Bangalore Hailstorm: Volkswagen Vento Owner Loses Rs 15 Lakh In 30 Minutes [Video]
A lot of people have to see the cars and the bikes they bought with their hard-earned money get destroyed in front of their eyes. What's saddening is that they cannot do anything at that point to save them. Recently, one such heartbreaking incident was shared online by a Volkswagen Vento TSI owner. He explains how his beloved Vento got flooded after being parked in a basement within 30 minutes.
This video, in which the Volkswagen Vento owner explains how he lost his beloved sedan in 30 minutes, has been shared on Instagram. In this video, Dhimant Negandhi, the owner, starts by stating that he lost Rs 15 lakh in just 30 minutes. He then goes on to elaborate that what happened was that recently Bangalore faced a severe hailstorm, due to which he parked his Volkswagen Vento TSI in a basement.
The owner highlights that this particular Vento was very special to him as it was a Flash Red-colored TSI variant for which he had to wait 3 months. He then mentions that what happened was that during the hailstorm, in just 10 minutes, the basement in which his sedan was parked got flooded. What was more saddening was that due to the extreme amount of electricity in the water, he could not even go down to save his vehicle.
Negandhi continued and highlighted that he bought this vehicle 7 years ago and, due to the COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown, he could not drive it often and only managed to complete 40,000 km. And when he saw his vehicle submerged in water, his heart sank. After the flooding, he elaborates that his vehicle stood still in the water for 36 hours. The first recovery vehicle could not retrieve his car.
However, the next day, the service centre technician came and engaged neutral in the vehicle, and it was then retrieved. Unfortunately, the technician told him that the vehicle will become a case of total loss and the insurance will pay only the IDV (Insured Declared Value). The owner then continues and mentions that now he will have to replace this car, and the closest car which comes to his mind is a Volkswagen Virtus GT automatic.
After which, he states that this particular purchase is something which he did not expect and had not budgeted for, which makes it an even bigger problem. Negandhi highlighted that what hurts even more is that this has happened to an honest taxpayer in the state, which has some of the highest road taxes and fuel prices.
The owner of this particular Vento sums up his experience with two main takeaways. He says that the first thing which any car owner should not do is trust any basement, especially during monsoons. Many people believe that it may not happen to their vehicle or it may not happen immediately. However, in most major cities, this has become a huge issue, and it can happen to anyone at any point in time. So it's better to avoid such basements as the risk is huge.
Meanwhile, the second takeaway which he highlights is that many people often try to reduce the IDV of their vehicle. This is mostly done to avoid paying a slightly lower insurance premium amount. However, when something like the above-mentioned incident takes place, the gap between the actual value and IDV declared becomes a huge issue.