Today Jack Bucknell our ARC Master Hail Certified technician at Sioux Falls Dent Repair will be discussing hail damage estimating. This was a Facebook Live video for hail damage estimating. We are a professional auto hail damage repair company located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. We have recently had a ton of hail damage repair claims from around the area including the other side of the state in the Black Hills, Rapid City and Spearfish. We wanted to take a moment and discuss how we go about processing all of the damage for repairs.
Should I submit my own photos and videos to my insurance?
No, while your insurance company will need photo documentation in order to process your claim. It is extremely important for you to have your vehicle looked at by a professional with professional lighting in the right conditions. A professional with these conditions will be able to write a much more accurate assessment of your vehicles damage.
How Do Electronic Heat Induction Tools Help Remove Hail Dents?
Hail dents can cause a real amount of damage to a vehicle, and be very annoying to look at, and can even drive the price of your car down by hundreds of dollars, for a good reason: they can be hard to get out. Many times the process of getting dents out can even make the spot look worse, as it leads to mismatched paint jobs and a more noticeable amount of damage. Luckily, Sioux Falls Dent Repair uses a number of methods in order to save your car’s value and its appearance. Sioux Falls Dent repair can repair your dents in a couple of manners, some of which include:
Electronic Heat Induction Tools
Push and Pull Methods
Sioux Falls Dent Repair is the premier paintless dent repair specialist in the Sioux Falls region and the entire surrounding area. We can remove dents of all sizes, including hail damage dents in your vehicle, all without resorting to using any painting or bondo, as more traditional body shops are keen on doing. We utilize special tools in order to push and pull damaged metal out. This includes metals such as steel, high strength steel, and aluminum.
By using our paintless dent repair services, you are enabling your vehicle to retain the superior paint job it received in the factory, and as a result, there will be no color mismatch or peeling paint. Additionally, you won’t have any negative CarFax history report, and there will be no way of detecting that there was ever any damage to your vehicle. Most amazingly, however, is that it only takes a few hours, and you won’t have to leave your car at a body shop for a couple of days.
Electronic Heat Induction Tools
Electronic heat induction tools are typically handheld units that are aimed at making the removal of hail dents and small door dings easier and safer for the vehicle. The tools are designed to be very quick and easy to use, making them highly efficient for body shops, dent repair shops, and even laymen. The appliance generally comes with a number of settings that can be appropriately adjusted depending on the application of it.
It is specifically designed for paintless dent repairs, and it allows paintless dent repair technicians to remove small soft dents by lifting the small soft dent through the magnetic heat induction. “Small soft dents” are dents that don’t leave sharp impressions and don’t have creases. Ideally, these dents come out perfectly within one minute, while others may take a couple of minutes when used in tandem with other paintless dent removal techniques.
Some of these other techniques include glue pulling techniques and the use of traditional paintless dent repair tools. Electronic heat induction tools save time and money for both the technician and the vehicle’s owner, and it always creates a large return on the investment into paintless dent repair, for the owner and technician alike.
You can call or text Sioux Fall Dent Repair today if you have hail damage, dings or dents on your vehicle for a free damage assessment. Call or text 605-250-1023. Let us bring your vehicle back to its original condition.
BUYER BEWARE: The Downfalls of Purchasing A Vehicle With Hail Damage
So you purchased a new vehicle with hail damage. First off, congratulations! A newer vehicle is always an exciting time. That newer car smell. Something different to drive and more comfortable. We would like to discuss some items you should know for future reference.
Car Insurance
When you go to sign up for new insurance on this vehicle some insurance agents will want to see the vehicle in person or at least have pictures on file. If there is any indication that is has hail damage even in photos you may be denied for any future hail damage claims.
Future Accidents and Claims
We have even seen insurance companies subtract the damage amount for hail damage on a panel for a collision or accident. Lets say your hood for insurance has $500 in hail damage, please note this is NOT a lot of damage. You later get in a front end collision in your vehicle which damages the hood. Some insurance adjusters will then subtract the $500 in hail damage you have on the hood prior and not pay out that amount to have the vehicle fixed from its collision. This is rare and a complete headache for the vehicle owner and the repair shop. Even I myself cannot believe this is an issue but I have seen it myself first hand. So say it costs $1200 to have a body shop take the car apart, paint a new hood, install the new hood, blend the color into the fenders for a color match and put it all back together. The insurance company may only pay out $700.00 total because of the preexisting damages on the hood. Something to take note of.
The vehicle has a salvage title or damage disclosure is that the vehicle is now valued at a lesser amount. If the vehicle is then totaled out for damage again you will receive much less than the blue book value for the vehicle, often times using rough trade in for a value amount is in the ballpark.
CarFax History Report
Have you heard of Carfax? Its like a credit report for a vehicle. Whenever an insurance claim or accident is reported this information is then uploaded to Carfax to show the vehicle has some type of incident. Lets say this damage slips through the cracks and somehow is not recorded through Carfax. This vehicle gets to you with out any Carfax History Report. You then take the vehicle to a local body shop to have an estimate for your hail damage that you want repaired. Some body shop estimating systems and dealer computer systems report their info to Carfax. EVEN IF YOU DON’T HAVE A REPAIR DONE! So now your vehicle has been reported without your consent to Carfax and everyone from now on will know if they check the vehicles history, it had hail damage, or at least damage all over the vehicle. Some of these common body shop estimating systems include CCC One, Mitchell or Audatex. So be aware!
Often times we have people contact us asking “Should I buy a vehicle with hail damage?” They then send us photos of the damage or a web link to the vehicle on a website. Also they may have already purchased the vehicle. There are many considerations to take when purchasing a vehicle with hail damage and today we will cover those.
First off, Why Do You Want To Buy A Vehicle With Hail Damage?
People get attracted to hail damage vehicles because of the purchase price. After all the car is just cosmetically damaged. No frame damage or inner structures are damaged on the vehicle. Typically they have low miles and a very nice clean interior. The only downfall is the outside of the vehicle is full of dents and dings. To some buyers they are ok with the damage being there. They will drive the vehicle for years without a care in the world and not fix it. Others are looking to purchase the damaged vehicle cheaper than an equivalent vehicle without damage, then have it repaired later.
Does The Vehicle Have A Damage Disclosure or A Salvage Title?
These are very important questions that you will need to know. Even if the vehicle is fixed 100% correct a salvage title or damage disclosure may still haunt the vehicle for the rest of its life. Each state is different so check with your local state to see the requirements.
If it does have either of those on the title, was it added to the title because of hail damage specifically? The reason we ask is cause some vehicles have been repaired because of frame or other structural damage then these vehicles get hit with sometimes even light hail. The seller may then say something like, it has a damage disclosure or salvage title because of the hail. The will say this so you think oh its super simple damage, only a few dents per panel, no big deal. Later you may then find out it has previous frame or structural damage that was actually the cause of the bad title.
Extreme hail Damage – Sioux Falls South Dakota
How Does A Vehicle Get A Damage Disclosure or Salvage Title?
When a vehicle is damaged the total cost to repair the damage is assessed. The cost to repair the damage will be in excess of 60% to 80% of the total vehicles value. Each state is different but most states range from this percentage.
Did you know that for some insurance companies will “total out” a vehicle even into the fifty percentile just because the insurance company knows that the specific vehicle manufacture and model will bring a premium when later auctioned off for sale. That’s right, a vehicle that is deemed a total loss will then be purchased by the insurance company from the vehicle owner. The insurance company then takes the vehicle to an auction to then be auctioned off to the highest bidder. This is why car lots tend to have vehicles with hail damage, they buy them at auction.
So for easy math lets say you have a vehicle that is valued at $20,000.00 In order for a vehicle to be deemed a total loss, the total amount of damage the vehicle would have to have is somewhere between $12,000-$16,000.00 range. As stated in the previous paragraph it may even be as low as $10,000.00 in damage on extreme cases.
Extreme Hail Damage – Sioux Falls Dent Repair
How Much Are You Really Saving?
How much are you saving verses purchasing a vehicle with no damage and equal miles on it? Some save as little as a few hundred dollars and some save several thousand.
The Seller Said It Would Cost Less To Repair.
In some cases the new vehicle owner says the seller told them they had quotes for only some low amount to fix the damage. This happens with hail damage as well as collision style damage. When the vehicle is looked at by a facility like ourselves for an actual estimate we give them a through estimate on the actual repair costs. Remember this is what we specialize in specifically.
Often times moldings and trim pieces on the vehicle become damaged, if these are missed they can add several hundreds of dollars to the repair estimate. For instance lets say some of the trim around the rear quarter panel glass is missed and has damage, those windows can range from a few hundred to over a thousand dollars to replace and that is just one side! The reason being is the molding is bonded to the glass, the glass must be replaced with the molding since they are all one piece.
Also remember the person selling the vehicle is trying to get rid of it. They are a salesman! We see it time and time again of people being taken advantage of when buying a damaged vehicle. Unfortunately we end up becoming the ones to deliver the bad news that the vehicle will not actually cost as low of a price to repair, it will actually cost much more. We typically tell a person expect the ACTUAL repair costs to be double at least but probably closer to four times the amount mentioned by the vehicle seller. Remember, they are TRYING to sell the vehicle, not actually repair it!
Our Actual Experiences
All of the pictures featured in this article were either taken by us or sent to us by customers. All of these photos show damage that we will not be repairing.
The silver car, the Toyota was purchased by a customer then brought to us for an estimate. The entire top side of the vehicle needs to be replaced and taken to a body shop.
In 2018 we had a customer come to us with a newer BMW 7 series with hail damage. He purchased the vehicle out of Colorado and was shocked when he found out the cost of the repairs. Here he thought he had basically stole the vehicle. He was given over $7,000.00 off of the price! When we looked at the vehicle the cost to replace just the hood, roof and trunk lid and NOT counting any other damages was over his $7,000.00 savings. Its unfortunate but we hope to combat these dilemmas for future customers by informing them before hand!
Our Final Thoughts and Input
Think of it this way, with hail damage, there is a reason we ourselves do not typically buy hail damage cars and fix them ourselves. We can do these repairs for just the cost of our time and still choose not to. It is just not cost effective.
Want to read more about future insurance claims, future repairs, Carfax history reports and more?
Should I Fix The Dents In My Vehicle Before Selling It?
This is often why people seek out our services.
People often ask: Should I fix the dents in my vehicle before selling it?
Do you want to get top dollar for your trade in or the sale of your vehicle?
Maybe you don’t want to deal with a long drawn out negotiation on your asking price?
Having a dent free vehicle allows you to have more power in the negotiation part of a deal.
Even a few dents in your vehicle can greatly depreciate what a person will give you for it!
One Hail of an Experience
A while back we ended up fixing some hail damage in a customers 2017 Ram 1500 Pickup. This customer bought it with light hail damage already on it. He ended up getting a great price if he was willing to live with the hail damage.
This customer had this vehicle for 3 years and finally decided to part ways with it. This Ram had extremely low miles on it, right around 15k for a 3 year old vehicle! He ended up taking it to a local car lot to see about trading it in on one of their vehicles. The minute the lot saw that it had hail damage they flat out told him “We are not interested in your trade!” Can you believe that! Now granted yes this was hail damage, but even the customer said prior to our appointment with him that he could only see around 12 dents on the hood. Once we pulled it into our shop and gave it a full look over we counted close to 50 dents on the hood alone!
What Does The Car Lot Know That You Don’t Know?
The reason being is because they know what a person can see outside in the sunlight is one thing. Once a Professional Paintless Dent Repair Company has a look at the vehicle they know they will find much more damage. More damage makes the repair bill higher, allowing them to not make as much money on the sale. We are sure the reason they basically ran away from this vehicle is because the have been burned in the past thinking the same thing. Oh it just has a couple dents in it, as they look at it in the bright sun in a parking lot. Then when they go to sell the vehicle thinking they will get away with the “few” dings it has in it and the new customer brings it home and gets it in their garage the new customer is horrified to find 50-100 dents on just one panel! This does not make the dealer lot look good and puts a bad taste in the customers mouth about their recent purchase! Sadly we have seen this first hand many times from customers.
Hail of a Relief
So to follow up on the above mentioned Ram Story. We ended up getting the vehicle repaired for the customer and the hood is now dent free. We were even able to make these repairs in one day! The customer simply dropped his truck off in the morning and picked it up that evening, dent free! We even went around other parts of the vehicle and removed some other small dents we found on it as well. The customer ended up having no problems selling his vehicle and is now it a newer ride for himself.
I Only Have Minor Dents and Dings, No Hail Damage
Sometimes customers of ours are simply only fixing their dents in their vehicles because they are looking to sell it. We get it, it is very common. We are able to work with you on this process and get your vehicle dent free again and fast! Most of our repairs can be performed in a day! When a car lot factors in the cost to repair dents and dings they are always going to go to the worst case scenario. For them the worst case scenario is a body shop. A body shop may want anywhere from $500 to over $1,000 to paint just a single panel! Even if they know the damage can be repaired using Paintless Dent Repair they always assume the worse, and offer you the lowest amount. This is a negotiation tactic and they are the best in the business with negotiating, it’s what they do!
Conclusion
So the next time you think about selling your vehicle and think, should I Fix The Dents In My Vehicle Before Selling It. The answer is simply Yes. Bbe sure to contact your local Dent Repair Specialists.
They will be able to assess your damage and give you an honest and straightforward answer.
If you would like to talk about some of the damages in your vehicle feel free to contact us in whichever way is most convenient for you!
Most hail damage dent repairs can be made in just a few days. Smaller and lighter hail damage repairs can be made in 1-3 business days. More extreme hail damage repairs are often made in 3-5 days. When parts are damaged from hail we must order new ones to be replaced. All parts are ordered once a final insurance approval is made. Often times parts can be delivered in 1-3 business days unless on back order. If this is the case you will be notified right away of any potential delays. We will update you daily on all hail damage repair claims unless otherwise discussed ahead of time.
Most often we schedule hail damage repairs to be dropped off on Monday. Most customers have their vehicles back by that Friday. This allows them to have their vehicle back DENT FREE for the week!
I Already Have an Insurance Hail Damage Estimate
Be sure to bring any copies of your insurance paperwork with you to better speed up the repair process. We will look the vehicle over for damage using our specialized lighting prior to doing any repairs. This lighting will almost every time find more damage than a person or Insurance adjuster will see in normal outside lighting or shop lighting. All additional damage that we find and added parts that need to be replaced will be added to our estimate and submitted to your insurance company.
This is called a supplement, a supplement is a request from a repair facility for the additional damage to be paid for by the insurance company to repair the additional damages found. Almost every single vehicle has additional damage that will be found by a Paintless Dent Repair Facility, the insurance companies are well aware of this and very aware of this whole process.
How Do You Submit A Supplement?
We contact your insurance company and inform them of additional damage or parts are needed to do your repair. From there it depends on what your specific insurance companies needs.
Some insurance companies will have one of their personal adjusters come to the repair shop and look at the vehicle in person, from there they take pictures of additional damage for documentation. They then update their estimate to match the repair facility and we can begin repairs. Often times this will take 1-3 business days for one of their own adjusters to come to the repair shop and then we can start repairs.
Other insurance companies hire independent adjusters to work for them. These adjusters are subcontracted by the insurance company when they need them, this is common in a catastrophic hail storm, where there is a huge need for adjusters and they hire on more for a short time to handle the influx of claims and damage.
Another option is an insurance company will contract an independent adjuster company. This company hires out multiple forms of adjusters for automotive, RV’s, home and commercial policies.
Every Claim Is Different
This is just a general overview of the options an insurance company uses. Some adjusters will come and look at the vehicle in person, some want just photos of the damage circled then submitted via email and all approvals are made online. Every company and claim is different. One may do it one way for one claim, then next week the same company may go through an entirely different process.
After an agreement is made with the insurance company about your vehicles damage most hail damage repairs can be made within just a few business days. If any parts are in need of replacement they will be ordered once the final insurance approval has been made.
Want to learn more about how long small and large non hail damage take to repair? Click Here To Learn More!
Do you have more questions about hail damage repairs or your insurance?
