2016 Suzuki Ciaz 1.4 GLX A/T Part 5: Things That Go Bump In The Night

Upon the request of many of our readers, we revisited our series of long term test on our 2016 Suzuki Ciaz. Our report remains somewhat relevant because our Ciaz is still the same model currently being marketed by the Suzuki Automobile dealers across the country. In Part 5, we write a short and sad report about one of the realities of driving a car around the city everyday:

There’s a saying that goes: “Into each life, some rain must fall.” Despite the pampering, care and maintenance that we shower upon our 2016 Suzuki Ciaz 1.4 GLX A/T, we knew that we are constantly exposing it to the dangers of close-quarters driving in a crowded mega-metropolis like Metro Manila. We knew that it would only be a matter of time before something bad will happen and we always try to drive as carefully as possible to avoid the inevitable. But it was bound to happen.

And then one day, the inevitable did happen. On the evening of September 28, 2017 at about 6:14 PM, we were driving our Ciaz inside Roxas District, Quezon City and we queued behind another vehicle to make a left turn from Scout Chautoco Street towards Scout Reyes Street. As we were turning left, a silver Kia Carens with plate number TIY-239 did not give way and collided with our brown Suzuki. Thankfully, it was just a little fender bender and not a big, jarring collision.

Upon closer inspection, the collision dented our Ciaz’s right front fender, dislodged the right portion of the plastic bumper panel from its clips, scratched the paint a bit, and moved the fender back a little that kept the front right door from being opened. Our front passenger Shawie Dizon couldn’t immediately get out through her door and she was visibly distraught that our almost-new four-door sedan was damaged in a traffic accident.

The driver of the Kia Carens, an elderly foreigner named William James MacGregor, was a bit arrogant at first. He insisted that we just carelessly merged into his lane without looking. We were dumbfounded with his attitude and found his explanation preposterous. Despite his initial arrogance, we kept our cool and remained respectful. His Filipina wife was more courteous and apologized for her husband’s behavior. We just politely asked for Mr. MacGregor’s driver’s license and their car’s registration so we can take a picture of these documents and use these as part of the required documents to claim from our motor vehicle insurance company.

Again, the elderly foreigner’s reaction was bordering on arrogance and he did not want to show his license or their car’s registration. But after we explained that we just need to take a photo of these documents for our insurance claim so we can untangle our vehicles because we were already causing traffic at the intersection, he relented. Please note that the accident happened on a busy intersection during a Thursday rush hour. Besides, we were on our way to an important event so a long needless delay was the last thing on our mind. Long story short, we got the information we needed from the MacGregors, no cops came by, and we decided to move our vehicles, shake each other’s hand, drive away and just file our claims against our respective insurance coverage. Why make a bad situation worse?

After our vehicles were untangled, we looked at the damage to our beloved Ciaz and we were glad that it was all superficial. The fender popped back into place after the other car was removed and the front passenger door became operation again, as if nothing happened. We were able to pop the clips of the plastic bumper panel back to hold the panel to the body, push the inner fender covers back into place, and drive the car normally. Of course, the small dented portion of the right front fender and the paint scratches will need to be attended to by a competent auto paint and body shop. We were just glad that our Ciaz wasn’t badly damaged and that we can still drive it and enjoy it everyday.

As a post script to our accident, we would like to remind our readers about the documentary requirements needed to file an insurance claim. These are;

1. Police Report or Affidavit, if a police report is not available;
2. Driver’s License (include the other party’s license if it’s a collision between two vehicles or more);
3. LTO Official Receipt (OR) of the vehicle/s;
4. LTO Certificate of Registration (CR) of the vehicle/s;
5. Photos of the accident and damaged portions of the vehicle/s;
6. Repair Estimate from a workshop that’s accredited by the insurance company; and
7. Insurance Policy

So, we hope that you learned from our (bad) experience. Like us, keep your cool during an accident, learn from it and move on. We just hope that we can have all the dented body panels of our car repaired, including the mysterious dents on the hood and the C-pillar in addition to the collision damage. We also hope that we can have all these painted as nicely as the original factory Prime Dignity Brown finish so our Suzuki Ciaz will be nice, shiny and like-new again!

MILEAGE REPORT

Odometer reading: 16,375 km

Mileage since last report: 5,075 km

Average fuel economy: 8.31 km/L

Fuel cost per kilometer: P4.94/km

Service cost per kilometer: P0.52/km

Current running costs: P5.46/km