You might think that dents are just dents, when really, not all dents are the same. In fact, there are four different categories of dents: round, creased, sharp, and extreme. All dents happen under varrying conditions; some may seem very similar, but all dents are unique in the way you approach repairs. Here is a list of dents and their qualities so you can determine what method of repair is best for you: Paintless dent repair or a Sioux Falls body shop.
Round
Round dents are circular marks that are created with spherical objects such as hail or sports balls. Unlike the singular dent that will typically come with a golf ball or baseball, hail damage results in many small, round dents covering the surface of your car.
Creased
A creased dent is created when something drags along the side of your vehicle, creating a small, trough-like dent. This could be caused by bicycle handles or something sharp from another car scraping against yours.
Sharp
Sharp dents are marks containing indented points. They could be caused by sharp objects being pressed into your car or perhaps someone opening their car door into yours.
Extreme
Extreme dents could be very different in nature but are all characterized by intense damage to your car. They could have a wide variety of causes and appearances.
Luckily, 90% of dents can be fixed by a paintless dent repair expert or Sioux Falls body shop. PDR is inexpensive and can be completed in as little as a few hours, so it is usually the best option. Our experts will identify the nature of your dent, then slowly and carefully work it out of the metal using pressure and special tools. No paint, no replacement parts, and no putty all mean less final cost for you. For any dent you’re looking to remove, opt for paintless dent repair at your Sioux Falls body shop.
Everybody loves a new car. The smooth handling, flawless finish, clean interior. But there is one fatal flaw with every factory fresh vehicle: The price. The average rate for a new car in America hovers somewhere around $35,000-36,000. For most this is a pretty hefty chunk of change so you’ll be scrambling for every deal you can find. Then suddenly, you see it! The car of your dreams in all of its dimpled glory. Everyone sells their car for a reason. Maybe they need the extra cash for a new ride or they’re just looking to clear up some garage space. Regardless, it’s important to remember that all sellers have one goal in mind. To make money. That being said, here are a few reasons their Sioux Falls hail damaged car is being sold at such a discounted price.
The Damage is Too Severe
Hail can take a real toll on your car, often damaging windows or paint in the process. Rain water can leak through these cracks and cause much more severe internal damage that isn’t easy to detect. If the paint or windows are chipped be very cautious and have a few mechanics give you a damage estimate.
The Repairs Outweigh the Value
If the damage is minor most sellers will simply repair it and take the small loss. But if the repairs require repainting and body work then they will likely weigh the difference and cut their losses. That’s why many sellers don’t disclose damage costs; or at least why you shouldn’t trust their estimates right away. Which leads me to my next point.
Dealers Don’t Need to Disclose Damage
Dealers don’t need to disclose what it will take to repair the car within certain thresholds. This is actually a grey area for several reasons. Getting the damage appraised by two or three body shops is the best way to understand the true cost. Almost all of them offer free estimates.
Internal and External Damage
Paint jobs and repairs are expensive and dealerships know this. Most sellers in Sioux Falls would rather pull a fast one on somebody than let their car go to a paint shop. Especially if the work requires the time of two separate technicians.
Make Sure The Discount is Reflective of the Damage
Many sellers will offer you what sounds like a steal. $2000 off a $35,000 car, who wouldn’t love that?! However, it’s hardly worth it if the hail damage drops your ride’s value by $5000. You’re essentially losing out on $3000!
Insurance Coverage and False Claims
There are a handful of drivers that buy hail damaged cars in Sioux Falls just to take advantage of their insurance. Most do this by purchasing a car with hail damage, waiting for another storm, and filing their claim then. Unless your insurance company inspects your vehicle upon purchase it is very easy to get away with this. Unfortunately this makes it difficult to get a discount as well.
Vehicle Damage Reports
When you file a claim on your insurance that record is added to your vehicle damage report. This is sort of like a credit report that follows your car around no matter where it goes. If you file a claim on the damage right away it will be harder to get a discount on future damage. Luckily, Sioux Falls Dent Repair can fix hail damage without affecting your vehicle damage reports. Call us today at 605-595-4061 to learn more!
Consider the Diminished Value
It might seem obvious at first, but many drivers in Sioux Falls looking for a steep discount on a hail damaged car forget that, when they sell it, it is still a hail damaged car. Other buyers will want a discount just as much as you did so don’t expect a lot on the return value.
Remember, these tips are far from the only things you should watch for when buying a hail damaged car, but hopefully they are enough to get you started. As a sort of summary or basic guide here are a few highlights to keep in mind.
Nobody is trying to give you a discount. Everyone wants to make money so they’re selling that car at a low price for a reason. Your goal should be to find all of those reasons.
Make sure the numbers add up. Sellers can throw all of the bloated numbers and silver tongued estimates they want at you. But if you’re cautious and do all the math yourself you’ll be fine.
Check with your insurance providers before buying. You don’t want to be caught in a storm a few months later just to find out that your damage report is hold you back from filing a claim.
Among the myriad dents you could encounter in your lifetime as a driver, by far some of the most annoying are door creases. Crease dents are most commonly caused by car accidents but they can happen at any time. As a matter of fact, these types of dents can often be so troublesome that body shops may recommend installing entirely new panels! While in extreme cases this may be necessary, a good Sioux Falls door crease repair crew can get the job done in a fraction of the time it takes a body shop, and they can do it without lowering your resale value! (more…)
“Your damage cannot be fixed with Paintless Dent Repair, Your damage is too severe, you need to go to a body shop and have your car repainted.”
Have you heard something like this from a friend, family member or maybe you yourself thought this? Well this customer took his 2013 Ford Mustang to a local body shop, that told him it could not be repaired with paintless dent repair. Also that his car needed to be taken apart and part of his vehicle needed to be completely repainted. Luckily this customer contacted us to come look at some other damage on his vehicle prior to scheduling it with the body shop. After looking the customers vehicle over for damage, we took note of the left quarter panel that had the damage seen in this video. We started talking with the customer and he mentioned you can’t fix that can you? After some inspection we determined that we could repair his damage using Paintless Dent Repair. The customer had previous paint experience and knew that keeping the factory paint finish was far superior to any body shop paint job, from miss matched colors, to diminished resale value, the list goes on and on. He was excited to learn we were able to fix the damage and scheduled the repair with us.
During the repair process we use multiply tricks of the trade, from glue pulling on the metal to pull the damage out, to using specialized tools to move the metal back into its original shape. The repair process as you can see is very time consuming and very repetitive but we knew we were able to remove this damage with the right amount of work in the right places.
The damage was removed and the customer was very happy with the finished results. Here is what the customer thought of his repair:
“Just picking up my car today from Jack today, he just finished up the quarter panel repair that I was told from the body shop that couldn’t be done. He did an awesome job, you can’t tell nothing has been fixed. I had a small one down in the door here that’s completely gone. I think I would do Paintless Dent way before I would do body work, if you can do it. Jack did a great job!”
If you have damage on your vehicle be sure to check with at Sioux Falls Dent Repair to see if your damage can be repaired using Paintless Dent Repair!
Have you ever wondered how a hail estimate on your vehicle is written? How do body shops and paintless dent repair technicians come up with the numbers that they do? Here’s a short video on a couple of very common questions and just a basic example of how we go about pricing hail damage repairs! The vehicle used in this example was a 2017 Ford F-150 with only 1,700 miles in it! This vehicle is made completely out of aluminum and we have part of it taken apart already for this example.
First off we start by bringing the damaged vehicle inside our shop for inspection. Next we clean the vehicle of any debris and dirt, a clean surface insures us the best possible reflection, this allows us to see every minor detail of the damage. After the vehicle is cleaned off we bring out a specialized Paintless Dent Repair style light to see a high definition reflection of the damage, you can see quite a bit in the natural shop lighting but nothing compares to a professional paintless dent repair light! The damage is then scanned over with the light from multiply angles by the estimator or technician to insure every possible angle is seen and inspected for damage, this insures a proper estimate! After a dent is discovered it is then inspected for the correct size by a sizing magnetic coin or a regular coin will work, the sizing is dime, nickel, quarter, half dollar and any dent that is bigger than a half dollar is marked as an Oversized dent. This probably one of the most over looked issue is sizing in the estimate, some estimators or Technicians will just guess on size and you would be surprised at how inaccurate that is, so make sure the technician uses sizing coins to insure proper size for your estimate! Any damage over a half dollar in size is then marked out as an “OS” or oversized dent on the panel, for the rest the average size of the dents is taken then the panel is then categorized as being that specific size overall. Next the number of dents is then added up along with the specific size of oversized dents is then calculated to figure out a number for the cost of the repairs. Panels of the vehicle require access to push the damage out, we do this by removing certain pieces of trim to access the backside of the damage, the hood insulator was removed prior to the video, it is a pad that protects the hood from heat and offers a form of sound deadening to dampen the sound of the engine, this is installed on the underside of the hood with specialized retaining clips. Also in the video the headlight and headlight trim pieces were previously removed from both fenders to allow the technician access to the fenders to push out the damage. Access is then shown for both the fenders and the bottom side of the hood to give you a little idea of how the technician pushes the damage out.
If you have any questions regarding damage to your vehicle or have damage yourself that you would like repaired please give us a call at: (605) 595-4061
Did you recently receive hail damage to your vehicle? Do the hail dents stand out like a sore thumb every time you approach your vehicle you just stare at them in shock and disbelief? Well if so, we are here to help! From dealing with your insurance company directly, to handling the paperwork and estimating process, as well as the repair process itself, Sioux Falls Dent Repair is here to make your hail damage experience a hassle free and most importantly, a dent free experience!
I have hail damage, where do I start?
Great question! First off contact your insurance company and notify them you have hail damage to your vehicle then you will receive a claim number.
Will a hail damage claim make my rates go up?
Hail damage is classified under your comprehensive section of your insurance. Since claims made under the comprehensive section are referred to as “acts of god” this should not affect your rates. Comprehensive claims are focused on natural items damaging your car, such as the wind blowing an item into the vehicle, trees falling on your vehicle or hail damage.
I have a claim number, now what?
Here comes the easy part! Drop your vehicle off at Sioux Falls Dent Repair, and we will handle everything from there, from the paperwork, to dealing with your insurance company and repairing your damage!
This seems so simple, what’s the catch?
There is no catch, we are here to service you and to make this as pain free as possible, let us handle all of the hard parts so you can get on with your life, dent free again!
Do you have any other questions regarding hail damage? Maybe you want to know about how we calculate the damage and severity, or maybe you don’t think your damage is not that bad, should you even file a claim? These are all great questions that we are happy to answer for you. Just give us a call and we’d be happy to discuss all of your questions!
