Hail Damage Auto

[AlbaCrush]

Last night while attending a Birthday dinner, my car was blasted by hail. I have dents all over my vehicle (About 75 dents). Geico estimated the damage at $3,040 dollars for paintless dent removal.

I'm curious to hear from others who had paintless dent removal done on their vehicle and what the results were. I'm concerned due to the number of dents.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Here's what I suggest... Call your local car rental business and ask them who does their body repair work (rental cars have lots of collisions). They usually have really good repair partners. Then go talk to that shop to see how much a quality repair shop would charge. And you just may pay a little less. Tell them that the rental car company sent you. Just maybe they'll cut you a deal.

If you go to the Geico repair facility they may (or may not) repair it properly.


One little thought... After a hail storm many many cars may have been damaged. Therefore body shops may not give their best price until the work slows down. Consider waiting a few months.

 

[Big_Hitter]

^^ poor Subaru!


I've used PDR several times, not due to hail but due to plain door dings. I bought a "family" car a few years ago that was beat on pretty hard. I think the PDR guy took out about 30 dings at a cost of $225.


Those guys do incredible work.

 

[braumeister]

Just a thought ...
Many years ago a hailstorm put so many dents in my car it looked like a golf ball the next morning. I took it to the insurance guy who advised me to wait a bit before putting in a claim.

He was right. The combination of cool nights and warm sunny days removed the dents naturally within a week.

 

[Car-Guy]

The combination of cool nights and warm sunny days removed the dents naturally within a week.

I've heard of this before but never seen it work. Maybe it's because we have plenty of warm sunny days here but not many cool nights.

 

[38Chevy454]

He was right. The combination of cool nights and warm sunny days removed the dents naturally within a week.

Depends if the metal is stretched in the dent. If it is stretched, then it is not going to return to orig flat or smooth contour without additional labor work.

 

[Trawler]

Ouch!! We got hit first year retired but no where near the size shown in MasterBlaster's picture. I went to 3 auto shops for estimates. Gave to my insurance company the highest estimate and they cut me a check less my deductible after coming out and inspecting the car. Since we had no loan or lease they said if I choose to get it fixed and if final repair was going to be more than estimate to have body shop call them and they would work it out. We ended up waiting on the repair and most all of the dents popped back out and the few that did not are hardly noticeable so we just put the $$ new car fund.

 

[braumeister]

I've heard of this before but never seen it work. Maybe it's because we have plenty of warm sunny days here but not many cool nights.

In all fairness, it was 40 years ago when the sheet metal may have been lower quality than today. It was also at high altitude in Colorado, so the day/night temperature differential was pretty great. Still, a couple of weeks later I couldn't see a single dent.

 

[W2R]

I'd go someplace reputable, and avoid any out-of-state dent removal services that may be set up at corners or in parking lots. For example, we have a Jaguar dealer in my community whose repairs we like (even though we don't have Jaguars), that has been there for many years, and that is approved by our insurance company. I think that someplace like that with a reputation to uphold will do a good job.

 

[Big_Hitter]

In Houston I used a guy that was exceptional. I got to see him work on a vehicle before I got my dings pulled.


After I moved I called a local guy that advertised on CL. Turns out he works for most of the used car lots in town.

 

[AlbaCrush]

I left my car with Geico and drove away with a rental car until the repairs are made. Luckily, I had no deductible on my comp portion and I also have the free rental car for 30 days in my policy. Since there were several others also with hail damage, the manager of the paintless dent removal company assisted with the estimate to determine if the PDR was an option. They gave me check for the $3,040 and if it cost more, they work with Geico for the additional costs. I could have shopped around and tried to find something cheaper, but I just want my vehicle repaired and not run around getting estimates. I never heard of dents popping out on their own. Since my vehicle is a 2010, not repairing wasn't an option of mine that I could live with. Thanks for everyone's input.

 

[pb4uski]

We got a ding in our new car a couple months ago. While I was hopeful that it would come out on its own it didn't. I went into the local dealer for an oil change and they recommended someone. I met him at a local body shop later in the day and he took it out slick as all get out. Those guys are magicians.

 

[Big_Hitter]

We got a ding in our new car a couple months ago. While I was hopeful that it would come out on its own it didn't. I went into the local dealer for an oil change and they recommended someone. I met him at a local body shop later in the day and he took it out slick as all get out. Those guys are magicians.

it's truly amazing to watch them work

 

[Texas Proud]

We had all 3 of ours dented last year... along with many others around here...

It seems there are certain people that do the work and go from shop to shop doing the work... our shop just did the work that was too big...

We had (IIRC) over 1500 on one vehicle... they replaced the hood and trunk lids... thought about cutting off the top and welding a new one, but the dent guy said he could do it cheaper... to me the big problem is the ones that are overlooked for some reason or another... I have found a few that were not fixed and were in places you thought would get hit...


BTW, it took months to get all our cars fixed... make sure that they have the guy scheduled before dropping it off... ours thought he was, so took off the things needed for him to get access to things and then he did not show up... one car was there 6 weeks!!!

 

[eytonxav]

Check out the video contained in this link, it might help someone:
Car Repair Shops Hope You NEVER See This… But It Will Save You A Lot Of Money!