Hi all.

Well, if you remember me, about 2 weeks ago I picked up my new to me 07 GS 350. I love the car.

Last night, here in Edmonton, we got hit with 60 mph winds and hail the size of baseballs and golf *****. I unfortunately have to park on the driveway. Needless to say, my cars look like they got the hell beaten out of them. It shattered the window on my Mazda 6.

I called insurance this morning and they sent me to a body shop that wants me to try paintless dent repair. There are chips taken out of the paint on my GS...

Has anyone had PDR done to their cars? If so, how has it turned out? Would you recommend it or would you go with traditional body work?

He said the chipped areas would get repainted but I don't want my roof, hood and truck to look like **** and have 2 different shades of silver in areas. The other estimator from the same body shop said that he thinks they will have to get a new hood, roof and trunk. Should I push for this?

 

PDR is the way to go, but the important thing is to find a good tech that doesnt leace tool marks. If you can avoid repainting do so by all means, because it will lower resale. If you do have it resprayed make sure to have it done professionally. A good shop can blend the work properly.

 

That sucks because silver is a b|tch to match. PDR won't do any good with chipped paint - the whole benefit of PDR is keeping the factory paint when possible. To answer your question, I've had PDR done on a couple vehicles and it came out flawless - very cool option to traditional bodywork.

 

I watched a body shop here do PDR and it was interesting to watch. The results were rather amazing. What type of warranty does your insurance have for work done? I mean if you are that worried about it, having a "if it is not done correct we will do it again" should make you feel better.

 

^ That or a decent bodyshop should offer the same guarantee.

 

Thanks guys.

I got called from insurance today saying they wouldnt pay for the paint as hail can't damage paint. My arguement was I'll throw ice cubes at 60 mph and we'll see if they don't chip the paint. I know the paint was near flawless before this.

Lexus of Edmonton even noted that the body and paint were in almost perfect condition when I took it in there last week. Would this be something to bring to my insurance company's attention?

 

Hail itself doesn't chip paint. There may be very, very few exceptions, but 999/1000 it will not. Are the chips anywhere near where the window was knocked out? Shattered glass can bring hell to paint. I've worked on cars that simply had a door glass knocked out and wound up painting three panels because of the chips caused by the shards. PDR can handle a lot of hail damage, as you can get access from behind or even glue pop some, but there are some panels that do not have access to get everything. If the storm was bad enough, simply debris blowing around can cause chips as well.

 

Interesting to know pdbrady, although I have to agree with OP about his post on the paint being chipped due to hail.... The silver paint on my car is pretty bad, it's honestly pretty thin IMO and I have tons of chips and scratches on my hood and front bumper to soon be repaired.

 

Mine is, too. It was a highway car before I bought it and it's been blasted with rock chips. But rocks and hail are two different things. I know it's hard to accept, I tried to find one example to prove it wrong when I started working in a shop, but hail simply does not chip paint. I've seen thousands upon thousands of hail dents, never with a chip. If you compare dents of a piece of hail and an equal size rock, the hail dent will tend to be softer while the rock can leave a sharp, nasty dent/crease and likely damaged paint. That's why PDR is such a good option for most hail damage. I will add, make sure you not only look at the panels themselves through this process, but look at the little things.....belt moldings, all chrome moldings, grill, etc. The moldings can dent just like metal and grills can break, and all would need replaced, especially with hail that size.