Prashant Wadkar from Prashant Motors, Thane, says they are servicing 25 vehicles a day, compared with the usual 15. Deepak Joshi
Prashant Motors car service and repair centre in Thane had to ask its staff members last week to work extra hours. After the deluge in the city last week, service centres are now swamped with vehicles damaged because they were submerged in water. At Prashant Motors, with 20-25 vehicles left to be serviced, the centre claims work cannot be rushed, as each vehicle demands a lot of time. The Thane shop is not alone. More than a week after parts of the city recorded 315 mm rainfall that brought transport to a grinding halt, workers in service centres and garages claim their work is “not done”.
Consumers and service centres claim that vehicles and two-wheelers that stayed on waterlogged roads sustained great damage to their spare parts, accessories and body exterior.
“We are servicing as many as 25 vehicles a day compared with the15 on a usual work day. Each vehicle needs an extensive check-up, as we have to identify the extent of damage caused by the water seeping into its body. We have requested our staff members to put in more hours to help us,” Prashant Wadkar from Prashant Motors said.
He added that he has offered suitable discounts to his regular customers, The cost of servicing is between Rs 5,000 and Rs 1 lakh, depending on the damage caused.
“Our staff members are well equipped to handle these situations as they were on the field during the deluge in the city in 2005. Till Wednesday, we received a lot of customers who brought their vehicles from towing vans in different areas where they were stuck,” Wadkar said.
“As major manufacturer showrooms are already occupied, we are seeing a huge load of work,” he added.
At Hasan Motors in Worli, manager Ayan Shaikh has asked his workers to step out and help troubled customers who may be looking for assistance. Considering many vehicles may need only a slight touch to get fixed, Shaikh has asked workers to be of help on the field.
“We did not sleep on Tuesday as we received calls till late at night for conducting service and repairs on vehicles stuck on flooded bylanes. While we catered to some, others had to wait as they were far from our shop and there was neck-deep water on the roads. There is at least a 20-30 per cent increase in the number of vehicles being brought to us,” Ayan said.
Vehicle owners without insurance policies are facing the worst of it, Ayan added. High-cost vehicles have shown maximum defects after water seepage, he said.
Service centres of car manufacturers such as Tata Motors, Hyundai and Ford are helping customers by offering 50 per cent discounts on liabilities on auto part replacements for those with insurance. Employing more technicians to reduce work load is another tactic.
“All Ford service centers in affected areas will be operational for extended hours to expedite repair work and minimise inconvenience to Ford owners. The company is also offering 20 per cent discount on booking a self-driving car from Zoomcar, in case repairs on their Ford vehicle take more than 24-hours,” an official statement from Ford read.
N Prabhu, the vice president for customer service at Ford India, said: “We understand that unexpected floods would have caused financial strain to some of our customers and are happy to assist them.”
A statement from Hyundai read: “Hyundai has deployed special Service Operation Squad and 30 emergency road service vehicles to enable relief services. Additionally, a special Car Check-up camp will be organized after two months to review the vehicle’s health.”
Vehicles users spoke of the physical and monetary hardships they were put to after the rain called for unwarranted repairs. “I had to pay Rs 8,000 for changing the spare parts of my high-end car. Having driven on waterlogged roads dotted with potholes, rescuing the vehicle was not easy,” Nilesh Ambekar, a Thane resident, said.
Shalin Jaim, from Kandivali, who is expecting to get his serviced car by next week, said: “The cost came to more than Rs 1 lakh as my car was completely submerged in water.”
“Thankfully, having an insurance policy and assistance from the car manufacturer’s service providers made the task easy. With the rush at each service centre and showroom, I had to wait for real long to get myself heard,” Jaim added.
A Tata Motors spokesperson said: “We have assigned a special team to promptly and accurately assess the damage and repair in each car that was brought in. Additionally, a fast track approval process from the insurance company has been set up.”
