Nobody wants their car to break down. To keep your vehicle running well, you need to provide it with regular service. Have the oil changed a few times per year, rotate the tires, and check and replace the brakes as needed. A good auto care service will take care of all these maintenance tasks for you. However, you may still want to know more about the processes they follow, when service is needed, and what other types of services may help your car last longer. We've build this website for people like you — responsible car owners who just want to learn more. Enjoy!
The best thing to do for your car in a hailstorm is to seek shelter and avoid damage altogether. Unfortunately, this is often impossible for many people. Sometimes no nearby cover is available, and sometimes hailstorms arrive suddenly and without warning. Even worse, many car owners do not have garages and hailstorms can strike at any time, including the middle of the night. Whatever the case, you should never ignore hail damage. Not only can damage to your windows present a severe safety hazard, but damage to your car's paint can drastically reduce the value of the vehicle.
If your car has been affected by hail, then your first step should be to contact your insurance company. Comprehensive insurance policies will cover damage from storms, reducing or eliminating your out-of-pocket cost. Once the time comes to conduct repairs, there are generally three techniques that most auto body shops will use.
The Best Option: Paintless Dent Repair
Paintless dent repair (PDR) can be used to fix dents from a wide variety of different sources, including minor parking lot dings and severe hail damage. Paintless techniques reshape the metal without damaging it, allowing the removal of dents without the need to refinish the existing surface. Since hail damage often produces shallow dents that do not crease the metal, it is a perfect candidate for paintless dent repair techniques. Paintless dent repair is often cost-effective as well since metal preparation and painting are usually the two most expensive components of any body repair.
The Traditional Option: Filling and Glazing
While PDR is useful for many types of dents, it is not applicable in cases where the metal has been creased or the paint has been damaged. In these cases, more traditional forms of body repair are necessary. If you've ever heard of a metal detector being used to detect previous body damage on a car, then these techniques are the reason why. With traditional repair methods, a unique form of putty is used to fill the dents and the surface is then repainted. Repairs of this type have sometimes received a bad reputation, but professional shops can do the work in a way that will leave your car looking as good as new.
The Nuclear Option: Replacement
Finally, panels that have been damaged too severely for either PDR or filling will require replacement. In these cases, the shop will remove the entire body panel and replace it with a new (or used) one. The new body panel will need to be sanded, prepared, and painted to match your existing finish. Good shops will also blend the paint on nearby panels to minimize any obvious differences between the new and old panels. Replacement is the most expensive option, but it is sometimes the only choice when hail has damaged the entirety of a panel.
Contact a hail damage repair service to learn more.
Share6 January 2020
