Hail Damage Repair

Estimates are subjective opinions of damage and can vary widely. Additionally, it can be difficult to see hail damage outside in the bright sunshine, which is why we use the specialized paintless dent repair lights.
As industry leaders in auto hail repair, we are experienced with resolving and negotiating differences like this. We will contact your insurance company directly for any additional funds (called “supplements”) necessary to repair your vehicle to its pre-loss condition.

Estimates are subjective opinions of damage and can vary widely. Additionally, it can be difficult to see hail damage outside in the bright sunshine, which is why we use the specialized paintless dent repair lights.
As industry leaders in auto hail repair, we are experienced with resolving and negotiating differences like this. We will contact your insurance company directly for any additional funds (called “supplements”) necessary to repair your vehicle to its pre-loss condition.

In most cases, you have a year to claim and repair your car after an incident. This can vary by your policy, however, so it is always a good idea to make your claim and repair the damage as soon as possible.
Something to keep in mind though – when you get the initial estimate, the cost is based upon current labor rates and parts cost, which could vary in the future.

If you choose to forego the hail damage repairs to your vehicle and settle your insurance claim for a cash payment, a restriction for the un-repaired damage will be placed on your insurance policy.
This can be problematic for a number of reasons.
For example:

• Your insurance company initially says you have $3,000 in damage, and you own a car that is worth $20,000.
• The insurance company pays you the amount of your damage ($3,000) minus your deductible ($500), which is $2,500 and you keep the money and don’t repair the car.
• Then down the line, maybe even just a couple months later, you decide to trade the car in (because you hate looking at the damage).
• The dealership says that they will offer you $10,000 for your car that should be worth $20,000,
  o Why is that? “Because” they say, “there is $10,000 in hail damage on the car that we will have to have fixed before we resell it.”
• $10,000?? But they only paid me $2,500!
• This is because there is usually (99.9% of the time) more damage on the car than what the insurance adjuster sees and pays for on that initial insurance estimate.
• So at this point, how much is that $2,500 really worth if it just cost you $10,000 on your trade-in?
  This is not a hypothetical example, but a real life situation that we see happen over and over again.

If you choose to repair the hail damage to your vehicle later on, you must notify your agent to have any restrictions on your policy removed.

Depending on the condition, PDR may not work 100%. For example, if there is crack or missing paint at the core of the dent.
Sometimes a dent is so large that it has stretched the metal beyond the point of being able to go back to the original position. In this case, the dent will do what we call “oil can,” where it pops up and then pops down and won’t lay flat on the panel. This is unavoidable for some dents, even with the most experienced PDR technicians.

• If this happens, we will contact you and explain that we will have to use conventional methods of repair using paint and bodywork to make the panel perfect.
•  You will not be charged anything additional, but we will send a supplement request to your insurance as this is covered under the cost of repair.

Additionally, PDR doesn’t work on plastic panels, rocker panels, or bumpers whether they’re plastic or metal.

• PDR is significantly more affordable than traditional dent repair because there is no need to use paint and fillers.
• PDR takes less time to finish.
• PDR is non-intrusive and keeps the vehicle’s factory paint warranty valid.
• PDR is more environmentally friendly since it does not require re-spraying of the vehicle.

The PDR technique doesn’t damage the paint. The act of getting behind the panel to fix the dent from back up will not damage the paint. Nor will the “glue-pull” technique of paintless dent repair: a technique that involves a specialized glue tab that is affixed to the panel and then pulled off to manipulate the metal and then tapped down over and over again until it’s perfect.

What can happen, however, is that the hail stone that hit the panel can damage the paint by stretching it out severely. And then when we are fixing the dent, the metal will not go flat.
This happens on extremely large dents, what we lovingly at Prime Hail Auto Dent call “soup bowls.” Sometimes hail storms can create “soup bowls” that our world-class PDR technicians just can’t get flat. When that is the case, we will get the panel as flat as possible and then have the panel sanded down and painted to ensure it’s perfect.

At Prime Hail Auto Dent, we provide a lifetime warranty on our work as we stand behind the quality of every dent repair job we perform.