[vipulkamboj]

Originally Posted by sasi405

In my opinion, the front end of the Storme is not very toughly built. When a biker hit my gaadi with his handlebar, the lip of the bonnet above the chrome strip got a very bad dent. This picture also points to a lot of broken plastic, whereas the inner stuff seems to be intact. So, it looks like they haven't paid attention to toughening the front against frontal impact. They have just made it aesthetically pleasing.

Same thing happened to me. The bonnet has a nasty dent and I realized that the front bumper is very easily broken. It may be a feature for pedestrian safety.

[teamveevee]

Originally Posted by sasi405

In my opinion, the front end of the Storme is not very toughly built. When a biker hit my gaadi with his handlebar, the lip of the bonnet above the chrome strip got a very bad dent. This picture also points to a lot of broken plastic, whereas the inner stuff seems to be intact. So, it looks like they haven't paid attention to toughening the front against frontal impact. They have just made it aesthetically pleasing.

I think this is to meet the Euro NCAP standards related to Pedestrian safety.
from NCAP website,

The strength of the structure to give good frontal impact protection does not need to be on the outside of the car body. An effective design for bonnet structure with the position of hard structures kept underneath gives good pedestrian performance.

From the pictures, looks like the bonnet absorbed the impact with out affecting the internal structure at all.

[ebonho]

Also it may visually look pretty drastic and ghastly, but eventually its also better for the owner's wallet in terms of repairs/replacements.

Vipul really sorry for your accident bro. How much does the front bumper cost? And painting?

[sasi405]

If indeed it has been designed for pedestrian safety standards, then I must congratulate TATA Motors for doing that. I don't know how many Indian manufacturers (including Maruti) actually look at pedestrian safety as a priority.
The plastic parts are simply replacements, whereas if any of the inner members get damaged, one will be faced with hefty bills. So, in case of the Storme, I think it is a must to go in for zero-dep insurance, since plastic parts are only partially covered in normal insurance.

[M35]

Originally Posted by vipulkamboj

I have been thinking of not putting any negative comments in the forum but TATA motors services have now stretched it too far..
Posting a pic !

Unfortunate incident that.Please contact Regional Customer care manager, Tata motors and express your displeasure about the delay.

Originally Posted by sasi405

If indeed it has been designed for pedestrian safety standards, then I must congratulate TATA Motors for doing that. I don't know how many Indian manufacturers (including Maruti) actually look at pedestrian safety as a priority.

I assume the impact to be from the side to knock the bumper off. What surprses me is the way the material absorpbed the impact. I understand that the material used shouldn't be too hard keeping in mind the pedestrian safety at a low speed crash.

The plastic used here should be hard and brittle if it were to explode into pieces as shown in the picture. I am surprised to see the quality/nature of the plastic used, which should have been more pliable, IMHO. It should deform as it absorbs the impact energy and then spring back into shape eventually. This would ensure both

• pedestrian and vehicle safety
• and then little/less damage to the part concerned and thus less financial damage.

[Lukeskywalker]

How much does the front bumper cost? And painting?

The front bumper costs some 4.3k plus another 3k for painting (rough estimates)

So, in case of the Storme, I think it is a must to go in for zero-dep insurance, since plastic parts are only partially covered in normal insurance.

+1 to that!! I made the mistake of not availing zero depreciation cover and had to pay a hefty sum inspite of insurance to get some accident damage to the front of my Storme repaired.

[vipulkamboj]

Originally Posted by Lukeskywalker

The front bumper costs some 4.3k plus another 3k for painting (rough estimates)

It is not only the front bumper. The total expense was INR 30000. 19000 for parts and 11000 for labour.

@ebonho - I am glad that the impact was absorbed by the bumper and it was only 2 days before that I had got the bull guard removed. Had I not done that, the other car would have toppled over with impact. I may have saved 30000 but it is better than the injury to people.

Good News is that I have the truck back and I must say that TASS has done a fantastic job of painting and assembling the bumper.

Will post pics soon.

[YGarg]

Congrats on getting your truck back. And yes, a loss of few thousand bucks is far better than injury to others. For the same reason I've been putting off fixing bull bar to my storme.

[sasi405]

The bottom line is, if you have an accident, there's nothing much you can do about it, zero dep insurance or not. The downtime, lack of alternate transport, the worry that they may not repair it properly, care for the vehicle in the workshop, dirty hands soiling you seats etc etc are all good enough reasons for being extra careful while on the road. Every evening I reach home, I promise myself that I won't do 100kmph the next day. And I don't do it in the morning. However, by evening, I see the needle again at 110kmph. Sigh!

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by sasi405

Every evening I reach home, I promise myself that I won't do 100kmph the next day. And I don't do it in the morning. However, by evening, I see the needle again at 110kmph. Sigh!

Lovely it must be to live in a place where you ca do that during your daily commute. There's just a couple of short bursts where I can hit 80+ and 100+ only briefly on the last flyover before getting back into dirty heavy crawly traffic.

[vipulkamboj]

Originally Posted by sasi405

The bottom line is, if you have an accident, there's nothing much you can do about it, zero dep insurance or not. The downtime, lack of alternate transport, the worry that they may not repair it properly, care for the vehicle in the workshop, dirty hands soiling you seats etc etc are all good enough reasons for being extra careful while on the road. Every evening I reach home, I promise myself that I won't do 100kmph the next day. And I don't do it in the morning. However, by evening, I see the needle again at 110kmph. Sigh!

You are right. It was the inconvenience caused by the downtime which is the most cumbersome and when it came back 80 km was done on ODO. Answer given was test drive to check AC which I complained about.

Where in Gurgaon can you touch 80 not even on the NH8 these days. Also I can not control the way others drive. I was at 20 when this occurred.

[sasi405]

If you want to enjoy your beast on a highway, Gurgaon - Faridabad Rd is the solution. I drive everyday on this road, to my office in Jasola and back.

[garyag79]

Originally Posted by sasi405

If you want to enjoy your beast on a highway, Gurgaon - Faridabad Rd is the solution. I drive everyday on this road, to my office in Jasola and back.

and I see you everyday during my office commute from Faridabad to Gurgaon. Off late have started to see a lot of Stormes on the highway, a few months more and I will join you with my beast on the road.

[sasi405]

Originally Posted by garyag79

and I see you everyday during my office commute from Faridabad to Gurgaon. Off late have started to see a lot of Stormes on the highway, a few months more and I will join you with my beast on the road.

Is that so? Mine is a Pearl White colour Storme. I haven't put the TBhp stickers on yet (they are lying in the glove box ). The only distinguishing mark is a small yellow HVK (HiVayKing) sticker on the back and inside the front glass. PM your number; maybe we can meet up?!

Got the alignment checked today from an independent workshop. As suspected, both camber and toe were out. Got that fixed. Let's see how long it lasts. If it goes off again soon, I will report it to TML and seek resolution of the issue.

[vipulkamboj]

Originally Posted by sasi405

Is that so? Mine is a Pearl White colour Storme. I haven't put the TBhp stickers on yet (they are lying in the glove box ). The only distinguishing mark is a small yellow HVK (HiVayKing) sticker on the back and inside the front glass. PM your number; maybe we can meet up?!

Got the alignment checked today from an independent workshop. As suspected, both camber and toe were out. Got that fixed. Let's see how long it lasts. If it goes off again soon, I will report it to TML and seek resolution of the issue.

Let us all meet. I too have a pearl white storme. BTW where do I order the stickers?