Hail Damaged Cars - Should I Buy, Sell, or Keep?

Hail Damaged Cars – Should I Buy, Sell, or Keep?

Even if you've never experienced a hailstorm yourself, you've doubtless heard of the incredible amount of damage hailstones can do. Residents of Missouri, Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska are some of the most likely in the United States to experience a hailstorm, according to a March 2023 analysis by State Farm, and Texas residents experience the most hailstorms per year by far.

Hail damage can occur to any unprotected object, and even those that are sheltered can receive extensive hail damage if the stones are large enough to destroy the shelter. The horror stories of golf ball-size stones damaging buildings, vehicles, and other equipment seem to pop up on the news every year from somewhere in the U.S.

Hailstones don't have to be that large to damage to unsheltered vehicles, though, a any size can cause small dents and dings all over a vehicle. Car owners must know what their options are to repair a hail-damaged vehicle, what their repair costs might be, and what they should consider if they're looking to buy a hail-damaged vehicle.

What Happens When My Car Gets Hail Damage?

Even though Texas sees the most amount of hail events each year in the United States, Minnesota residents accrued $799 million in total hail damage claims in 2022, according to State Farm, while $600 million dollars of the 3.5 billion dollars in total hail damage claims paid were for hail-damaged cars.

That number is staggering, but may not accurately represent the extent of the damage caused by hail every year. Some car owners may choose to overlook hail damage as merely cosmetic. After all, auto hail repair can be pricey, and the time it can take for an insurance adjuster to examine a hail-damaged vehicle may be just as costly as going through the entire repair process itself.

It may be fine to overlook certain small dings and dents, but what may look like minor hail damage could have a greater impact on the vehicle than many realize. It's always a good idea to file an insurance claim with your auto insurance company and have an adjuster provide you with a repair estimate.

A comprehensive insurance policy usually covers hail damage, but it's worth checking with your own insurance agent what your policy covers and the deductible. If you don't have comprehensive coverage, it may be worth checking to see what it would cost, especially if you live in the Midwest, where hailstorms are frequent. Premiums can be higher as a result, but it may save you thousands in hail damage repair costs.

Exploring what it would take to fix hail damage on your car will likely benefit you in the long run, as even small hail dents can affect your vehicle’s resale value, not least because larger dings and dents that chip paint open the door to rust and corrosion.

Naturally, the larger the hailstones are, the greater the chance your vehicle has of being totaled. If the insurance adjuster determines that car repair costs will exceed the total value of your vehicle, then it could be declared a total loss.

Options for Repairing a Car with Hail Damage

Thankfully, there are several options when it comes to repairing a hail-damaged vehicle. There may not be too many if your vehicle is declared a total loss, but that isn't always the case.

Nothing

Depending on your situation, you may not have to go to a repair shop to have your vehicle fixed. Two main factors play into this, and the first is extent of the damage to your vehicle. If the hail damage is very minor and is not widespread, a car owner may choose not to file an insurance claim at all and leave the vehicle alone.

It's still a good idea to contact your insurance agent and request an a visit from an adjuster, but if you choose not to, you'll need to inspect the damage independently. If the vehicle’s paint is not chipped and there are only a few minor dings, you may think it's not worth the trouble.

The second factor is your intent for vehicle. If you're sure that you will own it until it no longer runs, you may simply opt to skip the repair process as long as it runs and drives. This may also apply if it's a beater car or just isn't worth that much.

Unfortunately, there is another side to this spectrum. If the hailstones are large enough and do enough damage to your vehicle to render it inoperable, then you may be forced to buy a new car.

DIY Repair

The second option is less than ideal but could save you some cash, as DIY repair can be easy in certain circumstances. Minor hail damage could potentially be covered up with touch-up paint if the hail dents are superficial and scattered.

Few car owners have the tools at their disposal that repair shops do, and they're always the best bet for facilities and expertise. If the hail damage is limited to a specific area or panel, such as the hood, it may be a little easier, because the hood can be removed. Simply buying a hood from a used car of the same model and fitting it yourself may also be an option.

To ensure that any hail-damaged component are properly repaired, it's always a good idea to at least consult a body shop. There are plenty of car owners savvy enough to repair their own vehicles, and if you're one of them, you could save yourself some serious cash. Just remember that DIY repairs might cost less monetarily, but they can cost more of your time than it is worth.

Paintless Dent Repair

Paintless dent repair or paintless dent removal is a process that eliminates dents without the need to remove and repaint body panels. Body shops that do this kind of repair work may still have to remove some body panels, lights, and other components to access the underside of a dent, but it's much less extensive and invasive than a full body repair and repaint.

Paintless dent repair, or PDR, can usually be performed on small-to-moderate dings and dents without paint damage. Regardless of whether or not your insurance will pay for repair, not having the extra expense of a repaint and the labor involved makes PDR a relatively low-cost solution.

Repairs and Repaint

The most extensive and invasive repair process occurs when hail damage is such that it requires the vehicle to undergo extensive bodywork and a full repaint to restore its exterior to “like new” condition. After an insurance adjuster examines the vehicle and prepares a repair estimate, your insurance company will likely provide a list of approved body shops where work can be carried out.

This will almost certainly be the costliest fix, regardless of who's paying for the repair. Large hail dents or vehicle-wide hail damage that affects paint and body panels will take the most amount of labor to repair. Many repair shops charge per dent and can cost anywhere between $30 and $50 per dent, depending on the shop, location, and the extent of the damage.

Questions You Should Ask Yourself

With all of this information on the table, there are several questions you can ask yourself regarding a car with hail damage.

Should I Buy It?

Most of the information we have reviewed so far has to do with your own, existing vehicle, but there may come a time when you want to buy a new car, and you find out that it has had hail damage in the past. The best answer to the question of whether or not you should buy it is multifaceted.

If the car has a salvage title as a result of extensive hail damage, it may be completely fine, but you'll have to take some extra time to inspect it. Check to make sure that the repairs were completed well and that there is no visible damage to the car or its components. If the car was newer when the hail damage occurred, it could have been that the car owner had the repairs completed regardless of the insurance company’s decision to total it.

On the flip side, the repairs may have been done cheaply and quickly because an insurance company was unwilling to pay for them. The previous owner could have still been upside down on the vehicle, and it may have been cheaper to have the car repaired quickly rather than well, so be sure to check the panels for rust spots and corrosion.

It could be that the hail-damaged car has not even been repaired. This may turn out well for you as hail can have a drastic effect on a vehicle’s resale value. If the car is mechanically sound, there are only a few small dents and dings, there's no extensive paint damage, and you are willing to put up with the cosmetic damage, you may be able to get a great car for a bargain price.

The question of whether or not you should buy a car with previous hail damage will depend on what you need, what you're willing to put up with, the condition of the car being sold, or all three of these factors. The risk involved with a hail-damaged vehicle may scare away buyers, but there are certainly bargains to be had if you're shrewd, careful, and if you do your research.

Should I Sell It?

The question of whether or not you should sell your hail-damaged vehicle will also likely be dictated by your current or future situation and preferences. The most obvious is whether you need your car to be cosmetically appealing. If you have to swallow the repair costs yourself, if the car has no mechanical issues, and if you don't want a car with all kinds of dings and dents, it may be time to move on to a new one.

There are buyers who are certainly in the market for a car that's cosmetically imperfect but still runs and operates well. Some people go through the repair process after their insurance company approves the claim but know it's been damaged in the past. The feeling of owning a car and knowing that it's previously been damaged is enough for some to sell the car after it has been repaired.

Owning a car that's been totaled because of hail damage can make the owner feel the same way. Again, there's a population of buyers more than willing to take a vehicle with a salvage title knowing that the extent of the damage has mainly affected the exterior of a vehicle, rather than the main powertrain or other internal components.

The final question is whether or not you can sell it in the first place and whether it's worth the hassle. The repair process for a heavily damaged car can be extensive, and just trying to get it off your hands and start fresh can be appealing.

Conversely, selling a hail-damaged car without going through the repair process can be tough. There are car buyers who are willing to buy a hail-damaged car or one with a salvage title, but finding the correct buyer willing to meet you on all the selling points can be challenging.

Whatever the case, you should always disclose to a potential buyer that the car has hail damage right off the bat.

Should I Keep It?

If you can deal with the fact that your car is or was damaged by hail, and it still runs well, you should definitely consider keeping it.

If you ended up taking a car loan to buy the vehicle in the first place, and it hasn't yet been paid off, then you should also definitely keep the car to prevent incurring even more debt. Hail damage can reduce the vehicle's value, so if you try to sell it, you may end up even further behind on your car loan, even if the car was fully repaired.

Lastly, you need to consider how much you love your car. Some people see vehicles as simple appliances. Others see them almost like family members. If you love your car and know you want to keep it, then you should. Having a totaled car that still runs, drives, and functions well will not impact its daily drivability, and you may still get several years of use out of it.

If the hail damage is extensive, you should still consider repairing the car so that rust and corrosion do not damage it further.