Friggin' large hail!

[SHOrod]

So, once again, the weather forecasters were incorrect. I had no clue that 1) we would get storms during the day, and 2) it would bring with it hail larger than golfballs. My 2011 with fewer than 2300 miles on it lost a battle to the hail yesterday afternoon and now I'm hoping that paintless dent repair (PDR) will be able to make it immaculate again. Since the worst of the damage is on the roof, I suspect that the headliner will need to come down. I've read about some tricks to removing the door pillar trim, but I'm wondering if anyone knows about other tricks that will be necessary to get the headliner down. Fortunately I've never needed PDR in the past, so maybe taking the headliner down won't be necessary. My biggest concern (besides the potential to damage the side airbags) is that the place doing the work will break some of the trim pieces and I'll have rattles afterwards. It seems several of the PDR places make house calls so I'm contemplating removing the necessary trim pieces myself so at least if something breaks I know about it and can fix/replace it.

The hood, roof, both front fenders, the pillar between the rear door and rear window, and rear fender above the taillight all have dents. I haven't noticed any on the trunklid, any of the doors, or the right rear fender yet.

-Rod

 

[NP SHO]

That sucks bro. Hopefully it'll look like new again soon. Good luck!

 

[EcoBrick Bob]

I bought (for almost 1/2 retail) a used BLACK 91' with very low mi that had extensive hail damage when I saw it first. Cedar Falls, IA Dealer included fix and it ended up perfect!! They heat vehicle in bldg,
to about 140 deg. and shrink the metal with dry ice, or so they told me. Aluminum items need to be replaced. Traded 3 1/2 yrs later for almost what I paid for it.

Hail is easier to fix than a fender-bender, and not so ******* SHO!

 

[SHOrod]

I hope that's the case! Thanks for the encouragement!

-Rod

 

[SHOclub1]

Aluminum needs to be replaced? Not so. When BIG hail (one was as big as a man's fist) got my '96, several shops said no way to get dents out of Aluminum trunk, or from around the moonroof. ONe shop had a pro that followed the storms and he said he would get it. ALL except one dent on the B pillar and I chose to let it go rather than replace it. Got out EVERY dent with only one tiny hole drilled in the RR door frame to get to the front side of the gas cap area. Trunk was perfect as were all the compound curves on the hood. Several years later, none of them came back.

Do NOT let someone tell you they can't do aluminum. If so, get a better shop.

If you want the name of they guy that did my car, I have his name and number handy.

 

[EcoBrick Bob]

Sorry for the wrong info....

 

[SHOclub1]

-Bob, from what I read in your post, it was the shop that gave you wrong info, you just passed it along, and I gave my experience. I didn't intend to call you wrong, please don't take it that way.

 

[EcoBrick Bob]

My info was a friend who bought a new left-over Caddy STS in 95' just after I did.... On the way home to DSM, IA area, he got pummeled with big hail... in that instance, the aluminum hood had to be replaced, but the rest of the STS was fixed painlessly!

Guess I thought severe damage to a hood or other aluminum parts wasn't easily fixable...
Glad to know I was wrong.... as my toys sit outside all summer at Clear Lake.... NO GARAGE....

I am a bad auto parent!

 

[jthod]

Sucks, but I've got a friend that does PDR, he's actually in Iowa this week for PDR. I couldn't tell you exaclty where he's working, but if you'd like his info, let me know.

 

[SHOrod]

It never hurts to have more options, so yeah, I'd be interested in his info. I have an appointment with the Catastrophe Center for my insurance company Monday morning and they have certain approved places, one of which is tied to the dealer I bought the car from. I'm leaning towards taking it there if the estimate is quite a bit higher than my deductible since I would hope they know how to get the trim panels off without breaking them and causing a bunch of rattles. If the estimate is near my $500 deductible, then I may be looking for good, dedicated PDR places that are insured (in case they damage something).

-Rod

 

[SHOrod]

Yippie! Got the car back today and I can't tell it ever had damage. No fingerprints on the headliner or interior trim, and no rattles! I'm happy again!

-Rod

 

[SHOenuf]

Terrific, now relax and enjoy it again!

 

[SHOrod]

I plan to do just that!

-Rod

 

[EcoBrick Bob]

You need to take a trip to Cedar Falls Raceway, like I did!

 

[LJRuddy]

When are you going to visit Omaha and take me for a ride??!?!?!?

 

[SHOrod]

I don't know if Cedar Falls Raceway is where I'd take it (even though it is partly responsible for the show Pinks). I'm more of a road course person. There's a special place in my memory for Mid America Motorplex. Most fun 2.23 miles I've driven. I wonder if my helmet still fits....

-Rod