What you should know about Hail Damage Estimates

There are a few things you should know before taking your car in for a hail damage estimate. Whether you are taking it to the insurance company or a dent repair shop for the hail dent estimate.

First would be to have the exterior of your car clean and dry. This is so that the person looking at your vehicle will not miss any of the hail dents or damage to the panels. If your car is dirty, hail dents and other damage may not be noticed. This will cause a need to supplement the insurance company for the additional dent repairs needed, delaying the time needed for hail damage repair to your car.

Second, in what conditions is your vehicle being looked at? If your hail damaged vehicle is being estimated outside in the sun, you will not be able to see all of the hail dents. In order to see all the dents, the car should be in the shade or it would be best to be inside. A proper reflection is also needed to see all the hail dents. * See the picture below * A proper reflection and lighting will help with the hail damage estimate.

Third, be sure to know that the dent repair shop is experienced with hail damage estimating. They should know the “limits” of what can be repaired with paintless dent repair. They should also know what to look for if the vehicle has had other major body repairs. If your car has had previously been repaired and painted with conventional auto body repair, paintless dent repair may not be able to be used on those damaged panels. They should be able to look for damage to the paint from the hail. If the hail dent falls on the edge of a panel, it may have put a stress crack in the paint. That panel then would need to be repainted.

Be sure that the insurance company or repair shop explains the estimate to you. You should know what repairs are being done to your vehicle.

You can get some great information about paintless dent repair and hail damage repair from the National Alliance of Paintless Dent Repair Technicians. They have a FAQ about Hail Damage and Info About Hail Repair.

Here is a great article about Proper Paintless Dent Repair Estimating. It is from Autoinc.org an online magazine published for the ASA (Automotive Service Association).

If you have any questions about your hail damage estimate, we would be happy to help you.

We are able to work with your insurance company to be sure that your car is restored to its pre-damaged condition.

Contact Us for your Free Hail Estimate.

Hail Storm in Anoka County MN

It is that time of year again in Minnesota. We are into the severe weather season with hail storms and tornados.

On May 25, 2008 hail and a tornado came through Anoka county. Some of the areas hit with hail were Ham Lake, Elk River, Coon Rapids, Blaine, Lino Lakes, Anoka, Andover, and Annandale. There was also a tornado that came down in Coon Rapids then to Blaine and Hugo. Reports of the hail range in size from one inch to three inches.

Here a some pictures of the hail that came in to the local news stations.

This larger hail can do some damage to your car. With many dents on your car, it may look like you may have to have major repairs done to repair it. With paintless dent repair, we can remove the dents without the cost and time of major body repair. We do not fill the dents and then repaint your entire vehicle. We are able to make the repairs without damage to your paint and have your car back to you in one to three days.

We will have more updates to the hail damage as it comes in. We will have more photos of the damage and we will post a video of some hail damage that Excel Dent Removal recently repaired.