Volkswagen dealer gives Rs. 22 lakh estimate to repair Rs 11 lakh Polo damaged by flood

We have heard some horrible incidents from Volkswagen Service Stations in India’s billing counters in the past. Here is one more where a service centre handed out an estimate of Rs 22 lakh to repair a Polo hatchback. The owner Anirudh Ganesh writes about his ordeal on LinkedIn.

Anirudh’s Volkswagen Polo TSI got damaged in the recent floods in Bengaluru, Karnataka. His vehicle got wholly submerged in flood waters and the owner sent the vehicle to Volkswagen Apple Auto in Whitefield. Anirudh said that no one came to help when he had to push his car into a tow truck at night.

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After the car spent around 20 days in the workshop, Volkswagen Apple Auto gave Anirudh a call and said that the estimate is Rs 22 lakh. He then contacted his insurance company Acko. The insurer said that the car will be written off as a total loss and they would collect the vehicle from the service centre. When Anirudh reached the showroom to collect documents for his car, the service centre presented him with a bill of Rs 44,840.

Anirudh then contacted Volkswagen and was promised that he will get a solution in 48 hours. However, after a few days, he received a call from Volkswagen customer care who helped him.

Paid only Rs 5,000

Volkswagen India called Anirudh on 25th September and said that the company does not charge so much money for estimates. There is an upper limit of Rs 5,000 to give an estimate to the customer about the total loss.

Car service centres need to provide the estimate document to the insurance company. This document becomes the legal document to further process the claim. There are many service centres that threaten the customers by saying that they will not give the estimation documents. However, one should note that the upper limit for any service centre to provide an estimate document is Rs 5,000.

If the cost of the repair is more than the IDV or the declared value of the vehicle, then the insurance company always writes off the car as a total loss. The insurance company then provides the IDV as a settlement amount to the owner.

Interestingly, Anirudh mentioned in the post that he bought the car for Rs 11 lakh while the service centre gave an estimate of Rs 22 lakh. While the service centre did not give it in writing, the Rs 22 lakh amount seems too far-fetched.

Individual parts and labour charges can increase the repair cost of any vehicle. This is why most people choose zero-depreciation insurance that covers all kinds of damages. There are also additional covers like engine and other parts that can increase the cost of the insurance cover but it serves as a safety net to the owner in any case of a mishappening.

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