Hail Damaged Car - Advice?

[Lisa]

Hi, guys. I have a 2007 Nissan Pathfinder with 39,000 miles on it. Recent hailstorms in our area put about 8 dings total on the hood, roof and window frames. Only one or two dings are very noticeable, and the car already has its share of small door dings, scratches and nicks typical of a family car that's almost 6 years old.

My question is, would it be wise to get the hail dents repaired? Or given the car's age and the fact that I plan to drive it for a few more years, will getting the repairs done make much difference on the car's trade-in value down the road? I don't care much about the aesthetics, but don't want to seriously hurt the car's future value by not making the repairs.

[MoBe]

Personally I wouldn`t bother with a vehicle more than 3 years old,at more than twice that it won`t affect resale value enough to make any difference.

[Lisa]

Originally Posted by MoBe

Personally I wouldn`t bother with a vehicle more than 3 years old,at more than twice that it won`t affect resale value enough to make any difference.

That's kind of what I'm thinking.... thanks.

[rr-nyc]

You're paying for the insurance so why not use it? Its a comprehensive loss so look at your policy to find out your deductible. If you don't want to make a claim, you should adjust your policy and not waste the money

Unless you're planning to own it until the wheels fall off, leaving the divots will lower the resale value

[Lisa]

Originally Posted by rr-nyc

You're paying for the insurance so why not use it? Its a comprehensive loss so look at your policy to find out your deductible. If you don't want to make a claim, you should adjust your policy and not waste the money

Unless you're planning to own it until the wheels fall off, leaving the divots will lower the resale value

My deductible is $1,000 and the repair estimate is $1,900. And I know the dents will lower the resale value, but by how much, especially if I don't plan to sell for a few years? Would the car be worth $1,900 less in three years because it has a few hail dings?

[gmh1013]

Originally Posted by Lisa

My deductible is $1,000 and the repair estimate is $1,900. And I know the dents will lower the resale value, but by how much, especially if I don't plan to sell for a few years? Would the car be worth $1,900 less in three years because it has a few hail dings?

In that case I would not bother with 1k deductible....if you plan on keeping longer....the good thing about an beat up car is nobody will steal it.
I would drop all ins except for liabililty

[Lisa]

Originally Posted by gmh1013

In that case I would not bother with 1k deductible....if you plan on keeping longer....the good thing about an beat up car is nobody will steal it.
I would drop all ins except for liabililty

It's not even that beat up, Greg. You have to look closely to see the dents.

I need to review the policy and see how much I've been paying for comprehensive.... it wasn't much, with such a high deductible.

[gmh1013]

Originally Posted by Lisa

It's not even that beat up, Greg. You have to look closely to see the dents.

I need to review the policy and see how much I've been paying for comprehensive.... it wasn't much, with such a high deductible.

Thats a tough call then....then it may be worth getting the body work done and pay the 1k

[MonBK]

[QUOTE=Lisa;3386414]It's not even that beat up, Greg. You have to look closely to see the dents.

QUOTE]

I wouldn't bother with it Lisa.

[rr-nyc]

Originally Posted by Lisa

My deductible is $1,000 and the repair estimate is $1,900. And I know the dents will lower the resale value, but by how much, especially if I don't plan to sell for a few years? Would the car be worth $1,900 less in three years because it has a few hail dings?

Ouch...$1000 deductible?

If the estimate is $1900, have insurance cut you the check for the $900 and bring it to another bodyshop or painteless dent removal who can probably do it for a lot less

[Lisa]

Originally Posted by rr-nyc

Ouch...$1000 deductible?

If the estimate is $1900, have insurance cut you the check for the $900 and bring it to another bodyshop or painteless dent removal who can probably do it for a lot less

Yes, that's the deductible. Since hail damage specialists/paintless dent removal shops are abundant here, I will probably wait and see if A) any dents pop out on their own and B) what can be done for $900 to spruce up the body when it's time to sell. And again, since the car is my "beater" family vehicle, ultimately I might not do anything and invest the $900 into a "new car" account. It should grow to over $902 in three or four years.

Again, thank you, everyone, for your advice. I sort of have a plan in place now. Your input is much appreciated.

[gmh1013]

If you have a 100 dollar deductbile or even 200 I would say yes....get it fixed.
Oh remember getting hail damage in Stillwater on my old nissan king cab back 85....spent 200 on ins
6 weeks later and a worse hailstorm I had to fix it again.

[Lisa]

Originally Posted by gmh1013

If you have a 100 dollar deductbile or even 200 I would say yes....get it fixed.
Oh remember getting hail damage in Stillwater on my old nissan king cab back 85....spent 200 on ins
6 weeks later and a worse hailstorm I had to fix it again.

We still have cars being driven around with major dents from the hail 2 years ago. Luckily at that time I could still put the Pathfinder in the garage (Falcon has since taken its spot). I was at the dealership today and they've got some big hail sales going on - some of the sale vehicles had shattered glass and missing windshields...

[gimpex]

If you don't mind it now , I would leave any fixing up until you are ready to sell. Then depending on how you sell it you can decide whether to do it or not.

Trade in - they can do it for cheaper
Private - fixing it you will more likely get your money back or at least make it more sellable

Fixing it now will make it look nice but you will have new dings before you sell anyway.

[Lisa]

Originally Posted by gimpex

If you don't mind it now , I would leave any fixing up until you are ready to sell. Then depending on how you sell it you can decide whether to do it or not.

Trade in - they can do it for cheaper
Private - fixing it you will more likely get your money back or at least make it more sellable

Fixing it now will make it look nice but you will have new dings before you sell anyway.

Good points; thank you.

[JUSTROLEXES]

I would keep it as is Lisa since you will be putting the money upfront and not sure when you will sell it...

[fusionstorm]

Get an estimate from some of those mobile dent repair outfits. They may come in substantially less if the $1900 estimate came from a dealer.

[joeychitwood]

Originally Posted by fusionstorm

Get an estimate from some of those mobile dent repair outfits. They may come in substantially less if the $1900 estimate came from a dealer.

This. I've seen significant dents totally removed by a guy with a hand-held dent tool.

[JohnBoy]

Originally Posted by fusionstorm

Get an estimate from some of those mobile dent repair outfits. They may come in substantially less if the $1900 estimate came from a dealer.

Yes! Even the body shops subcontract out the small dent jobs to them. These guys use a vacuum pump and a release agent to 'suck' the dents back out - the vacuum cup self-releases when the depression is flattened - often without any damage to the paint. I suspect that they are doing a landoffice business in your area, being much cheaper than the traditional body shop hammer-fill-repaint routine. Good luck!

[dbphotos]

Take the $900 from the insurance company and go to a hail repair place and they will likely do it for the $900 or just a little more. Most of them will work with you.

Or, you can just take the $900 from the insurance company and not get it fixed and expect to take a hit when you sell it. Worse case scenario, if you get hit again, the insurance company will just deduct the $900 they already paid you from any future claim (if you don't have proof it was fixed).

[Runnin' Rebel]

Originally Posted by dbphotos

Take the $900 from the insurance company and go to a hail repair place and they will likely do it for the $900 or just a little more. Most of them will work with you.

Or, you can just take the $900 from the insurance company and not get it fixed and expect to take a hit when you sell it. Worse case scenario, if you get hit again, the insurance company will just deduct the $900 they already paid you from any future claim (if you don't have proof it was fixed).

Hail repair place ? That's new one for me

[dbphotos]

Originally Posted by JAGERVEGAS

Hail repair place ? That's new one for me

If you lived in the Midwest or South you would see them all over. I never heard of them when I lived in CA either, but in TX and OK we are pronege to major hail storms so it is a cottage industry. Sometimes in a permanent location and some have trailers that they setup when storms roll in and they will work in 1 location for months.

Its all paintless dent repair and they can work some major magic. My truck got pelted in April and you can't tell it was ever in a storm except 1 dent on the roof. Cost 1/2 of what the insurance estimated to replace the hood, cut off the roof and replace it and then repaint.

[GermanyMatt]

From what I've seen, paintless dent removal places charge around $75-$100 per dent, depending on how difficult the process of removing the dent, i.e. door dings are usually the cheapest because they're easier to get to.

If you plan to keep the vehicle for several more years, I would hold out until you're ready to sell, then get the majority of them fixed if it's a reasonable cost.

[Cru Jones]

depends on your relationship with the repair shop....if they know you're not going to do it if you have to pay $1,000 of the $1,900, they might be able to work with you on their estimate.

otherwise, with that size deductible, don't worry about it. it's 6 years old already and in a few years time, no way will the $1,000 you spend now be reflected in the sale price.

the dents can have an advantage, too.....many years ago i used to drive a very beat up car with three hubcaps missing, rust, dents, etc., and people would get of my way when they saw me coming. they knew i didn't care about dinging my car against theirs.

[East Bay Rider]

I'd probably get them fixed because I'm nuts that way. My cars get old but they always look their best.
However where you live there is a very real possibility of future hail damage. So if you get these small ones fixed now and experience another hail storm next year will you fix those too? Maybe just wait until you get ready to sell/trade in and fix it all at once.
FWIW there's always someone who's eager to buy a mechanically well maintained car with some cosmetic flaws because he may not be able to afford the same car in pristine condition.
I vote wait and see.

[swissautopro]

Based on your description of the overall condition and the fact that aesthetics don't bother you anyway, I wouldn't worry about it.

[robertneville]

Lisa, i would double check your policy, i find it hard to believe you have a $1000 deductible on your comprehensive. it is usually dirt cheap to have a $0 deductible on your comp. coverage.

[Welshwatchman]

My brother-in-law had 7 medium sized dents removed from his 4x4 for £190. Bonnet, door, tailgate, no roof dent.

The "painless dent remover" normally charged £50 per dent but was happy with £190 for a job lot.

The garage quoted £850 + VAT for the same job. All they would have done is called in the dent removal specialist.

Perhaps you can consider calling in a dent removal specialist just before you are ready to sell and in the meantime just call it patina.

[Ristretto]

Painless dent removal for the majority of the easy repairs or through insurance. I would personally keep it as it is and drive it till your feed up and change to a newer car.

[kilyung]

I used PDR at a rate of $75/ding. Was happy with the results.