[DualMTurbo]

So here in Fort Hood Tx. my car was caught up in a hail storm that was dropping golf ball sized hail on everything which seemed to last hours knowing that they were jacking up my baby! Hail damage is all over the car on every panel even the gas door cover it's horrible and my wife was super sad about the whole incident.

My neighbor suggested a well known paintless dent repair shop where he brought his Corvette that had the same damage prior and he says you wouldn't even be able to tell his car even had hail damage.

USAA has this same shop as one of their preferred repair shops and they will also guarantee the work that this shop performs on top of what the shop guarantees (if they do guarantee their work) I was wondering if anyone knows what their process is with the repairs and if they can't get a certain dent out what would they do? I don't want bondo or fillers used to correct the problem because to me it effects the integrity of the factory paint.

Also should I use the shop that USAA sends me to or should I go somewhere else? Any help and input is appreciated, Thanks guys!

Photos aren't good but these are the best ones I could take.

[xantdieselx]

Paintless Dent Repair is the way to go. Essentially they gain access the underside of the damaged panel (for the roof for example they drop the headliner) and work the dent out from behind.

I've hade dents taken out on several vehicles and I swear by it. You keep the factory paint which is definitely a plus.

Now for the bad....because it's hail (and there are dents everywhere) they are probably not going to be able to get every dent out. Some panels (hood, roof etc) have braces that are welded to the underside to strengthen the panel. If a dent falls above a brace they will not be able to access the underside. When a dent occurs it stretches the metal and the paint attached to it. Because they are stretching the metal back to get the dent out sometimes it weakens the metal.

You can tell because the metal will flex when you press on it. If it were my car I would definitely find out who does the best Paintless Dent Repair work in my area and let them do it. If there are some dents that they can't get out, it's still better to only have to repair/refinish 1 or 2 panels than paint the entire car. Good luck!

[Professor///M]

go through insurance for comprehensive repair. That type of damage can be upwards of 6-12K in damage.

My dad had an A6 that was in a hail storm and the body work alone was $8,000, and another 6,000 because it busted the back windshield causing severe electrical damage.

Good luck

[DualMTurbo]

Thanks for the suggestions, I had the car estimated last week and I searched around for a reputable PDR places in the area. Since Ft. Hood/Killeen was hit pretty hard by this hail storm we got a bunch of PDR companies that popped up from all around Texas. Since USAA said it doesn't matter when I get it repaired they will cover it since they got all of the info and pictures from the place I brought it to get the estimate. Going to check out another company this week. Every panel was hit including some hard plastic trim pieces

TOTAL DAMAGE: $5000

[SteveL1]

Be very careful who you have do the work! When a town has a hail storm, little shops pop up all over the place ready to cash in on the available work. Storm chasers! Look at the license plates on the trucks and you'll see OK, IA, KS, MO, AK, TN. All storm areas that seem to mass produce PDR experts. Some are good but a lot of them take short cuts that you don't want to have done on your car. I've had three different cars damaged by hail and when looking for a shop I once watched a guy use a step drill bit on the hood cross braces so it was easier and quicker to get to them all. Yes, there will be some that that may have to drill a small hole in a door jam but they will typically use a black plastic plug that looks factory.

The items that they can't fix are rubber windshield trims. The only way to take care of those is to remove the glass and replace.

St. Louis is the home of Dent Wizards and constantly have 50-100 guys being trained at any given time. Check with your local BBB to make sure the company is legit!

[DualMTurbo]

Thanks for the heads up about the inexperienced pdr companies but the 2nd place I checked out had an excellent bbb rating. I know they drill holes for certain areas but I'm going to ask if and dents on the hood need to be repaired that way, I saw a video of a pdr guy using hot glue a plastic nipple and a type of dent puller device to pull the nipple off in order to raise the dent. Does that method eliminate the need to drill? I don't want to compromise the integrity of my hood with drilled holes on the support beams.

[pullmychamb]

I would have taken my mattress off my bed and covered my car!!