincerely hope you get the car back on road in good shape.



But those concrete divider blocks on the road have left me speechless! Are they supposed to be left like that? I thought they were properly secured to the road. If it moves when a heavy vehicle hits, this will be disastrous when a vehicle from the opposite lane descends the flyover at a high speed. Not to mention, the vehicles that would be trailing this vehicle from behind.

[hrman]

Sorry to hear about the accident. Somehow, when driving down that flyover for the past few days I was thinking the loose concrete dividers were a disaster waiting to happen, and I see your post now.

That flyover is not fit for having two opposite lanes. It is 1.5 and 1.5 lanes separated by temporary dividers, which is dangerous by any means.

Hope your car will come out unscathed and will be restored to pristine condition soon.
And for the benefit of other drivers, hope the BBMP rectifies that flyover by closing one lane till the new flyover is completed.