[Mission_PGPX]

Dear All,
That moment which I wish no one encounters ever in life has come and gone in my life. My favourite car, the second love in my life had a bad day on Tuesday morning. While on the way to my office in baroda, this happened in a flash of a second. There are mainly two lanes on NE1 expressway on which i have been commuting since last 6 years now. The usual speeds are in tripple digits but not over 130. There is a small third emergency lane. So I was behind a creta in first lane about 80 m distance I remember. He slowed down so i also braked. Now instead of going all the way to creta and face hard braking, i decided to change to second lane. It was empty but not really. Alongwith me a hyundai i20, which was before that creta shifted to second lane and that guy came to stand still to save a dog. I had very little time to react and there was already a wagon R in third lane. So by the time i braked hard all three lanes were occupied and stand still. My poor car could not stop and picked the poor i20 to bang from behind. airbags opened, but my head didnt bang into it. I could practically see it open. Me and my colleague, both are fine, no injuries at all. No one injured in i20 as well.

We will talk separately about build quality of VW etc with other details. Thats not this thread is for. This is for the information and suggestion I need for further process.

INSURANCE CLAIM:
So i towed the car in flat bed to VW automark. submitted all documents and registered the claim. Now how many fortunate here are having zero dep insurance in 6th year for their car. Take a bow. Even I had. So i wasnt that

Now comes the surprise. If repair cost estimate reaches above 75% the insurance company will consider it a total loss. I never knew this. Now in 6th year the IDV is 7.5 lacs. Following parts are to be considered minimum as replacement:
Airbags (driver and passenger), dash board, bonnet, front bumper, headlights, right fender, radiator, intercooler, condenser, windshield. PLUS any additional damage that may come after starting the work.

The first hand repair estimate for above is around 5 lacs. I cant believe VW quotes airbags at 2.5 lacs and dashboard at 60K. That's loot. Anyway thats not the point. The surveyer completed the survey yesterday and asked VW to prepare the estimate. Today i got a call from surveyor. I have two options since repair estimate will reach close to 70% of IDV:
1) HDFC ergo will take the call for repair or total loss. Vehicle owner has no say on this. Is that correct? Can i be forced to accept total loss?

2) Emotional attachments aside, Should I accept total loss? What is experts advise based on pictures?

3) I have raised this car like a baby and when she is in her best of days to serve me, i dont want to loose her, like just now. I still feel i am not yet done with her. I still want to live with her. And specially after this incident, I feel if repaired i will now never think about selling her, since I believe i can keep her up well for another 5 years, she can serve her duties for my daughter and parents with a driver.
I am interested in Repair since the engine and chasis is fine. The alloys and tyres are all ok.

I spoke to the insurance surveyor and he said i can opt for cash loss. In this the car will be put for auction to arrive at a market value for auction and hdfc will pay the balance amount to me. I have to repair the car myself, whatever the expense occurs.

Now what should I do? I want to keep the car and repair it, just because chasis is fine or does it not look road worthy anymore?? Please provide your suggestion. I have to decide in a day. Incase there is any innovative approach it will be highly appreciated.

[ajmat]

Sorry for your loss

The first thing to ask - How do you know if your chassis is not bent?

• You stopped 80m from at least 100 km / hour. In terms of deceleration, the car endured 3 times the gravitational force according to my rusty physics calculations. This translates to a lot of force.
  
• Your windscreen cracks are due to torsional forces not impact.
  
• Your bonnet was the point of impact but the force was enough to trigger the airbag sensors.

[Waspune]

Sorry to hear that. 75% of IDV is around 5.6 lakhs. I can't think the repair cost to be like this after seeing the car's condition.

[Mission_PGPX]

Originally Posted by ajmat

Sorry for your loss

The first thing to ask - How do you know if your chassis is not bent?

• You stopped 80m from at least 100 km / hour. In terms of deceleration, the car endured 3 times the gravitational force according to my rusty physics calculations. This translates to a lot of force.
  
• Your windscreen cracks are due to torsional forces not impact.
  
• Your bonnet was the point of impact but the force was enough to trigger the airbag sensors.

Thanks Ajmat, for your quick response.

I dont know for 100% surety but i believe so. However, all your points are very right. Thanks for highlighting how that windshield broke. I was wondering that why it didnt crack inside and only outside. But please suggest me the solution. Do you believe with this kind of impact the chasis must have bent? Is there anyway to check physically? Do you recommend repair?

[condor]

An accident never feels good. Emotional attachment aside, I suggest to accept the proposed Total Loss.

The car has suffered damages, and a full recovery through repairs may not be possible. Suppose you get it repaired, and the car is not back to normal, then what ? You wont be able to sell the car easily, and you will be stuck with it. Almost anyone buying an accident car will want to see the repair bill.

Regarding the air-bags, yes - that is an expensive part.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by Mission_PGPX

Thanks Ajmat, for your quick response.

I dont know for 100% surety but i believe so. However, all your points are very right. Thanks for highlighting how that windshield broke. I was wondering that why it didnt crack inside and only outside. But please suggest me the solution. Do you believe with this kind of impact the chasis must have bent? Is there anyway to check physically? Do you recommend repair?

It needs to be put on a jig to be assessed. Sometimes, it can be pulled into place but it means removing the cross-members, even the engine. It happened to my Honda City after it hit the pavement. They pulled the front chassis back into shape and replaced the crossmember.

However, as I mentioned, your car bore the brunt of high deceleration.

[Mohan Mathew A]

Sorry for your loss. Good to know that all of you are unhurt.

It looks repairable. You should consider the cash loss option seriously. From whatever i could see it doesn't look like any major damage to chassis. Does the doors open smoothly, there might be some fender intrusion but apart from that, is it ok?

Why don't you ask VW to give a quick assessment on the chassis. I remember 'liketurtles' had a similar accident and he got it repaired. Pls take his opinion.

Also what happens to the insurance if you take the cashloss option. Will you be able to buy a comprehensive insurance after that or you will have to do with just 3rd party?

[Mission_PGPX]

Originally Posted by Mohan Mathew A

Sorry for your loss. Good to know that all of you are unhurt.

It looks repairable. You should consider the cash loss option seriously. From whatever i could see it doesn't look like any major damage to chassis. Does the doors open smoothly, there might be some fender intrusion but apart from that, is it ok?

Why don't you ask VW to give a quick assessment on the chassis. I remember 'liketurtles' had a similar accident and he got it repaired. Pls take his opinion.

Also what happens to the insurance if you take the cashloss option. Will you be able to buy a comprehensive insurance after that or you will have to do with just 3rd party?

Even to me it looks repairable. Doors open smoothly no intrusion from fender. However, VW just prepared the estimate and it is 8.38 lacs. Damn!! I am attaching the same.

regarding cash loss option, the existing policy ends after the payment for claim but i can buy a new policy, comprehensive.

[Downshift7]

Be wary of collusion between the service centre and insurance company. I have read of a doctor in Karnataka who had a harrowing time dealing with crooked service and insurance company whos modus operandi was to ensure the vehicle is deemed as total loss. The owner is paid a settlement amount and the insurance company (without cancelling the registration, by which you could get back remaining road tax paid of left over years) flips the car to a third party for a higher sum who repairs it and resells it to unknowing noob. This man in question dug deep into his contacts of people in high places , sued and actually won and got a better settlement amount from the company and also got the registration cancelled of the said totalled xuv . So please beware of the high costs quoted for repair .

[nirmaljusdoit]

Glad that you are safe and sound !

The estimate will always be on the higher side so as to estimate as many parts as possible . It is physically impossible to verify unless dismantled and seen what all is damaged and what requires replacement.

Points to keep in mind is that your car has crossed 6 years and the aging process is well underway. Germans are known to start throwing up problems in our environmental conditions and VW especially reliability has been a concern.

If you do decide to go ahead with repairs, also remember that VW after sales service is also a hit or miss and customer satisfaction for you might become another concern. Along with spares availability and the very real possibility of multiple phone calls and personal visits to ensure work is done to your satisfaction.

Your car is definitely repairable but there are the other factors to be taken into account as well. If I was in your situation i would rather take the total loss and walk away and get another car, just to avoid all the hassles and issues in future.

As condor very rightly pointed out, resale if you wish to sell down the road would be
made bit more difficult by this accident history.

[NPV]

With airbags deployed, the cost of repair is definitely going to be high. Also, structural/chassis damage may not be evident right now to the naked/untrained eye so do keep that in mind. Given this, I would think the total loss is a better option. Also, the insurance company should now pay you the IDV which is 7.5 lakh and you can cancel the registration and claim back the pro-rated balance road tax (15-6=9 years worth of road tax). So, do check how much more money you will be eligible to get.

As @Downshift7 has mentioned - Please do not get conned by the insurance surveyors - they may ask you to sign forms (form 29, 30) to enable them to sell the car in as-is condition to the buyers of scrapped cars (and the surveyors will claim road tax refund after transferring the vehicle to themselves or their assignees and then canceling the registration) or they may even have the car repaired and sell it off to some unsuspecting buyer. This thread will be a good read to get more details of such insurance scams - here (The tale of a Total Loss Claim)

[AYP]

It is good to know that you are safe. I have been in a similar situation before. My situation though was better/worse than you in the sense that the damage to my car was much more than your damage(not in monetary terms though). The rough estimate for the repair was 3.5L for a car which had costed us just over 7L in 2007. The age of the car(9 years) was another factor which I had to consider. Also, the sales person had told me that even after repairs, the car won't be the same as before and will never feel as tight as it used to.

While my heart sank upon thinking that I would not be able to drive the car again, I had to give it up. That being said, once things cooled down and I overcame the grief of the loss, I did realise that I did the smart thing.

I would suggest you to try to think of the whole situation imagining yourself in a future timeline by a week or so. I know it is difficult but I am pretty sure that you will realise that letting your car go is the sensible thing to do. Add to this the fact that you are already looking for a replacement for your car should make it a bit easy. Let's say that sometime in future, a part of your car fails, won't you be constantly be bothered by the thought that maybe, the accident and the subsequent repairs had something to do with it. And what if another part fails. Now of course that part may have been destined to fail at that time, but the thought may never go away.

You have mentioned that you wanted to keep the Jetta as a second car even after your next purchase, isn't it a more practical option to spend that money on a new Polo or the i20 with 6 airbags and get yourself a safe and a fuss-free second car? I would say yes.

That being said, not all decisions are made with the head. Best of luck!

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by Mission_PGPX

Now comes the surprise. If repair cost estimate reaches above 75% the insurance company will consider it a total loss. I never knew this. Now in 6th year the IDV is 7.5 lacs. Following parts are to be considered minimum as replacement:

My experience after my sister crashed wagon R was similar. I wanted a total loss as the chassis was definitely affected. But as the repair cost was less than 80% of IDV, insurance firm was in favor of repairs. So we got the car repaired. No other options worked.

Secondly, the estimate can be on higher side too. Dealer and insurance firm can work with together and push you for total loss, have seen such cases. While chassis damage is not visible to naked eye, there could be damage. This evaluation of chassis damage is best left to be identified by VW service center. If there is damage to chassis, accept total loss.

[arun_josie]

I faced the exact same situation 5 years back. Even though the car looked repairable, insurance pushed for salvage loss and I had to let go the car. The estimate was more than 50% of IDV.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/drive...-page-8-a.html

Originally Posted by Mission_PGPX

I spoke to the insurance surveyor and he said i can opt for cash loss. In this the car will be put for auction to arrive at a market value for auction and hdfc will pay the balance amount to me. I have to repair the car myself, whatever the expense occurs.

In my opinion, the insurance company would have already put your car for auction and they may be getting a better price there. So, they are trying to push it as total-loss / salvage loss. The guy/agent who takes the car in auction will just do the basic repair work and sell it to an unsuspecting customer. Of course, he will sell it as a car which has all the safety features.

My car was bought by an agent in bangalore for around 3.3L, he did the basic repair and sold the car to someone in a town near Chitradurga (which is 220 Kms way from bangalore). Probably they target customers from small towns who don't do much research or have any idea about safety features like Airbags.

[ajmat]

I saw your bill. Not a single estimate pertaining to chassis damage beyond the suspension parts