Hail Damage

[Dr. Evil]

The wife drove the camaro to work today. It was only a %20 chance of scattered showers but as luck would have it...
Well, she called me at home (i'm on leave for a few days) about 3:30 to tell me it was hailing at her work. About the time she got the word hail out of her mounth she realized she was driving my car today instead of hers She was pretty upset about it but theres no way to predict these things. She got home and I looked it over and stopped counting dents at 12, on the hood alone. Every horizontal surface has dents. None of them are horrible but there are alot of them. Only one is on a creased surface and its right above the passenger door window. I called my ins agent before she got home and spoke with them about it. I'm going to take it by there tomorrow and see what needs to be done. The Chevy dealer I purchased it from has a large body shop with a good reputation so that may be an option. I really hope it doesnt need paint but I'm not holding out much hope. Just to throw salt in the wound I was supposed to go to the fest and would have been in Indy today with it but I decided to stary here for my sons Taekwondo testing Friday (he is going for his orange belt). If there is paint work involved it'll show up on carfax and there are the obvious issues with repair quality, even with a good shop.
On the bright side the dealership just ordered and has in transit, a 2013 black on black 2ss/rs with hurst shifter. Too bad its not a 1LE.

[Johnny1]

Before painting I'd check into dentless repair. There's a lot of them around. When I worked at a GM dealership I used to see some cars come in that were literally covered(hood,roof,trunk) with hail damage. And they would have a dentless repair guy come in and it was just amazing. It would take a couple of days but when he got done there was absolutely not a single dent any where. And the finish was never touched. And most insurance companys cover dentless repair verses painting.

[fbodfather]

If we can get dents out of a Silver pre-production Camaro from Fergie walking on it - you can probably get rid of most -- if not all-- of them with dent doctor... I use them regularly for damage to cars in shows and such....

[bkscott]

As long as the paint did not crack a good PDR person can remove the dents. Even the ones in a crease. 7k in hail damage 1 year ago.

[ENV US]

PDR is the way to go by the sounds of it. If you turn it over to insurance, more then likely it will show up on a car fax report as an event.

[Adam's Polishes]

Another vote for at least trying PDR... so long as most of the dents are more round than sharp, and you have no paint damage, they should pop out with a skilled PDR guy working his magic.

[jaysonstuart]

My car had a few door dings from sitting on the lot and the dealer had the PDR guy come out. He handled them in about an hour.

I honestly couldn't tell where the door dings were.

[Ozzie RS]

I too agree with PDR. At least give it a try but look or ask for references, there are some out there that claim they can do what they really can't do so get references. I had a 98 Oldsmobile driving through Amarillo TX some years ago and it got pummeled by hail. It was a company car so I didn't care to much about it. When summer came around and the temperature hit 104 degrees one day while I was at a mall almost every dent popped out just with the high temperatures expanding the metal. The PDR guys that know there stuff can work the dents out. I have heard of people that swear by the Dent Doctor too.

[Dr. Evil]

I let the car set out in the sun today and many of the dents worked themselves out. I did get one estimate that came in just over $1k. I'm going to let it it sit out in the sun another day or two and see what happens but with only 11k miles on it this car has, until now, zero scratches and imperfections. I'd like to keep it as nice as possible for as long as possible.

[vinman]

I vote PDR as well, my black 07 subaru legacy was spotless and then got hail damage. I have a keen eye for dents and blemishes and was very impressed with the PDR service. Thanks for your service!

[DangerZL1]

There are some videos on Youtube of people using compressed air to freeze the dents out. This might work on a hot surface, but I've never tried it. If you're anywhere near Memphis, I know of a top dent repair shop where the owner has been doing it repairs for over 17 years with no drilling. I saw some cars in his shop with hail damage that looked like someone with a hammer beat them up.

[Pro-Techt]

Originally Posted by Dr. Evil

I let the car set out in the sun today and many of the dents worked themselves out.

Unfortunately, this ins't possible. Even though most metals have memory, it requires careful massaging to be corrected. The sun probably prohibited you from noticing them.

Generally speaking, dents are classifed by dime>nickle>quarter>1/2 dollar>oversized. When you look at a dent under less then perfect lighting, if you see what you would consider a quarter, it is realistically a 1/2 dollar or larger. Also, when there are concentrations of nickes/quarters, many times there can be (depending on the hail), dimes that are not visable at all unless inspected under proper lighting.

Also long as the dents have not cracked the paint and are not too large on reinforced panels then a professional Paintless Dent Repair technician will be able to remove them. Make sure they do not drill access holes!!!

[Wooden Heart]

I just had the same thing happen to me back in May. I had $4,200 worth of paintless dent repair done. I even had the small crease-dent above my passenger window, but further to the back of the car. I think I stopped counting at about 30 or so. If could have levitated and flew up to the sky to kick some cloud-ass, I would have.

[JLE58]

Originally Posted by Dr. Evil

The wife drove the camaro to work today. It was only a %20 chance of scattered showers but as luck would have it...
Well, she called me at home (i'm on leave for a few days) about 3:30 to tell me it was hailing at her work. About the time she got the word hail out of her mounth she realized she was driving my car today instead of hers She was pretty upset about it but theres no way to predict these things. She got home and I looked it over and stopped counting dents at 12, on the hood alone. Every horizontal surface has dents. None of them are horrible but there are alot of them. Only one is on a creased surface and its right above the passenger door window. I called my ins agent before she got home and spoke with them about it. I'm going to take it by there tomorrow and see what needs to be done. The Chevy dealer I purchased it from has a large body shop with a good reputation so that may be an option. I really hope it doesnt need paint but I'm not holding out much hope. Just to throw salt in the wound I was supposed to go to the fest and would have been in Indy today with it but I decided to stary here for my sons Taekwondo testing Friday (he is going for his orange belt). If there is paint work involved it'll show up on carfax and there are the obvious issues with repair quality, even with a good shop.
On the bright side the dealership just ordered and has in transit, a 2013 black on black 2ss/rs with hurst shifter. Too bad its not a 1LE.

Im not sure where in Tennessee you are at but I know a Great Paintless dent repair Guy in Rome, Ga. Ive known him for years and he has been doing PBR for 25+ years and owns very well known body shop in Rome. He removed 57 hail dings from a car of mine last year and you would never know it ever happen. Pm me if you want details.