Ever taken a closer look at cars on Bangalore’s streets? You’d be surprised to find that almost every car in town has a dent. Dented cars—a common sight till a few years ago in the country’s Capital—is now commonplace on the City’s streets. And no four-wheeler is spared. Who is to blame? The buck passes from door to door, literally! So everything, from poor driving, to autorickshaws, to two-wheelers and even cycles, is blamed.
Raji Automobiles, situated at 3rd Cross, Journalists’ Colony, deals with spare parts of Ambassador, Fiat and Contessa cars.
Manager Raji says: “Safety was given priority while manufacturing cars earlier. Hence, the body guage was quite strong. But the present generation is very keen on more mileage and so to satisfy this demand, the guage of the vehicle is made smooth and light. So, even if a cyclist rams into one of the stylish cars, it suffers a dent.’’
Accounts-in-charge at the concern, Sandeep, has a different take. “Because of a boom in vehicles on the streets, autodrivers have taken on the role of car drivers. Upto 75 per cent of them hold a Learner’s Licence only. They do not know to balance and they create the dents as they are literally learning to drive on the streets!’’
The people who deal with them on a daily basis are car mechanics. A couple of them Metrolife spoke to, said car owners have now adopted a stoical attitude towards it. A foreman at United Motors on Lalbagh Road which deals with Maruti vehicles blames it on the increasing number of vehicles on the City’s  streets. “The cost of setting right a minor dent is Rs 350, including painting charges, but it could go up to Rs 15,000 if the hit on the car is major,” he adds. 
When asked if people chose to come to the garage for minor repairs, he adds that damage to cars has become so commonplace these days that the prevailing attitude among car drivers is to ignore it.
“Even if set right, the dent will occur again due to traffic on the roads, is what many of my customers remark when I ask them to set it right when the car is brought here for servicing.’’
M D Ramesh, the service manager at TVS Sundaram Motors on Kasturba Road which services Chevrolet cars says the showroom has received a 40 per cent increase in arrival of cars with dents when compared with the situation two years ago. The removal of dents and painting on this elite car costs upto Rs 3,000 if it is a minor one within the City, but it can cost more than Rs 20,000 if it is caused due to major accidents on the highways.
“Two-wheelers cause the maximum number of accidents,’’ he says. Moreover, there is an explosion in vehicle purchase and there is no space on the streets to accommodate all. “We alone sell upto 120 vehicles a month,’’ he informed.
As of now, this phenomenon does not have any statistics as the owner does not take the trouble to go and register a case with the police for these minor accidents. Car insurance companies do not have statistics as car owners prefer to claim insurance if bigger damages occur.
So, how does any car owner feel? Absolutely heartbroken, particularly when it is a brand new car bought on EMI scheme. Any solutions in sight? Right now, there’s a dent there too!