hail damage

Last night I got trapped in a pretty big hail storm (east Texas). I was in
my 2008 Ridgeline, 2000 miles.

Although no glass was damaged (that I can find), I've got about 40-50 dents
in the hood and about 15-20 on the cab roof. I was able to finally find
some shelter which probably prevented more damage.

With this many dents, can the hood be fixed? I have heard that hail dents
can be repaired but I wonder about the number of dents.

Thanks
2008 Ridgeline RTL

 

I used to have a 90 Prelude SI that went thru TWO hailstorms a month apart
in 1993(Orlando,FL).No glass breakage,no plastic stuff broken.
The body shop tab was $2700,$100 deductible.They replaced the hood and
trunk lid,but filled in the dents on the roof,repainted the whole car.
The first day I was driving to work after the repair,got to around 50
mph,and the windshield/cowl started vibrating severely,scared the crap out
of me.The hail dents ruined the structural integrity of the car.I ended up
trading it in at 20K miles,for an Integra GS-R.

Your body shop should replace the hood.
The insurance company will probably OK it,like they did for my
car.(StateFarm)It's far cheaper to replace it than repair and repaint the
dented one,and will look better.

 

All the dents can be repaired. Beware the fly by night people who crawl
out of the woodwork when hailstorms have passed. That counts not only
for cars, but for houses/roofs, etc.

A local place that's been around for awhile is your best bet. Get an
estimate. They can all be fixed. I don't know if it's worth the cost,
though.

Is any paint broken? Probably not.

If not, then absolutely nothing has changed about your car other than
your perception of it (and that of others, obviously). It still does
everything you wanted it to do.

Insurance companies hate claims like this, and may deny it. You may end
up filing this under the "shit happens" category.

And yeah, until it gets older, the resale value is diminished. The same
thing could happen if some dimwit hit your car and caused you to replace
body panels--without the factory serial stickers on those panels,
everyone knows you were in a wreck and guess what? the car has
diminished value.

Like I said, "shit happens".

We had a hailstorm a year or two ago; most people shrugged their
shoulders and went on with their lives, once the insurance companies
denied the claims. A friend of mine had a fairly new Jeep, similar
situation to yours. He's still driving it, and it still has the dents.

 

It's a truck.

 

Take it to a body shop and talk to your insurance company representative.

Jeff

 

I had the same problem some years ago. My car (only one month old at the
time) looked like someone took a ball peen hammer to it. Hood, roof, fenders
and trunk were a disaster, windshield gone. Got the car into a good body
shop and they replaced all--the roof can be replaced. Don't even bother to
try and get it repaired it will show up sooner or later.
MLD

 

Case by case, just have to see.

Or, repaint the vehicle in camo and stencil "urban assault vehicle" on
the sides.

J.