Hail damage question

[spotter]

My niece has a 2005 Civic EX (128,000 miles) with heavy hail damage. Insurance company has offered $5,000 for damages or get it repaired at place using used replacement hood, trunk, etc. Car was pelted with golf ball sized hail that left deep dents all over and broke the windshield in several places.



My gut reaction was to tell her to take the money, fix the windshield and drive a dented up car until the time is right to buy another ride.



Do you think getting the car repaired makes sense? She can't really afford a new car but wants to do what makes the most sense.

 

[Brad B]

It is a tough call. The car is probably worth around $9k in good order so the damage has hurt it significantly as far as value. But you can't replace it with insurance money.



I would think that you could buy salvage yard panels and paint them for much less than $5000. I would be tempted to fix it as economically as possible and pocket the balance of the $5k and bank it for a future replacement car. Always better to drive a car that looks nice and not hail damaged.



Be sure to document the hail damage for when the car is sold. Even hail damage is not as bad as accident damage and you may want to prove that eventually.



Sorry for the bad luck.

 

[David Fermani]

My gut reaction was to tell her to take the money, fix the windshield and drive a dented up car until the time is right to buy another ride.

Go with your gut reaction. Put an Aftermarket windshield in it and pocket the rest. You could sell the car the way it is for more than 1/2 its value anytime you want. I'd also take it to a body shop to see if there is anything else your insurance company is not paying you for on the repair. Otherwise you're leaving money on the table.

 

[spotter]

Thanks guys.....I really appreciate the advice and I know my niece does as well.

 

[Surly]

I would also consult with a PDR (paintless dent removal) operation and see what they have to say. I've done PDR a number of times for "normal" dents and the results are fantastic. I have heard, but not personally experienced, that they have dry ice or liquid nitrogen techniques for hail damage. It would be worth your while to check, at least.



Even if they cannot 100% fix it, they might be able to 80% repair it for 25% of your budget.... (and you keep all of your original body panels and don't have to paint)

 

[amcdonal86]

Paintless dent repair should be able to get almost any hail damage out to the point where you don't even notice it without looking hard at it. Even grapefruit sized dents can be removed as long as the paint is not cracked.



Get the windshield fixed, and then maybe $1000 or so should be able to get all the dents fixed.

 

[Scottwax]

Don't cheap out if you decide to get it fixed. My brother did that on a 3 month old truck that got hammered by hail. 3 times in, 3 time out at the body shop and it was worse each time. He finally ended up having to sue the shop for the damages to his truck.

 

[RaskyR1]

Paintless dent repair should be able to get almost any hail damage out to the point where you don't even notice it without looking hard at it. Even grapefruit sized dents can be removed as long as the paint is not cracked.



Get the windshield fixed, and then maybe $1000 or so should be able to get all the dents fixed.

I'd say that's pretty low depending on the amount of dents. My wifes car was $9500 at the body shop which did PDR on some panels and replaced the others. PDR can work wonders but they do have limitations.



This one was beyond PDR