by adminsioux | Jan 14, 2019 | Educational, Hail Damage
South Dakota gets a lot of hail, so it’s important to know how to handle an unexpected storm. This will greatly reduce your risk of Sioux Falls hail damage.
Check the Weather
The best way to handle a storm is to know when it’s coming. Watch the news, listen to the radio, or download a weather app to avoid getting caught in a bad situation.
Always Know Where to Find Shelter
A surefire way to keep your paint intact is to use covered parking as frequently as possible. Remember where covered parking is in your neighborhood or park downwind from large buildings to avoid the worst of the storm. It seems obvious, but many Sioux Falls drivers simply rush home, resulting in heavy hail damage.
Another option if you’re in need of shelter is to phone a friend. If someone you know as extra space in their garage or under their car port, see if they’d be willing to let you use it for the duration of the storm.
Use Your Garage Overnight
Again, knowing when a storm is coming is essential in preparation. When you’re getting ready for a storm, take a few minutes and pull your car into the garage instead of leaving it out. This way, you’ll be sure to save your prized possession from Sioux Falls hail damage.
Invest in a Carport
If you don’t have a garage you can purchase a car port to shield your vehicle from the storm. Make sure you weigh it down in case of high winds.
If you’re driving and come across a hailstorm, pulling over and finding shelter may be a smart move. Driving in hail can be dangerous for you and your car. Overpasses, gas stations, and parking garages can all work as last-minute shelters while you’re not at home.
If you do happen to still get hail damage after these tips and tricks, feel free to give us a call to schedule a no obligations damage assessment for your vehicles hail damage.
by adminsioux | Dec 24, 2018 | Dent Repair, Hail Damage, Motorcycle Dent Repair
Don’t let last night’s hail storm ruin your day. Seeing hail damage on your car can be upsetting, but luckily, there are excellent options for automotive hail repair in Sioux Falls.
Sioux Falls Dent Repair offers a variety of services to repair your vehicle, including small dent repair, large dent repair, PDR, and motorcycle tank repair.
Paintless dent repair is one of the best methods of automotive hail repair in Sioux Falls. PDR allows for complete dent removal without damaging your car’s finish. Technicians must get certifications to perform PDR, ensuring the best possible repairs for customers like you.
Paintless Dent Repair is a Versatile Method
PDR can be performed on almost any part of a vehicle, including doors, body panels, rooves, trunks, and hoods. Typically, the areas that most need Sioux Falls automotive hail repair are the hood, roof, and trunk, as these are the parts with the most upward-facing surface area.
We Can Fix More Than Just Cars
If cars are not your typical mode of transportation, you can still use PDR. Sioux Falls Dent Repair offers motorcycle dent repair as well as traditional automotive hail repair, meaning you can come right in and get your tank restored rather than shipping it to a faraway body shop. Motorcycle PDR in Sioux Falls means that you can get your bike back on the road sooner since you don’t need to wait for shipping.
Talk To Our Sioux Falls Hail Repair Experts
Thinking about auto hail repair could initially give you a headache, but Sioux Falls’ automotive hail repair process is so painless that there’s no need to fret. Car or motorcycle with dents large or small, Sioux Falls Dent Repair has technicians that can help. Their state-of-the-art processes and PDR-certified technicians will remove your hail damage in no time. When you’re in need of hail dent removal, check out Sioux Falls Dent Repair.
by adminsioux | Dec 17, 2018 | Hail Damage
We’re taught about the four main types of precipitation in school: rain, sleet, snow, and hail. However, weather can be much more complex than that. Hail comes in different forms and severities. Sleet, graupel, and regular hail are all on the spectrum of frozen precipitation, but are very different, especially when it comes to the hail damage they can cause in Sioux Falls. Knowledge is the keye to being prepared for any kind of inclement weather.
Sleet
Smaller than hail, sleet consists of tiny balls of ice that tend to bounce when they make contact with the ground. Sleet can look like a rough, icy sheet when it forms a layer. Due to its size, it is unlikely that sleet will cause significant damage to your vehicle.
Graupel
Graupel forms when a snowflake is covered with a supercooled water droplet. Graupel is balls of ice that are softer than sleet, as well as larger. A ball of ice is considered graupel until it reaches 5mm in diameter. A large piece of graupel could potentially cause damage if it was going fast enough.
Hail
Hail is a ball of ice with a diameter of at least 5mm and is created when thunderstorm updrafts bring water vapor into an extremely cold part of the atmosphere causing it to freeze. Hail can range in size from less than an inch, to golf-ball-sized, to even as large as a baseball. The larger and faster a piece of hail is, the more damage it can cause.
Knowing one type of hail from another can help you better prepare for an incoming storm. If you’ve heard sleet is on its way, your car will likely be fine without protection, but if a hailstorm is approaching, your car could get seriously damaged. Make sure to take precautions to prevent hail damage to your Sioux Falls vehicle.
by SFDent | Dec 4, 2018 | Dent Repair, Educational
Extreme Paintless Dent Repair In Sioux Falls, SD
Did you know that dents in the body line of a car can be repaired using Paintless Dent Repair. Even at the depth of this dent shown. In his Repair of the Week, a customer from the Sioux Falls area dropped a 2017 Chevrolet Malibu in at the shop. It had a sizable dent in the left quarter panel directly above the wheel. The customer did not know how the damage occurred. They just noticed it when they came out to the parking lot at school and saw it. Access to this damage is very limited. The tail light pocket and trunk area access is minimal. The majority of the repair was done through glue pulling.
So how did the repair go?
One of the biggest challenges in this repair was that there was a small paint crack. This paint damage area which would remain even after the dent was removed. After informing the customer that the shop would not be liable if the paint was to be pulled off. They were understanding and knew this was still the best choice for them. The customer seemed more concerned about not having the car painted.
The body line took a major hit and severe crowning (this is displaced metal that is raised up above the dent) is visible above the impact area. The crowning or raised area, is one of the biggest factors in settling on a pricing structure. Other factors such as whether the bumper needed to come off or not, and whether the tail light needed to be removed to gain access. Did you know in order to remove the tail light on this vehicle the bumper needs to be removed first? Fortunately, the inner trunk trim was the only thing removed for the repair work.
Before starting the repairs, the customer was made aware that if these extra parts had to be removed, the cost of the repair would increase. We even make sure to give them an exact dollar amount if this is the case. As always we always make sure to disclose the customer with this info before starting the repair.
About the Minor Paint Fracture
Customers facing the same dent related problems should know that for minor fractures in the paint work, paintless dent repair is still the best option. The repair is faster when compared to a body shop. There is no diminished resale value or negative carfax history report when going with paintless dent repair. Why is this such a problem? Because when you go to sell the vehicle, a negative carfax report and repainted panels greatly diminish the vehicles resale value. With Paintless Dent Repair this dent was removed and the car was handed over on the same day, a body shop would have taken 5 or more days because they would have painted the quarter panel, removed the tail light and bumper, removed components from the left door and painted it. They would also charged the customer significantly more than this paintless repair cost.
I have similar damage, how can I contact you?
If you have any dent damage that needs repairs in the Sioux Falls area, contact Sioux Falls Dent Repair by calling or texting 605-595-4061.
by adminsioux | Apr 6, 2018 | Hail Damage
The Dangerous Potential of Hail
Hail is one of the largest contributors of property damage in the U.S. It haunts every state in the country and causes nearly $1 billion in losses each year. It’s very possible you could return to a completely cratered car with broken glass and maybe even some internal damage. So, needless to say, you don’t want your vehicle to get caught in a hail storm. Unfortunately, the Midwestern United States experiences far more severe hail storms than any other part of the nation so totally avoiding it may not be an option. So what exactly are your options?
Brandon Hail Damage and Your Car Insurance
Your auto insurance policy determines what kinds of damage your vehicle is protected against. Generally speaking you’ll need comprehensive coverage if you want to be protected against most liability free causes. This includes, of course, hail damage as well as:
- Theft
- Vandalism
- Natural disaster
- Falling objects
- Fires
- Animals
If you take care of your car it will take care of you. We advocate for comprehensive coverage so much because dents and dings are really that serious. Exposed damage is the perfect host for rust and corrosion so make sure you can respond to hail as fast as you can with thorough protection.
Minimize Your Exposure to the Elements
The best way to protect your car against Brandon hail damage is to totally avoid it. A little bit of caution can go a long way. Try these helpful tips to protect your car during the next hail storm.
- If you are lucky enough to pass by covered parking or a garage then take advantage of it.
- Even if you can’t find covered parking pull over because it will reduce the hail’s impact.
- Invest in a car cover. They come in handy more than you think.
- Sheets, blankets, and pillows make great cushioning if you don’t have a car cover.
- If you don’t have a car cover and you don’t have blankets
These tips might not prevent all Brandon hail damage but they will certainly help. Now all that’s left is to take care of the stragglers. Call Sioux Falls Dent Repair today at 605-595-4061 and we’ll pop out those leftover dents no problem!
