Author Topic: Repair cosmetic hail damage or leave it be?  (Read 78050 times)

begood

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Repair cosmetic hail damage or leave it be?
« on: June 11, 2014, 06:43:41 AM »
A few weeks ago, we had a freak hail storm that damaged both my car and my husband's.

Some folks north of us had broken windshields and humongous dents. We were lucky - we've got "dimples" that you can see if you're at the right angle. They're mostly on the hood and roof, with a couple on the quarter panels and back door. A few are "quarter" size; most are "dime" size.

We did file claims for both cars with State Farm. We have a $0 deductible on our comp coverage (which tells me I have probably been overpaying for my comp coverage...) I had my inspection done the other day and walked out with a check for $2300. It's now my responsibility to find a body shop that will do the work for that price.

Or not, I suppose.

Both cars are pretty new (pre-MMM, really not looking for face punches!). I've got a 2013 Honda CR-V with 6K miles; he's got a 2012 Honda Crosstour with 20K miles. We plan to drive these cars for a minimum of ten years, and probably, post-MMM, even longer.

What do you think? Is it worth it to do the cosmetic repair?
« Last Edit: June 11, 2014, 06:48:32 AM by begood »

RetiredAt63

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Re: Repair cosmetic hail damage or leave it be?
« Reply #1 on: June 11, 2014, 07:03:51 AM »
Your choice - but I have a story for you.

My DD's car had cosmetic damage from a hailstorm and then a few months later her car was totaled in an accident.  She had not filed a claim (why this is a story and not advice) on the hail damage, but as the car had the cosmetic damage the insurance company would not give her much for her car.  The adjuster advised her to file two claims, one for the hail damage and one for the car - she did, and her settlement was more than she had paid for the car.

So if you don't do the repairs, if anything happens to the cars down the road you will probably get a lot less compensation for them.

I am surprised they just gave you a cheque - when I had repairs done I sent my invoice and receipt from the body shop and was reimbursed, so the cost to the insurance company was exactly what the repairs had cost - I got to pick the body shop, so no complaints.  And they knew the repairs were done.

begood

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Re: Repair cosmetic hail damage or leave it be?
« Reply #2 on: June 11, 2014, 07:11:27 AM »
I am surprised they just gave you a cheque - when I had repairs done I sent my invoice and receipt from the body shop and was reimbursed, so the cost to the insurance company was exactly what the repairs had cost - I got to pick the body shop, so no complaints.  And they knew the repairs were done.

I was surprised, too, RetiredAt63. I expected either to be given a list of body shops who would do the work and bill the insurance company directly, or have to deal with the hassle of filing receipts and waiting for reimbursement. So many cars were damaged that they set up a catastrophic care center and brought in claims workers from other states to help with assessments.

I know the damage lowers the value of the vehicles, and that's probably true even if we do the repair. Shit happens. I'm new to this whole Mustachian thing... it occurs to me that a true Mustachian might not even have filed the claim in the first place.

Travis

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Re: Repair cosmetic hail damage or leave it be?
« Reply #3 on: June 11, 2014, 07:59:04 AM »
Without seeing the actual damage to your car it's tough to say, but I'm comfortable with a few minor dents especially since my car is 11 years old.

begood

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Re: Repair cosmetic hail damage or leave it be?
« Reply #4 on: June 11, 2014, 08:03:03 AM »
Yeah, we sold a 14-year-old car and an 11-year-old car when we got the new ones. I doubt I would have filed for either of them. It's the new part that's got me debating - do I want to live with the dimples for a decade or more? IDK.

James

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Re: Repair cosmetic hail damage or leave it be?
« Reply #5 on: June 11, 2014, 08:14:57 AM »
I suggest leaving the hail damage and investing the cash. I can't imagine those tiny dents affect the value of the vehicles much in ten years, but imagine what the value of those thousands of dollars will be after being in the market for ten years!

frugaliknowit

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Re: Repair cosmetic hail damage or leave it be?
« Reply #6 on: June 11, 2014, 09:10:37 AM »
If the damage does not bother you, then invest the money or add it to your emergency savings.  If it bothers you, get it fixed.

MountainFlower

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Re: Repair cosmetic hail damage or leave it be?
« Reply #7 on: June 11, 2014, 10:43:36 AM »
I got a check for $6000 of hail damage on my car.  I never fixed it and mostly never regretted it.  Now I no longer fear hail storms! 

begood

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Re: Repair cosmetic hail damage or leave it be?
« Reply #8 on: June 11, 2014, 10:52:30 AM »
Oooh lucky break!  As long as you don't have a car loan, invest the damage check and live with the dimples.  My prior car had that situation so I took the check, dropped my collision and comprehensive coverage, and invested the money with a smile.  It was awesome.

We do not have a car loan; paid cash (at least that part of the car purchase was Mustachian!). I did have the stray thought that we could get all this cosmetic damage fixed (they'd have to go inside the car and pull out the roof liner, etc, to get at the dimples) and there's nothing to prevent another "event" from happening again.

Would I have to cancel collision and comprehensive on the car if I don't use the insurance check to repair this damage? I had not planned on dropping that coverage at this point.

begood

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Re: Repair cosmetic hail damage or leave it be?
« Reply #9 on: June 11, 2014, 12:19:28 PM »
Ask your insurance company - most likely the insurance company would be fine.  They would take it into consideration if you have another comprehensive or collision claim (they wouldn't pay twice for the same damage). 

I used to work in claims and the company I worked for didn't care.  If yours is fine with it, just keep the original appraisal so you have documentation of what was old damage in case anything else  happens.  In my case, removing comp/coll made sense because the car was not worth much more than the hail damage (it came very close to the threshold to total out my car).

Okay, I will do that. We still have to get my husband's assessment done (next week), and then I'll follow up with the insurance company. Thanks, all, for your replies! :)

SpicyMcHaggus

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Re: Repair cosmetic hail damage or leave it be?
« Reply #10 on: June 11, 2014, 12:25:07 PM »
Take the cash. If it means you have paid off vehicles, great!
If not, you have reduced your cost-basis on them significantly.
You can then sell them if you choose, or keep driving. You have all the reliability of newer cars, and now with a much lower cost.

Ugly is still functional. If you're not a salesman/realtor/exec who depends on the image of wealth and needs a good looking car, no repairs.

Dee18

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Re: Repair cosmetic hail damage or leave it be?
« Reply #11 on: June 11, 2014, 12:53:12 PM »
Years ago I had hail damage on my car.  All over the roof, hood and trunk were dimples.  I shopped around and found a very reasonable repair price.  Turns out the way they repaired it was by using a hair dryer on it! Someone else may be able to explain it better, but the heat from the hair dryer was enough to make the metal pop back into place.  They did repaint one portion.  It looked fabulous and I was glad I had it done as I kept that car another 10 years.  If you google this, you will find instructions to try it yourself.  For example: http://www.wikihow.com/Repair-Hail-Damage.   

bye-bye Ms. FancyPants

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Re: Repair cosmetic hail damage or leave it be?
« Reply #12 on: June 11, 2014, 08:15:59 PM »
My 2008 Honda CR-V received hail damage.  I took the check and paid off a different bill.  Now 2 years later I am thinking about selling the car for something with better mpg but just noticed two of those little dimples are now rusting :(  Sorta regretting not getting fixed at the moment.

Jack

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Re: Repair cosmetic hail damage or leave it be?
« Reply #13 on: June 11, 2014, 08:34:45 PM »
Keep the money, DIY fix what you can, live with the rest.

begood

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Re: Repair cosmetic hail damage or leave it be?
« Reply #14 on: June 12, 2014, 05:48:29 AM »
My 2008 Honda CR-V received hail damage.  I took the check and paid off a different bill.  Now 2 years later I am thinking about selling the car for something with better mpg but just noticed two of those little dimples are now rusting :(  Sorta regretting not getting fixed at the moment.

Thank you for sharing your experience, Ms. FancyPants! I'm a little worried about that too. My husband wants to get quotes for just repairing the hoods, where the dimples are most visible, so we might do at least that much. Even then, it would mostly be for our own benefit - I plan to drive this sucker for a very long time. :)

DeepEllumStache

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Re: Repair cosmetic hail damage or leave it be?
« Reply #15 on: June 12, 2014, 09:11:15 AM »
I had my old Toyota for 6 years after about $3k in hailstorm damage.  The roof, hood, and entire left side looked golf ball-ish in the right light but I figured that only added to my car's charm.  Never had rust issues with the damage and would still have the car today if it hadn't have gotten destroyed in another hailstorm (Texas... sigh). 

mrgrump

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Re: Repair cosmetic hail damage or leave it be?
« Reply #16 on: June 13, 2014, 02:35:44 AM »
A few years ago we had a 2008 Honda Civic get demolished in a hail storm to the the tune of $6k in damage. State Farm also cut us a check the day they inspected the damage and we dropped it off at the body shop of our choice. The work ended up costing more but that was worked out between the repair shop and State Farm. So other than our deductible ($500) the car was back to perfect shape.

My sister who had a similar level of damage on her 2010 KIA Rio took the money and paid her car off entirely. She is a little rough on cars but about 3 years later hers looks awful because of the dents.

Since you own 2 newer, nice Hondas I would get them fixed because if you ever have sell them in the future it will hurt the resale horribly. Not to mention the nicer you can keep the cars now the longer you will probably keep them since your an early convert to the MMM lifestyle.

We drive 2 Hondas as well 2011 Accord and 2012 CRV. We are trying to keep them in perfect condition and for 200k miles.

Cinder

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Re: Repair cosmetic hail damage or leave it be?
« Reply #17 on: June 13, 2014, 05:58:10 AM »
The only thing that I would/could worry about is them not covering future damage if it is in the same area as existing damage.

I had a friend back into my passenger side bumper, it was a little ugly but it wasn't that bad.  I never filed a claim for it, and my buddy never did end up giving me the money to fix it.

A few months later, I hit a deer in the exact same spot.  State Farm would not cover any of the work that had to be done to the damaged bumper, they only covered the areas other then the bumper, so I ended up having to pay about 2k out of pocket of that portion of the repair. 

soccerluvof4

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Re: Repair cosmetic hail damage or leave it be?
« Reply #18 on: June 13, 2014, 06:35:23 AM »
Take the money and leave as it is especially when you said you can see it if you look at it at the right angle. Plus with keeping the cars for 10 years plus as someone else said its still functional and DIY yourself what you can if you even want to bother.

Jack

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Re: Repair cosmetic hail damage or leave it be?
« Reply #19 on: June 13, 2014, 08:36:02 AM »
The only thing that I would/could worry about is them not covering future damage if it is in the same area as existing damage.

I had a friend back into my passenger side bumper, it was a little ugly but it wasn't that bad.  I never filed a claim for it, and my buddy never did end up giving me the money to fix it.

A few months later, I hit a deer in the exact same spot.  State Farm would not cover any of the work that had to be done to the damaged bumper, they only covered the areas other then the bumper, so I ended up having to pay about 2k out of pocket of that portion of the repair.

How did State Farm find out that the damage wasn't just all due to the deer?

lbdance

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Re: Repair cosmetic hail damage or leave it be?
« Reply #20 on: June 13, 2014, 05:29:37 PM »
Without seeing the damage it is hard to comment.  You do need to be aware of rust as this may affect the longevity of your car. You could always get an assessment from a couple of places to see what it would cost to fix, so that you are then dealing with actual figures. There may be a cheap dent removal place that could it for half your cheque, which might then be worth it.

Cinder

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Re: Repair cosmetic hail damage or leave it be?
« Reply #21 on: June 16, 2014, 11:12:05 AM »
The only thing that I would/could worry about is them not covering future damage if it is in the same area as existing damage.

I had a friend back into my passenger side bumper, it was a little ugly but it wasn't that bad.  I never filed a claim for it, and my buddy never did end up giving me the money to fix it.

A few months later, I hit a deer in the exact same spot.  State Farm would not cover any of the work that had to be done to the damaged bumper, they only covered the areas other then the bumper, so I ended up having to pay about 2k out of pocket of that portion of the repair.

How did State Farm find out that the damage wasn't just all due to the deer?

I had taken it in to the shop to get a quote so I could tell my friend how much it was to fix it, so there was the record of that.   I just consider it 'stupid tax' for being nice and not going though insurance initially as to not make his rates go up.   I'm just to nice sometimes.

ahmadbilal17

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Re: Repair cosmetic hail damage or leave it be?
« Reply #22 on: May 24, 2016, 10:54:57 AM »
its very defecult to tell about the condition of the car

Helios

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Re: Repair cosmetic hail damage or leave it be?
« Reply #23 on: September 05, 2017, 01:43:32 PM »
Sorry to bump a 3 year old thread, but my opinion offers a different perspective.

Driving a pristine, superbly maintained 10 or 15 year-old Honda makes you look like a wise, frugal professional.

Driving a 1 or 2 year-old Honda with $2300 worth of hail damage makes you look like you don't have the self-respect or inclination to be bothered to take care of your own things.  It makes you look cheap and lazy.

Professional image is important in nearly every profession.  It doesn't take a lot of money, but it does take due care and conscientiousness.  You can drive an old car as long as it runs well and looks good.  Would you wear a sweater with a bunch of stains on it to work?  After all, it keeps you just as warm as an un-stained sweater. What do you think about a person who wears stained clothes to work?  It probably evokes a negative reaction. The same is true for driving a hail-damaged, otherwise new car.

Syonyk

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Re: Repair cosmetic hail damage or leave it be?
« Reply #24 on: September 05, 2017, 02:37:07 PM »
Professional image is important in nearly every profession.  It doesn't take a lot of money, but it does take due care and conscientiousness.  You can drive an old car as long as it runs well and looks good.  Would you wear a sweater with a bunch of stains on it to work?  After all, it keeps you just as warm as an un-stained sweater. What do you think about a person who wears stained clothes to work?  It probably evokes a negative reaction. The same is true for driving a hail-damaged, otherwise new car.

Can't speak for you, but I don't drive my car into my office...

Actually, I work from home, so it doesn't matter, but even when I had a commute, my car sat in the parking lot and most of my coworkers had no idea what I drove.

Though DIY popping hail dents out with dry ice and a hair dryer is totally a thing.

Case

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Re: Repair cosmetic hail damage or leave it be?
« Reply #25 on: September 06, 2017, 12:47:13 PM »
A few weeks ago, we had a freak hail storm that damaged both my car and my husband's.

Some folks north of us had broken windshields and humongous dents. We were lucky - we've got "dimples" that you can see if you're at the right angle. They're mostly on the hood and roof, with a couple on the quarter panels and back door. A few are "quarter" size; most are "dime" size.

We did file claims for both cars with State Farm. We have a $0 deductible on our comp coverage (which tells me I have probably been overpaying for my comp coverage...) I had my inspection done the other day and walked out with a check for $2300. It's now my responsibility to find a body shop that will do the work for that price.

Or not, I suppose.

Both cars are pretty new (pre-MMM, really not looking for face punches!). I've got a 2013 Honda CR-V with 6K miles; he's got a 2012 Honda Crosstour with 20K miles. We plan to drive these cars for a minimum of ten years, and probably, post-MMM, even longer.

What do you think? Is it worth it to do the cosmetic repair?

Invest that money instead.

I drive a beat up camry, and every time I have a close-call or park in a dumpy parking lot I am reminded of the benefit of not having to worry about further damage.

Raenia

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Re: Repair cosmetic hail damage or leave it be?
« Reply #26 on: September 06, 2017, 01:17:19 PM »
Professional image is important in nearly every profession.  It doesn't take a lot of money, but it does take due care and conscientiousness.  You can drive an old car as long as it runs well and looks good.  Would you wear a sweater with a bunch of stains on it to work?  After all, it keeps you just as warm as an un-stained sweater. What do you think about a person who wears stained clothes to work?  It probably evokes a negative reaction. The same is true for driving a hail-damaged, otherwise new car.

This isn't necessarily true.  I have no problem driving a car with dents and scratches (for a while I even drove it with a side mirror held on with duct tape), because no one at work cares.  I have a coworker who drives a rusty truck with holes in it to work, and no one thinks less of him for it.  It depends entirely on what industry you're in, and whether you're a customer-facing role or not, and who would be in a position to see your car.  In many professions, the customer will never see your car, so why care if it has some cosmetic damage?

 

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