I hate hail

[OVERKILL]

So, the other day, my son asks me if I can drive him halfway to meet a friend of his. I agree to do so, it's about an hour drive. They were planning on hanging out for the weekend. Thursday afternoon, there is a weather advisory for tornados and hail. I get a bad feeling that we shouldn't go, but, I had already agreed, and it wasn't raining or anything yet, just threatening, so I decided to start out.

Big mistake!

We get about 30 minutes away and it starts to rain, which suddenly switches to marble sized hail. I pull over (I'm on my "very summer" rubber) along with a pile of other cars to wait it out.

Well, the wind picks up violently and then the hail starts to get larger and larger. Finally, it's golf-ball sized. I thought it was going to break a window, but it didn't. Once the cell blows over, I do a U-turn and head home, as there were multiple cells on their way and I didn't want to be caught in another.

I stop over to my parent's place to check for any damage, and there are a pile of dents on the hood:

Of course I'm feeling just sick and not in a great mood upon discovering this.

Next day, come out to check over the rest of the vehicle and see this beauty on the roof:

Go up to the body shop to get it assessed and he points out that EVERY window moulding on the vehicle is dented:

I'm so pissed. I should have listened to my gut and cancelled. Our area never received the golf ball sized hail, that went to the west of us. If I had stayed home, I would not have gotten any damage.

 

[ripcord]

Dang! Seattle weather is dreary most of the time but at least it's not exciting.

 

[SatinSilver]

PDR for those dents. The shop can replace the window mouldings. Insurance will take care of it but a pain to deal with. Sorry it happened but at least it wasn't an accident. All cosmetic damage.

 

[USask2000]

I’m sorry this happened. In 2011 I had a brand new F150. I drove it to a Roughrider football game where it proceeded to hail. I was so upset I left before kickoff.

Luckily the paintless dent repair guys do outstanding work. And while my truck wasn’t anywhere as damaged as yours, it turned out perfect.

 

[SC Maintenance]

It happens. No point second guessing.

Depending on how many, paintless removal is actually pretty good these days.

Look at the bright side - you can park anywhere you want now. No need to worry about door dings

 

[OVERKILL]

PDR for those dents. The shop can replace the window mouldings. Insurance will take care of it but a pain to deal with. Sorry it happened but at least it wasn't an accident. All cosmetic damage.

The body shop said that most of them should PDR out, yes. The mouldings will of course have to be replaced, as you note (and he noted). I think they'll have to pull the headliner to get the one out of the roof? I'm not super stoked about that.

 

[UncleDave]

aww man - so sorry OK....

 

[JavierH19]

Don't we all. Daughters 2015 honda ended up being totaled because of really bad hail. Was too old to fix at that point and it was bad enough to where the glass shattered. It did get lighter hail damage before but the insurance had it repaired instead. But that looks very repairable. Hope the insurance treats you well.

 

[Warstud]

Sorry to hear that ...... Someone I know had that happen recently .

 

[buster]

ughh that's terrible. I got caught in a hailstorm a few weeks ago. Luckily it was dime sized and didn't dent. It sure felt like it did though.

 

[JHZR2]

Wow. Knock on wood I’ve never encountered it bigger than maybe grains of rice. That’s horrible. Hopefully most can come out via. Good pdr guy.

 

[SC Maintenance]

The body shop said that most of them should PDR out, yes. The mouldings will of course have to be replaced, as you note (and he noted). I think they'll have to pull the headliner to get the one out of the roof? I'm not super stoked about that.

The PDR guys - if they know what there doing - are pretty impressive.

How long were you planning on keeping it? If your answer is forever, then I would let the PDR guys do their best and live with whatever isn't perfect. I know - sucks.

If your trading at some point, then tell them you want it perfect.

I am guessing there is no diminished value deal in Ontario?

 

[doitmyself]

Sorry for your distress. Hail DOES suck. This phenominal guy in mid-Michigan is superb and I used him for some worse dent damage.

 

[RhondaHonda]

****. No issue for PDR but I still know how it feels. I think the GC hoods are still aluminum. My wife’s hood got pounded in 2011 with small stuff and the roof and rest of the vehicle were fine.

Also, if it’s just the one in the roof, they may just glue pull it to avoid dropping the headliner.

 

[4WD]

****. No issue for PDR but I still know how it feels. I think the GC hoods are still aluminum. My wife’s hood got pounded in 2011 with small stuff and the roof and rest of the vehicle were fine.

Also, if it’s just the one in the roof, they may just glue pull it to avoid dropping the headliner.

Ford was the main one creating fanfare over aluminum - but even my Jeep is mostly an aluminum body …

 

[Kira]

I'd love to see some "hail data" from the insurance industry.
At some point hail coverage will become a separate rider....just a bleak guess.

 

[B1974]

I had a 1977 Trans am that got written off due to a hail storm in 1996. Nothing much you can do unless you want to keep your vehicle in the garage all the time.

 

[AZjeff]

Awe man. Hail is my biggest concern here. In 2021 there was a hailstorm right over the 6 brand dealer complex, damaged hundreds of new cars. The PDR guys came to town and were here for months. A neighbor has a new white Dodge dually that really got hit hard, 2 PDR guys came to his house, set up a pop up canopy, took the hood off and worked on it under the canopy. Dropped the headliner out and did the roof. Fenders, top of bedsides, dents everywhere. They were here for days and today you can't see a flaw. Amazing.

Hope they do a great job for you. (Use the guy with the best rep.)

Nothing much you can do unless you want to keep your vehicle in the garage all the time.

If we're home vehicles are in the garage always, especially in thunderstorm season. Why not?

 

[OVERKILL]

****. No issue for PDR but I still know how it feels. I think the GC hoods are still aluminum. My wife’s hood got pounded in 2011 with small stuff and the roof and rest of the vehicle were fine.

Also, if it’s just the one in the roof, they may just glue pull it to avoid dropping the headliner.

Yep, hood is aluminum, which I assume is why it got the most damage. Good to know about the glue option.

 

[RhondaHonda]

Yep, hood is aluminum, which I assume is why it got the most damage. Good to know about the glue option.

Wherever you take it, look it over indoors under minimal lighting after repairs. Out in broad daylight it’s hard to see any flaws.