How to Deal with Car Accident in India?

Car accidents are terrifying and unfortunate incidents, not only to the people directly involved, but also to their near and dears. Accidents cause a lot of stress to the persons involved and to their families. Various statistics have placed India among the ones with most unsafe roads. The number of fatalities on our roads are also among the highest, and are said to challenge the number of fatalities caused due to natural, disease related deaths. Consciously or unconsciously we all take efforts in the form of precautions right from the purchase of car, to avoid such happenings. For instance, it is a reflex behavior to look for a car with some space between rear seat and end of the car to offer more protection in case someone crashes in to your car from rear. Also we do check the safety performance of our car as per ratings by competent agencies, like from some automobile magazines or news in general.

In-spite of taking all preliminary precautions, if an accident should happen to you, then you should be aware of the further procedures before-hand. Starting from the time one realizes about the accident to the phase the person is recovers and to the phase when he needs to figure out how to get his car repaired. In case you have to get the car repaired yourself and by your insurance company, among the most important things that you need is a proper valid insurance for your car.

1. First things first, call the toll free number of the insurance company and inform about the accident. In some cases a copy of police report may also be required even if there is no person or vehicle other than you and your car involved in the accident. It is better to inform the local police station right away; this will save you from further hassles like declaration of no third party damage etc.
2. If you have a valid insurance, take the car to a workshop with cashless facility of your insurance company. In case the car needs towing you have to call the road side assistance service once you are sure of locating a suitable workshop which offers cashless facility on your insurance claim. Also the location of the workshop should be so that you can monitor the repairs conveniently as accidental repairs are generally time consuming affairs. If your car does not have a road-side assistance package, buy one today at carworkz-assist. 
3. The car will have to be inspected by a representative of insurance company before repair work will commence. After inspection the person will approve the cost of the accidental repair as per the policy of the insurance company and the type of policy you have availed. This can be either a part of the cost as per estimate given by workshop for the repair or full cost as per estimate. There are certain factors that will be considered by the insurance company representative while giving approval, like age of your car which determines the depreciation or a damage which has resulted from an earlier impact and is still on the car without getting repaired cannot be claimed along with the incident for which the claim was made. That is, cannot get earlier damages repaired on a claim. These kind of decisions anyhow depend on the insurance company policy also and cannot be applied universally.
4. In some cases, if the damage is minor as in a dent or a scratch, repairing it at one’s own expense is more practical as this will save money on next renewal of insurance, in the form of ‘no claim bonus’ which is given when no claim has been made in the present insurance period on the car. The workshop can help to compare the amount of no claim bonus, and repair cost at one’s own expense so that you can take a decision as to claim insurance or not. 
5. In case of heavy damage insurance company may decide to total your car, which means that the company will give you an amount and settle the claim rather than approving the repairs. This is done when the car repairing cost is not acceptable as it exceeds the present value of the car. In such cases your option will be to take the amount and go for a new car.

For any kind of car accidental repair related job, visit carworkz.com/app today and make an informed choice for your car repair needs. Wish you a long and safe relationship with your car. 

How Does Car A/C Impact The Fuel Consumption?

In a tropical Country and developing country like India, ACs are no longer an optional, but mandatory feature in cars. It not only keeps the interior cool and cozy, keeping the window closed also prevents entry of dusts inside the car. Unlike Home ACs, car ACs run on rotational mechanical power and not on electrical Power. This power is drawn from the Engine itself, thus eating into the fuel efficiency, as a percentage of power generated by the fuel combustion is used in running the AC compressor instead of the wheels. In short, if you can run 16km in 1 liter fuel without AC, with the AC on, you will require more than 1 liter to run 16km.

A simple DIY observation (If your car comes with an rpm-meter).

1. Start the vehicle with your AC off, and wait for a while at idle (few seconds for petrol, about a minute for diesel).
2. Note the rpm (rotations per minute) reading. Should be around 650-1000.
3. Switch On the AC, and you can notice an instant increase in the rpm by about 100-150 units. This is because now more power is demanded from the Engine because the compressor is required to be driven.

One of the primary aim of Auto Manufacturers had always been, increasing of the fuel efficiency i.e. decreasing of the fuel consumption, and this is very much evident from their marketing banners, where the Kmpl. (kilometer per liter) consumes quite high amount of real estate. To supplement this objective, car ACs have had undergone some changes over the years. Though the AC compressor still draws power from the Engine itself, a lot of electronic controls accompanied by sensors, are being used to provide as optimum performance as possible.

The AC compressor has a pulley, which is driven by a belt and powered at the other end by the engine. A clutch is used to engage and disengage the pulley from the compressor. The power consumed by the compressor depends on the load on the compressor. There are certain situations when the compressor clutch is disengaged and the compressor stops working; as in, when the interior temperature becomes too cold or the compressor discharge pressure becomes too high.

It is a noticeable fact that with AC on, in a jam-packed city like Mumbai, you are likely to receive lower fuel average from your car. This is because most of the times the car either stays on idle, or moves in the first or second gear. All the while excess power is being utilized by the AC, whereas the wheels are not rotating at their full-fledged vigor. So, low kilometer (km) run and more fuel (l) utilized, results in lower kmpl or more commonly known as fuel-average. So if your car is providing low kmpl in cities, then probably its inevitable and your car doesn’t require an AC repair yet.

In lower end cars, there can be a noticeable drop in pick up when the AC is switched on, compared to windows-down. It is pretty normal, and no worries there. But if it drops by a substantial amount and along with it, if you are receiving really poor average from your car, it is time to consult a car workshop. Also, if the AC is not providing you enough cold air, again, it is time to get the AC serviced.

For convenience, you can log on to www.carworkz.com and search for the most suitable workshop near you by entering AC service or AC repair as job requirement. This website and app based platform helps you to check the features of a workshop, and enables you to filter workshops by type and compare their features. The platform also enables you to book an appointment online and track real time progress of your car servicing. Also it has a Service cost estimator to provide you an estimate for the service and carworkz-assist to help you in case of emergency breakdowns.

How Often Should You Service Your Car

The Schedule of Scheduled Service.

From the Industry Experts

An experienced auto-mechanic or a Car owner who had spent a whole lot of money on his car will always suggest you to get your car service at regular intervals. It is probably the only bare-minimum thing that you can do to your car to make it running smoothly and trouble-free. The funny as well as the most unfortunate thing about the car is, it won’t let the owner know that something is going to go wrong. It is only after something or the other has failed then, we come to know about it; and sometimes, it may cost a fortune as well. The good news is that we can prevent the extra cost, by spending considerably little amount at regular intervals. That is why the regular scheduled Services are also known as Preventive Maintenance Service (PMS).

What “Car service” all about?

In Contrary to most popular belief, the PMS does not only include changing of Oil, Oil filter and cleaning the air filter. It is in-fact much much more than that. Every Manufacturer sets out a service schedule for each model which they believe, will help the car run reliably. This consists of about 40-80 check points and affecting as low as 2 to as high as 20 changes to your vehicle. To know this better, read the User Manual that you have kept locked in the glove box. If you are in love with your car, (which I believe you are, judging from the fact that you are even considering reading this article), you should not just take that book for granted. If you just follow the simple things mentioned in that book, your car will provide better performance, no matter whether you own a Maruti Alto or a Lamborghini Aventador. Most Car lovers know how important this is and it is also important even for the people who doesn’t even consider themselves interested in how their car works.

How Manufacturers decide the schedule?

Most Manufacturers do know the capability of their product and thus recommend the service intervals as “Nth Service at XXXX km or YY months whichever is earlier”. The purpose of mentioning two variables is obviously because the elements that are due to be changed at a particular service interval, degrades with time as well as running.

An Example.

Mr. A uses his car for daily commuting to his office. His car manufacturer recommends “First Service at 1000 km or 2 months, whichever is earlier” and “Second Service at 10000 km or 12 months Whichever is earlier”. When he was buying the car, the dealership asked him to visit after two months for general check-up, which he did. This service was totally free. During handing over the car the Service Center told him that the next service is due at 10000 km. Now His car has very low running as he lives nearby to his office. After a year of running, Mr.A notices his car has run 6500 km and he isn’t facing any problem with his car. So he doesn’t bother visiting the Service Center and waits until his car covers 10k, Which might be another 8 months..

Now let us have a look at what Mr.A might face by taking this uninformed decision.

·         The Engine oil of the vehicle was due to change during this Service. Engine oils have got certain properties which decays with time and running. By avoiding the service at the mentioned time, Mr.A exposed his Engine to run on a degraded Oil. This oil will eat away the life of the Engine, and he will be requiring an Overhaul much sooner than expected. We all know very well that overhauling may cost some where close to Rs.1 lakh.

·         The Manufacturer Authorized Service Center gets every right to charge him the labor cost for the service, which otherwise had been free if he had availed the service at the right time.

·         Since he missed the recommended service Interval, the Manufacturer Authorized Service Station gets every right to reject warranty repair of his vehicle. Imagine this, he faced a problem with your vehicle, he took it to the nearby authorized car workshop, they says it will cost something around 30k, he is not bothered as his vehicle is under warranty, and then they say that he can’t avail warranty just because you missed the service. Sounds Scary? It in-fact is.

·         We know that Cars are assembly of various machine parts and Machines can fail. Not that they will, but they might. Suppose there had been a Leakage from the oil filter. Since the vehicle was not taking for Servicing it was not noticed. And Just like Majority of Car owners, Mr.A didn’t notice this himself as well. He keeps on running his vehicle. Suddenly one day he sees a light in the form of an oil can on his instrument Cluster. He takes his vehicle to the nearby car workshop. Gets that rectified. But the damage might have already been done. That light indicates low oil pressure in Engine; if that comes up, it means the Engine is not getting proper lubrication. Sounds Scary? Again it in-fact really is.

The list can go on and on. Not that all bad things will happen if you miss the service, but again, it might. Why not just prevent it altogether?

Moral of the story.

Though a car may seem to work fine even if you skip or prolong a Regular service parts in your car are deteriorating and this will cause damage. The bad part is that this damage is irreversible which goes to say that if a regular service is delayed the wear done to the internal parts cannot be reversed by doing the next regular service earlier than required.

Avail the service whether you have covered the km or the months. Don’t wait for both.

Sounds Complicated? Then Visit Carworkz.com today. Take an informed decision, and save on unnecessary expenses.