Tata Nexon Protects Family During Major Crash: Super Impressed Owner Orders New Body Shell

Most Tata Nexon owners take pride in the safety offered by their SUV. It has scored five-star safety ratings in both Global NCAP and Bharat NCAP crash tests. Owners appreciate its solid build and the long list of safety features on offer. Interestingly, real-world crashes involving the Nexon have also been in plenty, and the vehicle has managed to keep its occupants safe in most of these. Many even refuse to consider other vehicles or brands, due to safety concerns. A recent experience shared by a Nexon owner shows such a case.

This story stems from a post shared by Abhinav Suman on X (previously Twitter). A quick look at his profile shows him to be a Nexon owner as well. In his post, he says that he had recently been to a Tata service center. There, he saw a brand-new bodyshell of a Nexon. He has also shared a few images in the post.

Curious at the sight, Abhinav asked the service advisor about the body shell. The staff explained to him how it got there. It was ordered by a Nexon owner after his SUV nearly got totalled in a crash. It was a major accident and the vehicle had multiple rollovers. The body shell took much damage, but kept all the occupants safe.

The owner's total loss claim, Abhinav says, was rejected. They thus had to order a new shell, as the accident had damaged the original one beyond repairs. The new chassis reportedly costs around Rs 2.5 lakh. Abhinav further adds that the affected customer might use other parts from the vehicle that was involved in the crash.

Something Unusual Happening Here?

If you've felt it too, it probably is the case. Something about this, doesn't quite add up. We haven't, however, been able to do first-hand fact checks or verify claims directly.

First, we aren't convinced by the idea of dealer-level fitment of the chassis. While it is definitely possible, such an example may not prove to be as safe as a factory-fitted one in the event of a crash. Factories use high-precision robots to assemble car parts. At the dealer level, this is done manually. The precision and integrity levels will obviously vary. Issues like inconsistent fitment could also arise. All these could hurt the vehicle's crashworthiness.

In a follow-up comment on the thread, Abhinav says " I just checked with one of the service advisors and he said that as per the customer, spending for repair cost was better than going for total loss and also total loss was rejected by insurance." This is indeed hard to believe. In cases where the vehicle has taken extensive damage, the insurance company would mostly label it as total loss. But here, the post says that the claim was rejected!

Further, the customer allegedly finds it a better deal to pay for all the repairs- including a 2.5 lakh chassis replacement! This seems bizarre! If the affected vehicle was old, the cost for rebuilding will likely exceed the actual IDV- not the best case for the insurer. People questioned this oddity in comments.

Another tricky case is if the owner had bought the RTI (Return To Invoice) add-on for the insurance. In this case, if the vehicle gets totalled or stolen, the insurance company will have to pay its full invoice price (including the taxes and registration cost), and not the depreciated value. This means that the owner gets a new car if the insured vehicle is lost or totalled!

Only the customer who paid for the repairs would know what exactly happened in this case.