Hail damage

[mswerb]

Anyone ever have to deal with hail damage? Can it be repaired by a paintless dent removal? I have NEVER dealt with hail until now. The hood of my daily driver took the most damage with about 10-12 dings.

[MarkD51]

Hi,
Yes, the dent repair folks do this sort of thing all the time.
The one problem that can be encountered, is whether the backside of a panel can be accessed?

Sometimes, at the very edge of a panel, where two pieces of sheet metal come together, it will almost be impossible in those areas.

Others, where there's bracing on the inside of the panel, they have to drill-make a hole so they can get a tool through to the dent.

Then they usually plug the hole with a plastic plug of whatever size needed.

Not much choice in those instances, and I reckon it is the better of the two evils.

Downside with this sort of repair, it can be costly. I've had this happen two times on my Tahoe, small little dents that I put in the door. Each instance, the one dent was $50. But, when the little dent is totally gone, you sure do feel a whole lot happier.

Usually with a good number of dents, the price becomes less per dent. They should be able to give you an estimate up front, and there's the possibility of insurance covering such?

The first time I had this done, there was a black BMW being done before me that had hail damage, and a boat load of other small dents, that the vehicle looked like somebody took a ball pein hammer all over the car.

When he was done, there was not one dent anywhere. I was amazed.
Mark

[mswerb]

Insurance will cover it, with a $250 deductable.
Most of the damage is closer to the middle of the hood.

[rmagnus]

My friend had a brand new Dodge pickup that was totaled from hail damage. Since it was a limited edition truck that could not be replaced his insurance company covered everything.

He made sure the repair shop used OEM panels then a quality paint job same factory color. In the end he got a better truck.

Guess it depends on the extent of damage. Some of these PDR guys do great work ores no so. Get referrals.