[SideSwipe]

Originally Posted by 1.2TSI7DSG

The softness is there to ensure that you don't break a persons leg at 40 kmph. It is a tradeoff.

I understand your point but there should be a crash member attached to the chassis to absorb the impact and in case of eventuality, it should be easily replaceable. It should not be the chassis that should be a crash member.

Originally Posted by Templeoflou

I feel sorry for your case and your experience is surely a lesson for me. Also, Isn't it surprising that the impact is strong enough to bend the chassis but not strong enough to trigger the air bag ( Given its a full frontal collision) ?. Either the chassis is not right or the airbag. Both cannot be OK at the same time for sure.

The Photo of the chassis is not mine. That was a scrapped one lying in the service centre. Impact to my car is just a speculation. SA is awaiting instruction to open up the car to assess the impact.

Originally Posted by Cresterk

This is easy to say and the right way to do it but practically it's not always possible in India. Multiple times, I have been forced to slow down to a crawl or standstill because other vehicles would take it as an invitation to cut in and you have no choice but to brake or side swipe them. You have no choice but to stay closer to the vehicle in front if you want to keep moving.

Cresterk you have spoken my mind. Theory is completely different from the reality. As i said it is better to completely avoid the situation rather than blaming it.

[Lobogris]

Originally Posted by SideSwipe

I wouldn't completely deny that fact. As i mentioned in my thread, i did feel bad that i didn't leave safe distance to the vehicle in front. But when i look back, the reality was completely different. There is a thin line between how much gap can we leave when you are travelling in such fast-moving highway traffic. Leave too much gap, you are either harassed by the vehicle behind you by flashing or some other car come and fills the gap which is even more riskier. Too little gap, you could end up in a situation like that..

Thankfully you escaped without any injuries and hopefully your vehicle will be perfectly repaired. In such situations, one should ALWAYS maintain the requisite gap. If someone flashes their lights behind you, ignore it but don't drive in an unsafe manner by getting too close to the vehicle in the front. If people keep cutting in and filling the gap, let them do it and keep falling furher behind. It makes very little difference but helps keep you safe. I never, ever drive close to the vehicle in the front without a sufficient gap regardless of what anyone else is doing.

[Crank]

Originally Posted by SideSwipe

madness is an understatement especially during Sunday evenings when this stretch becomes the only entry point for everyone returning from the southern districts. Truth be said, that's when i believe riding behind trucks are less stressful than this chaotic crowd.

Regarding travelling at 50 in traffic, you got to ride this stretch on a Sunday evening to believe it. It is indeed true and you have to engage all your senses to drive carefully.

Yes, Sunday evenings are really terrible. I avoid returning back on a Sunday just because of this reason. I take an off on Monday to return just to avoid this mad Sunday traffic. Recently I went in June to Yercaud and was back on a Tuesday. Even then, I started a bit early to avoid this late evening rush.

However, normally I am scared of the mad rush after the Chengalpet (Paranur Toll Plaza). Ulundurpet is normally better. You mentioned Ulundurpet as well as Melmaruvathur. They are almost 100 kms apart, if I remember correctly.

Originally Posted by SideSwipe

I believe that long travel brake issue has been sorted in the new Scorpio N. Of course the car has its heft which is to be expected but it does brakes sharply.

Good to know this.

Originally Posted by SideSwipe

As per the SA, cutting end welding the damaged part of the chassis is not allowed in their SOP and it has to be replaced as a whole. It does makes sense to the brain but not to the heart

Yes, I too feel factory fitment quality cannot be matched in a garage. But nowadays, they do have better equipment to get it done in the right way. Hope you are with a good garage. All the best.

But welding is an absolute NO. Never do that with the chassis. I feel its a bad design that crumple zones didn't take the impact and passed it on to the chassis. And chassis bending is not known of, at this speed. Is it so weak?

Originally Posted by SideSwipe

Actually it does makes a lot of sense now but it would also be a huge gamble to wait for the traffic to ease out. It might or could turn to be even worse. All i can do going forward is to avoid travelling in this stretch during peak hours especially on a Sunday.

Yes, please avoid these times, even if you have to return the next day. Traffic will not ease out. It will only increase. I had this experience when I was returning from Munnar on a Sunday.

[krrisdrive]

Originally Posted by SideSwipe

Actually it does makes a lot of sense now but it would also be a huge gamble to wait for the traffic to ease out. It might or could turn to be even worse. All i can do going forward is to avoid travelling in this stretch during peak hours especially on a Sunday.

All roads leading to metro cities are choked on Sunday evening to late night. Especially Madras and Bombay since they are coastal cities with less approach roads than say Bangalore & Delhi.

Also both planning the trip accurately to avoid the stretch during peak hours and waiting at the outskirts for traffic to ease are practically not possible.

However, one can make a pit stop before city entry limits, sip a tea, munch a pakoda, relax and rejoin the madness. This way, mind and body will be fresh and all the senses will prevail. One won't yield to bullies from behind, maintain a safe distance and be alert for timely breaking.

[Aditya]

Mahindra Scorpio-N involved in a medium impact accident | Needs chassis replacement - Posts moved to a new thread.

[GTO]

It's the easiest thing in the world to change the chassis of a body-on-frame vehicle. They lift the SUV up and then change it from underneath. My buddy's Innova had a small crash with a footpath in 2005. Almost no body damage. Toyota insisted and changed the entire chassis. Watching them do it was like kids playing with lego. Smooth & seamless.

[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by SideSwipe

..

I challenged the SA that the chassis should be repaired but he bluntly kept saying this is their SOP and if the dimension of the impacted chassis breaches the threshold, there is only one way to go which is replacing of entire chassis. ...

Originally Posted by GTO

It's the easiest thing in the world to change the chassis of a body-on-frame vehicle. ...
....Smooth & seamless.

What GTO said is true. For a BOF vehicle, the swap is pretty straightforward. However, you should push for proper torqueing of bolts and routing of electricals. New gen vehicles have loads of wires running to and fro and Mahindra's have lot of dampers etc.. which needs to have proper torqueing and routing of.

Originally Posted by acestormtrooper

.. If you are changing the chassis at the dealership, Please make sure that the VIN Number is etched correctly. Take a pencil and paper tracing if it has been chnged and counter check with the VIN Number on the RC. On the scorpio, the VIN Number is etched on the RH side long member of the frame (one can see if the steering wheel is turned to the extreme right, the VIN Number is behind the tyre on the frame) check the VIN on your old chassis if it has a "#" or a "*" symbol before and after etc. It should be the same. Problems occour when you sell the vehicle and the new owner does not get approval from the RTO as there is mis match in the number or at times the # or * symbol missing. Also, do keep in mind, when you sell the vehicle, the new owner would want to check the history, if the person sees that there is a chassis change in the service history, his thought process would be that the car was involved in a major crash.

If i'm not wrong, there is a proper procedure in the RTO for this change. Please follow the procedures written in paper. Or you might end up in a problem when selling the vehicle.

[SideSwipe]

I am overwhelmed by the support and guidance provided by the fellow members, and I am really grateful for the same. Huge heartfelt thanks to all participants.

Spoke with SA today morning and he gave me both the good and bad news.
Good:
Insurance company [Tata AIG] had given go-ahead to open up the bumper to assess the damage. I am glad that Tata did not create any hassles of asking for a CSR from police. They went ahead with self-written incident report and pictures. No harassing interrogation or asking me to file a CSR. It was neat and based on the information I have provided they have approved the initial Quote. Kudos to Tata AIG for customer friendly process.

Bad:
Technicians have opened up the bumper, assessed the damage and have provided a recommendation to the Insurance team. As you can see from the below pics, Prima-facie especially from pic 1, there is no impact to chassis but upon closer inspection in remaining pictures, we can see that chassis had indeed taken a blunt impact and has slightly given in. As per SA, they have measured the chassis dimensions and they are well within the tolerance and is perfectly aligned. They have requested for chassis replacement, but the insurance team has suggested to fix the chassis instead of replacement. SA did mention that they presented the facts and requested chassis change as per our SOP but were 99% sure it will not be approved. This will now be fixed using cold pulling process and SA has assured me that he can bring it back to original shape as there are no sharp cuts and creases in chassis due to impact. Parts that will be replaced are Bumper, Grill, front facia that mounts the headlights and intercooler and finally the bonnet. They have placed the order for the parts and is expected to arrive in a weeks’ time and the earliest I can expect the vehicle back is no less than 10 days from today.

As you can see no impact to bumper visible from 10 feet apart


Closer you go, it is clearly visible.







Am writing this with mixed emotions, glad that team is confident that they can fix the car relatively easily and will get it back to driving conditions with little logistical nightmare. Thoughts about chassis replacement & associated process, complexity of demounting and mounting the engine back, niggles and rattles that might follow suite were daunting on me over the weekend. Thanks god we can write those off now. But it also dawns me that how can such a mild impact cause so much impact to the chassis. Is this a design problem or a material problem. I know for sure that such incidents are completely unavoidable and with the thought that any such incidents in future might need a chassis replacement is pulling one’s confidence on the vehicle down.

That’s the update for now guys. Will keep you all updated as things progress.

Originally Posted by Crank

You mentioned Ulundurpet as well as Melmaruvathur. They are almost 100 kms apart, if I remember correctly.

But welding is an absolute NO. Never do that with the chassis. I feel its a bad design that crumple zones didn't take the impact and passed it on to the chassis. And chassis bending is not known of, at this speed. Is it so weak?

Mad traffic started from Ulundurpet but the impact happened near Uthiramerur.

I strongly feel a need for a crumble zone. I now even wish that the intercooler / radiator was placed infront of the chassis that could have taken some impact and could have left the chassis untouched.

Originally Posted by krrisdrive

All roads leading to metro cities are choked on Sunday evening to late night. Especially Madras and Bombay since they are coastal cities with less approach roads than say Bangalore & Delhi. Also both planning the trip accurately to avoid the stretch during peak hours and waiting at the outskirts for traffic to ease are practically not possible. However, one can make a pit stop before city entry limits, sip a tea, munch a pakoda, relax and rejoin the madness. This way, mind and body will be fresh and all the senses will prevail. One won't yield to bullies from behind, maintain a safe distance and be alert for timely breaking.

Well said and I can relate this to pitting an F1 car just to get some clean air and moving him away from traffic. But yes, it is indeed a better way of dealing with mad traffic. Who know your new traffic neighbors could be little clam.

Originally Posted by GTO

It's the easiest thing in the world to change the chassis of a body-on-frame vehicle. They lift the SUV up and then change it from underneath. My buddy's Innova had a small crash with a footpath in 2005. Almost no body damage. Toyota insisted and changed the entire chassis. Watching them do it was like kids playing with lego. Smooth & seamless.

Astonishing to know this @GTO. Is that so simple? I was literally dreading about the complexities involved. I was assuming that the Engine / drive train decoupling and mounting it back is a very laborious and complex work that might lead to various, engine alignment, tourqing, rattling and potential body damages.

Originally Posted by dhanushs

What GTO said is true. For a BOF vehicle, the swap is pretty straightforward. However, you should push for proper torqueing of bolts and routing of electricals. New gen vehicles have loads of wires running to and fro and Mahindra's have lot of dampers etc.. which needs to have proper torqueing and routing of.

If i'm not wrong, there is a proper procedure in the RTO for this change. Please follow the procedures written in paper. Or you might end up in a problem when selling the vehicle.

Thanks @dhanushs for the insights and changing the information in RTO is indeed a legwork on its own. Thankfully with the chassis being fixed, i need not worry about both.

[microscopic]

Originally Posted by SideSwipe

Only best thing i could have done is to have taken a tea break and continued a bit later.

What you have said is true. Most of the time in highways, the vehicles tend to group up as a convoy (rather unintentionally) and end up tailing one another. If one finds that they are stuck in such a convoy and wants to avoid getting sandwiched, it is better to take a break for few minutes and then drive in relaxed way in the gap between two such convoys.

[SideSwipe]

Bottom Line – Car is still in the workshop and awaiting parts.

More Bad news – Initial inspection showed impact only to Bonnet, Front Facia and Bumper. But upon removing the Facia, looks like the impact has penetrated even beyond the chassis and has impacted the Intercooler, condenser and the Radiator. As per the SA , it is not the Chassis, but the horn assembly has collided with the internal parts and has created this damage. Approval has been sought from the insurer and SC have placed order for the parts which are yet to arrive. Now Let the picture do the talking.

State of the vehicle before cutting open the Facia.






Parts are still functioning fine but just slight disorientation and few smudged fins.









Parts that has been ordered to be replaced.


Front Facia Fixed - Atleast some progress






This leaves me with a haunting question and doubts about the material choices and the sturdiness of the vehicle. As you can see the vehicle which I collided with does not suffer any major impact and just body panel works. But the same crash has created so much impact to the Scorpio. Am reserving my comments and opinion consciously for now. My immediate focus is to get the car back in shape.

[SideSwipe]

Hello members,
Seeking your expertise to answer the below questions of mine which is lingering in my mind for the past few days about the crash. I request you to take a close look at the pictures I have shared above for reference.

Build Quality of Beat (Receiver) vs Scorpio N (Driver) – Upon the impact, the Beat which was sandwiched between my car and another car in front, sustained very little damage – Just a bumper and boot door at the rear. Whereas, the damage in my car are as follows – Bonnet, Grill, Fascia, Bumper, Radiator, Condenser, intercooler, horn holders and not to mention the bent Chassis.

• Is this really issue due to the material choices of Scorpio N
• Is this an issue about the placement of the parts that is not researched for crash and sturdiness?
• Or is this just the case of the wrong impact at the wrong place and wrong time?

As you can see from the parts replaced, apart from the bent radiator, other parts have little to no damage and as I mentioned before, my car was driving perfectly well for 150kms after the accident. Is this the case were Service centre is taking me and the insurance company for a ride?



Finally as you can see, my HSRP plate is crumbled. How do I get a replacement plate from RTO.

Kindly share your valuable feedback.