Carrie Atkins

Is there anything worse than a dented vehicle? Whether you come back to your car to find it somehow got dented, or you get into a fender bender, dents are definitely not good news. The only upside is that, in many cases and depending on the cause, dents may be covered by your insurance.And, while it’s nice that you can often get dent repair paid for, you may want to just avoid them in the first place. Fortunately, you can do a few things to make avoiding dents more likely.

Park Away From Other Vehicles

One of the most common reasons for dented cars is getting hit by the doors of other cars. This type of damage most often happens in parking lots.To help reduce your car’s risk of getting dinged by another car’s door, do your best to park far away from other cars. This might mean walking a little bit further to get to wherever you’re going, but the extra distance will be worth it for the added protection.If you have to park near other cars, be sure not to pull in next to a car where you’re going to be super close to one another. Also, try and avoid vehicles that look overly damaged since this is a good indicator that the owner might not be as careful as you’d prefer.

Keep Your Vehicle Covered

It’s not just other cars that can dent your vehicle. Hail is another major cause of dent damage.As such, try to park your car in a covered area whenever you can, especially if you know that hail is in the forecast. If you don’t regularly have access to a garage or other means of covering your vehicle, buy a car cover or standalone carport. These can go a long way toward protecting your vehicle from hail and other objects that might fall from the sky, like a wayward baseball.

Look and Use Caution

Another good rule is to always look and use caution anytime you open your door. A lot of dents happen because you open your door without looking. This could mean bumping the door on gas pump, a nearby pole, into a shopping cart, or into another vehicle.No matter where you are or how many times you’ve been there, take a second to look for any potential obstacles, and then open your door slowly and cautiously to avoid accidental dents and dings.

Don’t Put Things on Your Vehicle

Your vehicle is not a resting spot for anything, so you shouldn’t treat it like one. Don’t rest bags or boxes on top of your vehicle. Follow this same rule with car seats and baby carriers, occupied or unoccupied. Even if objects seem light, it doesn’t take much to cause small dents and damage to your vehicle.Also, never sit on your vehicle or allow anyone else to do so. The weight of a body can easily cause damage to the vehicle.

Drive With Care

Finally, be a careful, conscientious driver at all times. Never follow any vehicle too closely. If you get hit from behind or have to stop suddenly, you run the risk of denting your own car by knocking into the car in front of you. Even worse damage can happen if you’re traveling at high speeds.In addition, try your best to carefully get away from reckless drivers. Being near these drivers is just asking for dents and other trouble.Of course, despite your best efforts, you may still end up with dents from time to time. If that happens, contact the dent-repair experts at Superior Dent Solutions.

We have been hearing from a lot of customers that their insurance agent has told them they should wait until the end of hail season before repairing their vehicle. This can be a very costly decision and can lower the quality of repairs to the vehicle.

Multiple Hail Storm Claims = Multiple Deductibles

For this example, we are going to use a 2014 Honda Accord in very good condition. Kelley Blue Book values this vehicle at around $12,000. Let’s say their vehicle was damaged in the recent hail storms, the average cost of repairs we are seeing is around $5,000. They have a vehicle that can be fixed using all paintless dent repair and can be repaired in less than a week.

Problem: Let’s say the car owner waits until the end of hail season and the vehicle is hit by another hail storm. This storm adds another $3,500 in damage to the vehicle, bringing the total amount of damage to $8,500. The vehicle is now right on the threshold for a total loss. If the vehicle is totaled more then likely the insurer will figure out it was in multiple hail storms and pull out two deductibles out of the total loss settlement.If the vehicle is not totaled. The vehicle is now damaged to the point where the major panels (roof, hood & deck lid) are now at dangerously close to needing to be replaced because they are damaged beyond what can be repaired by paintless dent repair.

In the scenario where they wait for multiple storms to damage the vehicle, the insurance company pays $8,500 less the $500 deductible for a total of $8,000, meanwhile they pay the $500 deductible to the body shop plus any rental fees over the 30-day policy limit. Also, they now have a vehicle considered much less valuable with aftermarket paint and parts.

Solution: Repair the vehicle immediately after the hail storm. If the car owner would have done this and repaired the vehicle two separate times on two separate claims, each claim would have been around $5,000, they would have paid $0 out of pocket at Superior Dent Solutions with our “Pay No Deductible” program. The insurance company would have paid $9,000.

Here are the issues with these types of repairs:

1. Aftermarket paint – the vehicle has now lost its factory paint warranty. Also, no matter how great the body shop is, the paint will never be as durable as the factory baked-on paint.
2. Aftermarket or used parts – somewhere in their insurance policy, there is a clause where the insurer has stated, “when panels need to be replaced, they can and will use aftermarket/used parts.” A common misconception most customers have about their insurers is that they have their best interest at heart. 
   INSURANCE COMPANIES ARE BUSINESSES, THEY ARE HERE TO BE PROFITABLE! 
   Being in an industry where I deal with insurance companies daily, I can tell you that your insurance company will take the cheapest possible route to repair your vehicle.
3. Roof Replacements – When the roof of the vehicle is damaged to the point that it needs to be replaced the repairs tend to be quite lengthy. The vehicle must be disassembled, this includes removing the headliner, front and back glass, sunroof assembly, airbags and sometimes the seats. Next, the body shop will cut the roof panel at the seams adjacent to the roof rails. The new roof panel is attached to the vehicle. This can be done in a variety of ways but often body shops use “seam sealer,” which is basically a strong adhesive. There’s a chance for leaks down the line, always make sure to choose a body shop that offers a lifetime warranty. These repairs can often exceed 2 months in an area affected by a major hail storm. A busy body shop will often take in more cars than they can repair in a timely manner.

Rental Car Coverage

Problem: Double the damage means extended repair times. If a customer carries rental coverage on their policy, most policies only cover up to 30 days. The insurance company will not pay for the extra month or more that they are in the rental vehicle. That now becomes their cost. The average rental vehicle costs $30/day now multiply that times 30 days plus taxes and fees, the cost is over $1,000. If they have a $500 deductible, they have now paid that three times basically.

Solution: Get your vehicle repaired immediately after it has been damaged in a hail storm. When you bring your car to Superior Dent Solutions, we put you in a rental car for free if your insurance company does not cover rental insurance. The repair time will be shorter and, in most cases, you will be back in your vehicle within 1 weeks time.

When an insurance company suggests waiting for the end of hail season, they are looking out for their bottom line not the customers best interest. We know this can all be very confusing, so feel free to reach out to us with any questions.

When choosing a dent repair center, you certainly want a center that has experienced technicians who do good work. As important as quality of work is, however, it’s not the only thing you should consider. Here are some questions about other aspects of a business that you should ask before you decide where to take your vehicle for dent repair.

What’s Your Rating with the Better Business Bureau?

Asking about a center’s rating with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) tells you a lot more than simply inquiring about the quality of the center’s work. A business’ BBB rating is an objective measure based on reviews from real customers, and the rating is comprehensive. Customers provide reviews based on work quality, as well as customer service and other factors.The best dent service centers will have an A or higher rating with the BBB. Any rating below this indicates that customers have filed complaints against a business.

How Long Does the Dent Repair Work Take?

Whereas routine auto maintenance might be completed in a relatively short amount of time, automotive body work can take much longer. Removing dents takes a little while, and then the repaired area must be painstakingly painted so that it matches the rest of the vehicle. Additionally, large parts sometimes must be special ordered, and this can cause further delays.Going to a center that provides reasonably short turnarounds means you’ll get your car back sooner. Don’t expect the work to be completed as fast as an instant oil change can be, for dent repair requires more careful attention to detail. You can likely find a place that will return your repaired car within a week, though.

Are Loaner Vehicles Available?

If your car was dented in an insurance-covered incident and you have rental car coverage included in your auto insurance policy, you don’t need to worry about getting a loaner car. You should be able to secure a paid-for rental for the duration of your car’s repair through your insurer.If the incident wasn’t covered by insurance or you don’t have rental car coverage, however, you’ll need to obtain alternative transportation while the dent removal work is performed.Borrowing someone else’s vehicle, using public transit, and getting rides are all options, but they’re not ideal when a repair can take as long as a week. Renting a car is another viable solution, but it’s one that you’ll have to pay an additional fee for.The most convenient and affordable way to find alternative transportation is to choose a dent service center that provides free loaner vehicles. A loaner vehicle won’t cost you anything, and you won’t have to beg anyone else for help.

Do You Offer Deductible Assistance?

If you file an insurance claim to cover the cost of the repair, you’ll have to pay your auto policy’s deductible. A deductible is an amount you must pay before an insurance policy will begin assisting with covered costs. Regardless of how much your policy’s deductible is, the expense is money out of your pocket.Some leading dent repair centers offer deductible assistance. They can cover the cost of your deductible, often up to a maximum amount, so you don’t have to come up with the funds to cover this cost.

Where Are You Located?

Where a dent repair center is located isn’t as important as the quality of the center’s work or whether the center is highly rated. When all other factors are equal, though, a center close to you will be more convenient to use.If you need dents in your vehicle repaired, bring the car to Superior Dent Solutions.

Hailstorms in the U.S. causes are now causing up to $22 billion in damage per year. The state of Colorado alone has up to four catastrophic hailstorms every year – causing at least $25 million in damage. Of the 12 costliest hailstorms in the state, 8 of them have taken place in the Denver Metro area.  Hail not only causes serious damage to homes, but it also destroys crops, kills livestock, and incurs bodily harm. One more thing hail can easily damage is your vehicle. This is especially true in cases where hailstones are very large. Hailstones that are the size of a baseball can fall at up to 110 miles per hour. If your car is out side in one of these catastrophic hailstorms without any protection, it could easily become totaled. In order to prevent your car from becoming ruined or damaged, here are three ways to protect your vehicle from hail damage. 

1. Heed Weather Alerts One of the best ways to prepare for a serious hailstorm is to heed weather alerts. Hail is especially common during supercell thunderstorms. These storms are the most common in Colorado between mid-April to mid-September. While the exact location of where hail will fall can be hard for meteorologists to pinpoint, weather forecasters are able to accurately predict the general region. With advances in technology, along with the number of weather apps that are available, it is easy to stay apprised of bad weather. If you don’t have access to weather information, there are a few more ways to tell that hail might be on the way. One is by noticing a sudden drop in temperature. This means a cold front has moved in, which always has the potential to cause severe weather, including hail. Dark grey clouds, thunder, and lighting are also good indications of hail.  

2. Find Shelter for Your VehicleIf you think that hail is on the way, you should find shelter for your vehicle right away. The safest place for your vehicle is in the garage. If you don’t have a garage, you could drive your car to the nearest parking garage or park next to a large building. You can also go under the awning at the nearest bank drive-thru. If you are on a highway or the Inter state, you will want to stay parked underneath an overpass. Because hailstorms are so common in Colorado, you may want to consider building a carport in order to protect your vehicle from future hailstorms. As a word of caution, while it may be tempting to park your car under a tree to shield it from hailstones, this isn’t the best idea. The wind from the storm could cause branches to fall down and damage your car, or worse yet, the entire tree could come down on your vehicle.  

3. Cover Your VehicleIf you can’t find adequate shelter for your vehicle, you do have another option when it comes to protecting it from hail damage. There are a few things you can cover your car with to keep damage to a minimum. Some of these things include:

• Thick blankets
• Floor mats from your vehicle
• Car cover

These things might not offer the best protection, but they can help keep hail damage to a minimum. If you were not able to protect your vehicle from the most recent hailstorm and your car sustained damage, contact Superior Dent Solutions. When it comes to hail damage repair and paintless dent repair services, we offer a fast turnaround time along with a lifetime warranty. If your auto insurance company doesn’t cover car rentals, we will provide a loaner car for free.