Hail Damaged Car - Advice?

[david_ord]

Hi Lisa!! Sorry to hear that.

I was able to purchase a "paintless" door ding repair insurance when I bought my mercedes 8 months ago. I've had to use it once, and was quite impressed. They get on the other side of the dent and simply massage it out in a matter of minutes. Without the insurance, the cost would have been about $100 to $200, and it appears they would have done multiple dents at the same time. Perhaps these types of guys can do the same for your car if the dents are in easy to access places, like certain locations under the hood or roof-top. I'd start by calling the dealer and asking about the paintless door ding repair service.

[Lisa]

Thanks for the info, David. I just got off he phone with the service department at Nissan - my car is actually there at the moment having the fuel level sensor replaced under warranty. His opinion about the hail damage was: get it fixed before you sell. Dealers apparently deduct quite a bit for that type of damage.

I am getting a covered parking area built this summer (at some point, if we can ever get the design finalized) so the car will have protection from the elements in the future - but not the kids.

[azguy]

Save the cash on the "kid hauler" and drive it into the ground...I bet you would never get the money back out of having the dents fixed...IMHO

[Lisa]

Originally Posted by azguy

Save the cash on the "kid hauler" and drive it into the ground...I bet you would never get the money back out of having the dents fixed...IMHO

I don't know how some moms I know can drive Land Cruisers, Lexuses, Mercedes and BMW SUVs to haul their kids around... unless they absolutely forbid eating or drinking in the car, the interiors always look like crap, and the outside suffers from slinging backpacks, gym bags, sports gear... I say, wait until the kids grow up and treat yourself to a nice car once again.

[skypilot]

I've had some experience with hail damage to cars. Keep it parked in the hot sun for a while, you'll be amazed at what that will do for the dents, especially if the vehicle is dark in color.
At least it wasn't that sweet little Falcon ragtop !

[Lisa]

Originally Posted by skypilot

I've had some experience with hail damage to cars. Keep it parked in the hot sun for a while, you'll be amazed at what that will do for the dents, especially if the vehicle is dark in color.
At least it wasn't that sweet little Falcon ragtop !

The Falcon is the reason the Pathfinder has to sit outside these days. From a strictly economic standpoint, the Pathfinder is worth twice as much, but in matters of the heart, well, you know how that goes. I really need to get going on the covered parking project.

Anyhow, you're right - with a week of 100+ temperatures and a black car, it will be interesting to see if any of the damage pops right out.

[Rsvrider]

Hi Lisa, Im sorry to hear about your car. I would suggest not filing with your insurance or spending tons of money on it due to the fact that you will not recover it when you sell it.
Readng some of your posts/threads it seems to me you are a bit of a car aficionado. Here's my solution, do what I did with my FJ80. If you have ever painted a room with a roller you can do it, spend about $200 on Monstaliner and never worry about it again. I understand its not everyone's cuppa but its used to take my kids to and from lacrosse and soccer or the lake and I never have to worry about the car anymore.
The texture will hide the dents and prevent any new ones. Here are some pics, I used OD green and Flat black. Its been a year and NOTHING has scratched it or damaged it! BC of the height it doesnt fit in the garage and the sun has not changed the hue of the paint either.
Here's some pics, hope this helps:

PS
BTW this is my family car, I agree with you that '"some are boring".

[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!

[Rsvrider]

Took a close up pic for you to see the texture. There are many colors to choose from. But found this "home remedy" which I would try first:
DENTS & HAIL DAMAGE
Dry Ice will condense metal and thereby shrink small dents on your car. Place the Dry Ice on the inside of the dent if possible. Use heavy gloves and press flat sheet against dent. If it is not possible to get on the inside concave part of the dent, then using heavy gloves hold the Dry Ice so a corner can fit into the bottom lowest part of the cratered dent. Hold the Dry Ice until the metal is frosted at least 2 inches beyond the dent. Let the metal warm up (in the sun is the best) and repeat the procedure. Sometimes the dent will pop out perfectly. More often it will not be possible to get a flat smooth finish, but the dent will be reduced noticeably. Creased metal will still show the crease line but the dent will be far less pronounced. I have not seen any paint damage, but I'm sure if the paint is not strongly adhered, it could peel away.

[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.

[Lisa]

Originally Posted by Rsvrider

Took a close up pic for you to see the texture. There are many colors to choose from. But found this "home remedy" which I would try first:
DENTS & HAIL DAMAGE
Dry Ice will condense metal and thereby shrink small dents on your car. Place the Dry Ice on the inside of the dent if possible. Use heavy gloves and press flat sheet against dent. If it is not possible to get on the inside concave part of the dent, then using heavy gloves hold the Dry Ice so a corner can fit into the bottom lowest part of the cratered dent. Hold the Dry Ice until the metal is frosted at least 2 inches beyond the dent. Let the metal warm up (in the sun is the best) and repeat the procedure. Sometimes the dent will pop out perfectly. More often it will not be possible to get a flat smooth finish, but the dent will be reduced noticeably. Creased metal will still show the crease line but the dent will be far less pronounced. I have not seen any paint damage, but I'm sure if the paint is not strongly adhered, it could peel away.

That's sort of like texturing the walls of your home to disguise cracks or gouges.... kind of a neat idea. It's like a bed liner for your entire car.

[East Bay Rider]

Originally Posted by Lisa

That's sort of like texturing the walls of your home to disguise cracks or gouges.... kind of a neat idea. It's like a bed liner for your entire car.

Yes. Very popular with the off road crowd to prevent scratches from branches and rocks. Very durable stuff.

[FNFZ4]

when you are about to sell the car, some shops that do Auto Detailing have paintless dent removal services. I dont know the your area but here in LA there are tons of them. So getting the car repaired not is not a wise move but thats just 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.

[Lisa]

Here are a few photos taken this evening. I swear, some of the dents already seem smaller than they were - maybe the hot weather has already popped them out. I could only get two hail dings to show up in the photos, except for the ones on the roof.



Near the roof rack:



On the roof; maybe 4 or 5 can be seen?:



Hardly seems worth messing with... And this was $1,900 worth of damage!?

[rr-nyc]

It looks like those could be fixed with painless dent removal...as long as there is an access point for them to insert the tools.

On a side note, its a good thing you weren't outside when that hail was coming down. If that hail did that to your car, I don't want to see what it would do to a head

[Lisa]

Originally Posted by rr-nyc

It looks like those could be fixed with painless dent removal...as long as there is an access point for them to insert the tools.

On a side note, its a good thing you weren't outside when that hail was coming down. If that hail did that to your car, I don't want to see what it would do to a head

There are new roofs going on everywhere in the neighborhood, but our extra heavy-duty shingles held up well. The hail broke several windows on our house, garage and storage building, too. But that's a different insurance claim.