Over the weekend I got hail damage on my brand new car. I haven't even had it two months yet.The insurance adjuster hasn't made it to look at the car yet but today I took it to a couple of body shops just to see what they thought and get a ruff idea what it's going to cost. They wouldn't give me an estimate because they work from the insurances estimate.Well anyway, the guy said it would be around $7,000 to $8,500 to fix, just as a guess. I was blown away cause it doesn't look that bad... I didn't think. Anyway both places said they thought it was bad enough that the paint-less hail repair wouldn't work especially on the roof. They said they didn't think the roof would ever be straight again, if that's the way the insurance wanted to go. They both said, the hood (bonnet of you Brits), roof, trunk (boot) need to be replaced.The problem with replacing the roof it sounds like it may or at least has a good possibility of always leaking or something. I was still to blown away by the price to ask what exactly the problem was going to be.Here are the questions:1. What leverage do I have with my insurance to make them replace the roof if the paint-less dent repair isn't going to work?2. What happens if the car leaks down the road? Do I go back to the insurance or the people who are supposed to have fixed it but have forewarned me that it's not going to be good?More than likely I think I may have to sell the car. It's way to expensive and way to new to just live with it all dented up but I don't want the fucker leaking and ruining the interior. Nor do I want to end up having to spend my money to take somebody to court to get it fixed right.
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If you know shit about this kind of crap...
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Sorry, I don't shit about that kind of crap. I think I have heard somewhere though that it is dangerous to replace the roof of a car because if you get into an accident later on down the road, the roof can pop off. Don't quote me on that though. I may have been drunk when I heard it.
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hood and trunk deck should be a piece of cake to replace. The roof however looks pretty major. I would think that replacing the roof would entail replacing the A, B (and C on a 4 door) pillars.
Now it's possible to do it right so it's as good as new but I can't imagine what it would cost. It gets to a cost level where the insurance company starts saying "write off"you neglected to say what the car is.
shit, now I totally want to get drunk with Lish so we can laugh our fool-asses off.
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Years ago I had a little training in body work, though it's been a while. But I'm confused about what you mean by "paint-less" repair. Replacing a hood and trunk is easy. But what is the actual type of damage to the roof? Is it just dents from the hail, or was the roof actually deformed somehow in a larger sense? I'm trying to understand why they cant do dent repairs and then repaint the roof. And they'd have to paint the hood and trunk anyway if they're replaced.
I would definitely recommend talking with 2 or 3 body shops and getting some other thoughts on the mattter- just in case this place is going overboard.
I'm sorry to hear about that. What a bummer with a new car!!!
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Well I was tryin' not to say what it was... don't really know why, so...It's a Cadillac STS V8 performance model... I can't imagine them doing a right off._________________________________________________________________@ ThoughtfulI didn't think it was that bad. The hood and trunk are kinda a non-issue sense they can easily be replaced. Paint-less hail repair, I don't know how they do it but those places are everywhere. I guess the roof is pretty bad it has deep dents all over it and the roof side trim (that between the roof and the door) is damaged to the point it's sticking up and will have to be replaced. It (the roof) kinda looks a kin to pizza dough that your flattening out by hand, wavy and lumpy.Once they take the roof panel off they could hammer out the dents but it's, apparently, cheaper to just replace it. What both places I took it to seem to allude to is that when a roof panel is put back on nobody is ever gonna get it set just right. So, I'm thinking leaks, wind noise, shitty look at best.I am going to take to some other places but the insurance adjuster is so backed up he hasn't gotten to me yet. Most people I have talked to have recommended taking to a Caddy body shop for repair.
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I'm gussing that what they are calling "paintless repair" is when they pull out the dents with a suction cup.You might just want to have the dealership do all the work. You also have every right to keep on your insurance company. As a paying customer, you can gut up their ass and insist that they do it fucking right.(I hate insurance companies)
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So far, *crosses fingers* I haven't had to deal with one. But going to the dealer will help make sure it is right.
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Let's get drunk in Scotty's Caddy. We'll fix those dents ourselves.....or add a few more.
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hmmm, I wonder if your feet pressed up against the roof is considered "paintless hail repair"
