Things like this happen on the roads, I have been telling myself to get over it and start driving again.
BHPian ike recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
Been a while since my last post here, the Mods can decide if this belongs here or in the accidents thread.
I had planned a drive to Puri via Tirupati, Vijayawada & Vizag from Thrissur in Dec 2021. The last 2 times my plans to Puri were cancelled at the last minute due to unforeseen exigencies (once in 2018 & next in 2019).
This time around the weather was threatening to spoil my plans again with the eastern coast seeing multiple cyclones in November. Nevertheless, I planned the trip and also made the hotel bookings.
The first couple of days everything went as scheduled. On the third-day post-lunch, I was cruising down NH16 in Odisha on my way to Puri when a group of buffaloes decided to come onto the road out of nowhere (see the dashcam video).
I initially called up Maruti roadside assistance but remembered that my insurance(Royal Sundaram) has this facility included in the plan. This was quite literally in the middle of nowhere, the RSA turnaround time was 4 Hrs. The nearest workshop was in Bhubaneswar, some 170 odd KMS away. I also asked the insurance folks to arrange for a cab for the rest of the journey to Puri.
The buffalo I hit was dead, the villagers were very upset about it and threatened to beat me up. I called the police 3 times, they said they will come shortly but nobody showed up.
I later compensated them for their loss, moved the car to a Dhaba nearby (I had family travelling with me). An hour or so later two cops showed up on a bike and asked for money to remove the carcass from the road.
I wanted to go to the police station (Balugaon police station in Khorda dist) anyway to collect the GD entry for insurance purposes. The cop in charge initially told me to have the dead buffalo removed from the road and then come back for any paperwork. I requested him to arrange for moving it and offered to pay for it. I was asked to wait, it was getting dark. In the meantime, Chennai BHPian Sriganesh connected me to his colleague Avinash who was able to pull some strings and get them to issue the GD entry. From this point in time, the cops were extraordinarily courteous and forthcoming. The Inspector (a lady) also came by this time and they rushed through the formalities. They initially were very reluctant to state that I hit a buffalo and asked me to mention that I hit the divider. I did not agree to this and finally, they relented and wrote that I “hit a buffalo/divider”.
The RSA finally arrived around 19:45 and loaded the car on the flatbed. They mentioned that they will drop the car off at an authorized workshop o the Puri – Bhubaneswar bypass road.
The cab from Puri came in another 45 mins and we reached Puri by 2300 all exhausted. I called Royal Sundaram in the morning to know the whereabouts of my car but nobody had a clue. After being on hold for a very long time, I gave up and called the flatbed driver who mentioned that he dropped it off at a Mahindra First choice garage as that was the nearest workshop with which Royal Sundaram had to tie up.
I arranged for a tow truck from Maruti Suzuki this time and had the car towed to the nearest MASS (Narayani Motors in Jharpada, Bhubaneswar)at my cost.
At MASS, I struggled to overcome the language barrier and nobody really understood what I was saying. I called a Nexa official who I knew and finally, he arranged for someone senior to meet me. Things started moving and all formalities were completed in good time after that.
Initially, the SA allotted said they will finish the job by end of Dec, revised it to the end of Jan and finally delivered the car by the 17th of Feb. Luckily there were no complex jobs involved, just replacing the body panels, ABS actuator, Speedometer cluster and the dashboard which I believe are mostly plug and play.
The Royal Sundaram surveyor visited the workshop the next day and work got underway. Since this was the end of the year, the parts that were ordered took time to be delivered. Most of the parts arrived by the 6th of Jan, the cluster assembly came only by the 17th of Jan. The invoicing was done on the 19th of Jan.
On the 21st, I learn that the insurance surveyor is down with COVID and the final inspection will be delayed till he returns from Quarantine. While it is unfortunate, there was nothing that could be done about it.
Finally, the surveyor finishes his inspection and finds that chassis no. mentioned in the policy number is different from the one in the RC card (there is a digit missing). This further delays the claim, I get the insurance corrected (this takes another week almost).
The insurance claim took 5 more days to get processed after the correction is made. The SA tells me that even though the insurance delivery order is received, they will release the vehicle only after they receive payment in their bank account.
I finally went to Bhubaneshwar and drove the car down to Thrissur on the 17th of Feb. The painting they have done is very average, there is lots of clear coat overspray, especially on the roof and the hood. My jack and dashcam were missing. They did give me another jack (without the foam casing that holds it in place) but the dashcam was never found. One of the horns was also missing and they did not have a new one in stock. They installed an old horn that was lying around. I found during my return journey in the evening that the headlamps are poorly aligned and are pointing skywards, Had to adjust temporarily with the headlamp levellers. It is unfortunate but there is no way to supervise/monitor work being done in Bhubaneswar from Kerala and the service centre knows this.
- It was a horrid experience but glad that no humans were harmed during the ordeal. It could have been much worse.
- You receive help from the most unexpected people during a crisis.
- Always rely on the manufacturer RSA and always opt for RSA if the OEM is offering it.
- I couldn’t go in the flatbed to ensure they drop it off at a proper service centre, but if you are in a position to do so it is better to accompany the car.
- Police/emergency services response is very patchy. Hope for the best but I wouldn’t count on them arriving on time. They will probably try to extract money as well.
Things like this happen on the roads, I have been telling myself to get over it and start driving again. My heartfelt gratitude to all the BHPians who have helped and advised me over the past couple of months.
Keyword: Maruti S-Cross hits buffalo: Bad experience getting it fixed