Waiting to get your car’s hail damage repaired? Here are the pros & cons.

If you have preexisting hail damage on your vehicle, a second hailstorm greatly increases the chance that your vehicle goes from repairable to totaled.  Your car’s metal can only take so much mangling before it’s impossible to get it back to its original shape. If a vehicle is declared totaled due to hail damage, you lose big every single time.

A majority of insurance adjusters do not specialize in hail inspections and will not quote the cost to repair you accurately. It is not uncommon at all for the initial estimate to be 40-50% of the actual damages to the vehicle. That means you end up with damage not accounted for resulting in out-of-pocket expense to you. Even if you don’t get your vehicle repaired now, we highly suggest scheduling a time to get your vehicle inspected by one of our paintless dent repair specialists to make sure ALL of the hail damage is accounted for and paid for by your insurance company.

Estimating new hail damage on a vehicle with existing damage can significantly increase the amount of time your vehicle is in the shop. Not to mention, most insurance adjusters aren’t experienced enough to differentiate the damage. They do have enough experience though to know if the amount of damage is comparable to the hail damage of your neighbor’s damage. If you have preexisting auto hail damage and haven’t filed a claim from the previous storm, the situation becomes even more arduous. Expect much longer sitting around and “waiting” time while you jump through multiple hoops.

If you haven’t had your vehicle’s hail damage repaired, you are driving around with pre-existing damage. Let’s say hypothetically that you are involved in a minor car accident that results in a fender bender. Even if it wasn’t your fault, a repair that would typically cost $500-$1,000 to repair turns into a “total loss.” If you have pre-existing hail damage that bordered on that “totaled” precipice and then add the cost to repair the new damage, you run the risk of your insurance company deeming the vehicle unrepairable.

Your insurance company knows where your vehicle resides. They also know about any previous hail storms that have hit Austin and the many cities in and around Austin that had hail activity. Ultimately, they know about anything and everything that could potentially damage your vehicle. Insurance companies will collect wherever they can. After all, they are business and they will cash in anywhere they can to avoid costly payouts after a severe hail event. From charging multiple deductibles to under-estimating the hail damage on your vehicle, their #1 goal is preserving their bottom line.

The sooner you file your auto hail damage insurance claim in Austin, the more options you have. The best auto hail repair shops in Austin fill up quickly after a hail storm. What makes one shop better than another? Austin has many auto body shops and dealership repair shops but not as many paintless dent repair shops.

Why? PDR shops are dent repair shops that work primarily and sometimes exclusively in auto hail damage repair. After a major hail event, auto body shops & dealership repair shops will either temporarily hire or contract with independent paintless dent repair technicians to take on hail repair work. Your BEST option ALWAYS is to bring your vehicle to an actual paintless dent repair shop for the highest quality of repairs, service, and price.

A majority of insurance adjusters do not specialize in hail inspections and will not quote the cost to repair you accurately. It is not uncommon at all for the initial estimate to be 40-50% of the actual damages to the vehicle. That means you end up with damage not accounted for resulting in out-of-pocket expense to you. At Superior Dent Solutions, we never start repairs until after we do a reinspection. As mentioned above, we typically recover thousands of dollars of missed hail damage by your insurance adjuster. When we discover additional damage, we submit a supplement request to your insurance company to make sure you do not pay any out-of-pocket expense for missed damage.

After a severe hail storm accurance, especially in a large city like Austin, there will be hundreds of thousands of hail damaged vehicles. The sooner you file a hail damage claim on your vehicle, the faster you will get an adjuster out to estimate the damage and get your car in for repairs. If you get your claim submitted within 2 weeks of the storm, repair times typically only about 3-5 days. 2-3 months after the storm, repair times can go up to 7-10 days…sometimes longer.

Procuring a rental car while your vehicle is in the shop for repairs can be tricky after a hail storm. If your insurance policy covers the cost of a rental car, we highly suggest you file your hail damage claim ASAP. When you do this, you will be provided a ‘rental code’ to mention to the rental car agency which will put you in line immediately to pick up a rental. At Superior Dent Solutions, we work with Enterprise & Hertz on a day-to-day basis and in many situations have to wait until a rental is available for our customer before we can start working on the repairs. If you have a secondary vehicle to use while your car is being repaired, that is going to be your best bet. If your insurance policy does NOT cover a rental, Superior Dent Solutions has a fleet of rentals that are complimentary for our customers to borrow while their car is in the shop.

Superior Dent Solutions is an Austin, TX local paintless dent repair shop. We have been in business for over 25 years. We also have an in-house auto body repair division that takes care of any paint damage, panel replacement, dents that can’t be repaired with PDR, and more. We pay up to $1000 of your deductible. We have a fleet of rental cars that are complimentary for our customers who do not have loaner coverage. Hail damage inspections are free and can be done at your location or ours. All repairs come with a Lifetime Warranty.

Most importantly, Superior Dent Solutions works for YOU, not your insurance company. We are NOT a Direct Repair Shop and never will be. We never cut corners, use after-market parts, or ask you to pay for anything that should be covered under your insurance policy.

We guarantee it.