waynedog

Me and my 2009 LS got caught in a 1 hour hailstorm on I 85 a few days ago. Hail dents all over my car. Starting the claim/repair process with State Farm today. Any advice on how I should handle this? Things to think about to make sure my car is repaired correctly? Any concerns?

Thanks!

comotiger

Hi Waynedog, sorry to hear about the hail damage. My car received minor hail damage last year. I have AAA with 500 deductible. I reported to AAA, and told them I wanted to get the car fixed at an indy PDR shop that receives rave reviews. They agreed. The AAA inspector filed his report and gave me the estimate. I took the car in, the shop discovered other damage missed by the inspector. They worked together with the claims adjuster and got everything taken care of. There was a very very small ding in the chrome window trim that was barely noticeable (from one odd viewing angle). The OEM part was over $1500! Rather than replace, I agreed to take replacement value, which was roughly 50% of the new part price. This covered my deductible, so I didn't have to pay anything to get the car fixed like new!

So, don't try to figure out all the damage yourself with the inspector who provides the initial estimate. Take the car to a well-regarded PDR shop. They are highly skilled and discover damage that may be missed otherwise. In my case, it was helpful that the PDR shop and inspector had worked together previously, so the claims and repair process worked out very smoothly.

DJWLDW

waynedog

That sucks man. Sorry to hear about the hail damage. Hope they can fix it? Growing up in Nebraska I have seen some serious hail damage done. Hail the size of a baseball will trash a tractor and planter left in the field.

Dennis

DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

Wayne,

Had this happen to my LS and Tundra a few years ago with a bad hail storm. Charlotte got hit in what I suspect is the same storm last Wednesday and we got some hail as well. I washed the hood of my new truck over the weekend (sits outside, lots of pollen) to closely inspect for any damage and luckily didn't see any.

On my last issue, I made sure to do the following.
1) wash your car thoroughly.

2) Take a flashlight and inspect each section of your car, shining it sideways over the surface. Use a notepad and go section by section (roof, hood, front L quarter, front L door, rear L door) etc and note which have damage that was not there before. Note that hail damage (at least on mine) can be both dents and small paint chips in some cases. The damage isn't likely just on your hood, roof and trunk, but likely on the doors especially in flat sill areas, but also if it hit sideways. Look at the trim (both painted and chrome), headlights, windows, etc as well.

3) When the inspector comes (or when you go by their estimate center) they should do something similar. Compare your notes to what they take to make sure nothing is missed.

4) They'll give you an estimate to repair; get a second estimate from a quality bodyshop to compare as a sanity check and if wildly different go back to your insurance.

At this point you'll have a decision to make. You can get the car fully repaired (assuming a lot of damage) which will cost several thousand $$$. Or you can go to a paintless dent place (some bodyshops or your Lexus dealer can coordinate) and get 90-95% of the hail dents removed and pocket the $$$ difference. The areas they won't be able to fix are usually on the trim (chrome or painted) and near the seams.

The above assumes some pretty substantial dents / damage which may not be your case.

CRowe14

Fantastic advice here from AC and Dave, thanks guys. To the OP, good luck with everything and please do report back with how you ended up resolving the situation.

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

Just another consideration, If you go the route of repair and repainting the car, it will be treated like accident damage (think "diminished value"). With PDR and whole body paint buffing, it may not be 100% (should be pretty darn close though) but there shouldn't be any damning CarFax entries.

SW17LS

What a bummer!

i agree with Dave and I would explore the PDR route. You might be surprised by how well it will come out. I've had two hail damaged cars, our old 04 Prius and 11 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Both were perfect after PDR, even with aluminum hoods. The Jeep required some trim replacement also. Much better than reprinting most of the car imho.

mckellyb

As a resident of Fort Worth, who has an open lot at work, I'm dreading spring, A.K.A. hail & tornado season.

I already have light hail damage on mine, but unless you're looking for it, it's mostly invisible. Hot summer days may take care of a few of these hits, but certainly not all of them.

My primary concern is, you're not about to get a paint job which is even remotely close to what the factory does, and I can almost guarantee, within five years, you're going to be obvious differences in shade.

waynedog

I inspected my car thoroughly last night and in addition to the many dings, I have chips in my paint all over the car and every window (front, back, sides) have chips in them. So in addition to getting the dents out, it looks like all windows will need replacing and the whole car will need repainting. I go Thursday to the State Farm inspection station to get the estimate and check. I assume it will be very expensive repair.

Beyond the PDR repair process, how do I ensure I am getting the best body work/paint job? I live in a small to medium sized community with some reputable repair shops around, but how do I determine if they are up to the task of doing this repair properly?

Another issue is depreciation - how much will my car go down in value after a repair like this? 2009 with 70k miles - probably worth $20 - 25k now.

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

Check out custom paint and car restoration shops. Be sure to get multiple references and go and look at the work they've done. A regular auto body shop is unlikely to do LS quality paintwork.

mckellyb

Depending on how bad it is, don't be totally shocked if the insurance company totals it.

Seriously.