How To Fix Hail Damaged Cars?

While damage from hail rarely affects your vehicle’s engine or the ability to commute, it can cause significant visual damage. This is where the help of a reliable auto repair shop can help. A highly skilled team can fix hail-damaged cars and get you back on the road.

Hail damage is one of the most often overlooked problems affecting cars and other vehicles, but it has a very serious impact. It can bring down the visual appearance as well as the economic value of a car drastically.

A severe hailstorm can cause lots of damage to the various parts of a car. The areas which usually see the most damage are the roof, boot, bonnet, and windscreen. Damage to any of these areas usually entails very high repair costs. The costs go up depending on the number of dents, the severity of paint damage, and if the car window is damaged or cracked.

Hail damage can be broadly classified into two main categories – Contained hail damage and multiple sites hail damage.

Contained hail damage refers to situations where only one part of the car has received concentrated hail damage, such as a single panel. This is the less severe type of hail damage.

Multiple sites hail damage on the other hand refers to situations where many parts of the car have received scattered damage and are in need of repair, such as the roof, boot, bonnet, and windscreen all being damaged and/or cracked.

For Contained hail damage, the following methods can be used –

1. SMART – SMART refers to Small Medium Area Repair Technology. It is a very innovative hail damage repair method, which consists of focusing on the hail damaged area exclusively, thereby avoiding the need to respray the entire damaged car part.

By fixing and painting the hail-dented area only through modern techniques, SMART methods lead to faster and more cost-efficient repairs. They enable quick bodywork and paintwork solutions.

2. PDR – PDR refers to Paintless Dent Removal. It is a repair method where the original paintwork of the car is preserved. If the car has been fortunate enough to not have its paintwork damaged, no repainting is required and PDR can be used.

PDR requires technicians to use the latest state-of-the-art tools and technology to repair the dents caused by hailstorms without affecting the factory paintwork of the vehicle.

Both the above methods of removing hail damage from a car offer the advantage that no disassembly and reassembly of car parts is required and thus the customer does not have to leave their car in the shop for a long period. They would also not need to get a courtesy vehicle while their original car is being repaired as the process is quick..

PDR especially represents the most modern and best way to fix hail damage on a car.

Multiple sites hail damage is much more extensive than contained hail damage and it usually requires major repairs and even repainting to remove hail damage from the car.

Things to consider about multiple sites hail damage –

1. The more panels that are damaged, the more the repair and repainting costs will rise. The panel beating cost will increase with every additional panel being damaged.

2. The cost also rises as the number of dents increase. This is because a larger number of dents means that a larger amount of panel beating is required, which increases the labour charges and time consumed.

3. If the paintwork has been damaged, then the repair costs will include the repainting costs too.

4. If one or more windows of the car are cracked, they will require a complete window replacement, which will further increase the repair costs.

5. In the worst cases of damage, the entire part will need to be replaced. For example, if a panel has received hundreds of hailstorm dents, it will be cheaper and less time consuming to replace the panel instead of beating out all the dents.

As you can clearly see, multiple sites hail damage cases can be a very expensive and time-consuming affair and the repair costs can be higher than the value of the vehicle, which could lead to a write-off.

In such cases, it is better to claim insurance on the vehicle because the excess will likely be lesser than the total repair cost.

In most cases, it is better to fix a hail damaged car by taking the help of experts because if you try to remove hail damage from a car yourself, you may end up doing more harm than good and furthermore, the insurance policy on the car will not cover the costs of repairing the car yourself.

Nevertheless, DIY options do exist if you would like to proceed that way and the dents are not too severe.

The metal of your car expands when it gets hot, so sometimes parking your car in the hot sunlight will make the tinier dents pop back out. Remember, this fix is not instant. It depends on the weather and the length of time the car stays in the sunlight.

Just as heat can cause small dents to pop out, extreme cold can also do the same. Another easy way of reversing minor hail damage is to use dry ice on the body of the car. This method carries the advantage of not putting the paintwork of the car at risk at all.

Dent pullers pull dents from the outside of a car. They lift the dents through the car’s bodywork and straighten and smoothen the metal out. There are two types of dent pullers, suction dent pullers and glue dent pullers.

If you’re not covered by insurance, dealing with hail damage to your car is plain expensive. The first step is to assess the damage to the windscreen and whether it’s within legally drivable conditions.

Your repair technician will evaluate the car and advise you on whether you can keep driving the car or if it needs fixing before driving. They will also give you a repair quote to get it back up and running again.

Hail damage repair bills can be enormous depending on the hail damage and number of dents, and on whether some parts need to be replaced completely. They can range anywhere between $1,000 to $10,000. It can be more if you have to replace any part.

Despite the exorbitant cost, it is important to fix a hail damaged car because not only does the hail damage hurt the visual appearance, it also dramatically reduces the value of the car, which leads to the driver of the car taking a big loss if he tries to resell the car in the future. This holds true even if the car is working perfectly and is fully functional.

Even though the hassle of dealing with insurance is tedious, it will prove to be far more cost-effective in the long run than trying to deal with hail damage without insurance.

After assessing the damage, the company will most likely suggest that you take your car to a smash repairer or a PDR (Paintless Dental Removal) specialist based on the results of their assessment. They can also arrange for a tow for your car if it is deemed unsafe to drive.

Once your car reaches the smash repairer or PDR specialist, they will carry out a thorough examination of the damage and determine whether it can be repaired within the excess amount or whether it is an economic write-off. If it can be repaired for less than the insured value, your insurer will fix the hail damaged car and return it to you. Some repair centres will also provide a courtesy car for the period your car is in the garage.

Economic write-off means that the repair cost quote for the damaged vehicle is greater than the total insured value of the car. In such cases, the insurance company does not elect to go ahead with the repair of the car and instead classifies it as an economic write-off.

While preventing damage from hailstorms is not always possible, you can still fix it and protect your car from hail damage.

1. Park your vehicle in a covered garage or carport to reduce the risk of hail damage. If you don’t have a covered garage or carport, try to park your vehicle in an open area that is not exposed to direct hail contact. Keep your vehicle clean and free of debris, as this can help reduce the severity of hail damage.

2. Use protective films and shields on all windows, hoods, and roofs of your vehicle to help prevent dings from hail strikes. Window films and shields are a great way to protect your vehicle from hail damage. They can help reduce the risk of dings and scratches, and they can also help keep the windows from shattering if they are hit by hail.

3. If you frequently drive in areas that are prone to hail, it is a good idea to invest in a high-quality roof rack or cargo box. This will help protect your belongings from hail damage while you are on the road.

4. If possible, avoid driving during severe thunderstorms or when hail is expected in the forecast. If you know a storm is coming, consider covering your vehicle with a tarp or blanket to help protect it from hail damage.

5. If your vehicle does sustain hail damage, take it to a reputable body shop or dealership for repair as soon as possible. The sooner you get the repairs done, the less likely you are to experience further damage from the hail storm.

Protecting your car from hail damage is not very simple and you need experts for the job. Right from assessing the hail damage to fixing the dents without major reworks, to getting your insurance claim cleared to arranging alternate transport services to getting your car fixed and back to work – we at Super Dent Removal do it all. Get in touch with our team today to get a quote on our repairs or call us on 0478 185 255.