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What Are My Options When Dealing With A Hail-Damaged Car?
Driving in the rain and being caught in a hail storm are two very different scenarios. Forewarned is forearmed if you have an insurance weather app alerting you to imminent hail, but if you happen to be out on the open road - with no bridge, offramp or parking lot in sight where you can take cover - you will have to mentally prepare yourself for the aftermath of hail damage caused to your car.
A hectic storm - with significant-sized hail stones - can have a devastating effect on your vehicle; denting the exterior, ruining the paint job, breaking windows and shattering the windscreen.
If this unfortunate event is the current situation you find yourself in, then you might need to brace yourself for the fact that, instead of repairing it, selling your hail-damaged car might be the only viable option.
Hail damage - size matters
The size of the hail stones and the force at which they hit your car will determine the type of damage experienced. Small hail stones may cause minor dents and chip the paintwork while larger hailstones (larger than 2.5cm in diameter) will play havoc with your car’s exterior panels, including the windscreen and even cause mechanical or engine damage.
A hail storm can cause the following types of damage to your vehicle:
- Cosmetic damage with paint intact - Little dents can be removed by a time-consuming process called paintless dent removal where the dents are ‘massaged’ out using small rods and suction.
- Cosmetic damage with scratched paint - Your vehicle’s factory paint finish has been compromised and the car will need to be repainted or some of the panels will need to be replaced which could escalate to a huge repair quote.
- Severe damage with paint intact - Sometimes the bonnet of your car is so severely damaged that there is mechanical damage to the engine. Depending on the quote, you may decide to get the bonnet repaired with the paintless repair dent removal process and have the engine issues fixed by a reputable mechanic.
- Severe damage with scratched paint - When there is excessive damage to the exterior of the car as well as to the engine and other mechanical parts, your car is likely to earn a ‘salvage’ title.
To repair or not to repair?
If there is only minor damage to the exterior of your vehicle, you may be tempted to think it is only cosmetic, that you can live with it and that repairing it is not worth the trouble. This is short-term thinking as even minor hail damage can be devastating to your vehicle’s resale value. The cost of having minor dents professionally removed may be worth considering.
As soon as there are multiple spots of significant hail damage on a car, it can become difficult to repair. Insurance companies are likely to write such vehicles off due to the cost of replacing all the panels. If you are not insured, this is where the cost of repairs is likely to exceed the current market value of the vehicle, making it uneconomical to repair. Your best solution in this scenario is to sell your hail-damaged car for the best price.
In the case of a ‘salvage title,’ repairing a car and getting it relabelled as ‘rebuilt’ is a tedious and extremely expensive undertaking. Selling your hail-damaged vehicle is likely to be your most lucrative way forward.
‘Sell your damaged car’ comes to the rescue!
Once you have decided that the hassle, cost and logistics of repairing your hail-damaged car are not worth it, you are in the right space to leverage the online services of a reputable and professional platform that will offer you a competitive cash price but will also tow your vehicle (if necessary) and handle all the paperwork.
No matter what type of damage your vehicle has sustained - we are here to step in the gap and smooth the way to getting you cash in your pocket.