Buying a Dealership Car With Hail Damage – Is It Worth It?
If you are looking into catching a hail of a deal at a dealership on a new vehicle with hail damage, there are a few facts you should consider. Everyone loves a deal but nobody loves a lemon. In this article, The Hail Shop USA hits a few of the big questions you should ask before driving away in your brand new dented car.
- What the deductible?
If the vehicle still has hail damage, that usually means that the cost to repair exceeded the dealers deductible. Many times, the in-house paintless dent repair guy can fix the cars themselves for less than the cost of the deductible. - Do repaired hail damaged vehicles hold the same “new car” value?
In the first year of ownership, cars depreciate 30% – repaired hail damage or not. It is the condition of the vehicle when you go to sell it. Dealerships put the condition of your vehicle into 4 varying categories: Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor. If the repaired hail damaged vehicle required no repainting or panel replacement with aftermarket parts – the vehicle holds it’s “new car” value. These are questions that you need to ask before laying down on a hail-sale vehicle. - Should I get a second opinion?
Yes and yes again. The dealership is trying to push out the hail damaged vehicles. They might tell you the cost to repair will be $5k (give or take a few hundred) and then when you take it to your local paintless dent repair shop – they tell you the cost to repair the hail damage will be closer to $8k – OUCH! So, before you sign any paperwork, make sure you get a second opinion. - Are the hail damage repairs on a “hail sale” covered under my insurance policy?
Unfortunately, no. Fortunately, paintless dent repair is more affordable than you think. If the vehicle only has a few small hail dents on the roof or hood, you are looking at about $25 per dent to repair. The Hail Shop USA will work with you on price if you are paying for your hail repair out-of-pocket. Just give us a call and we can set-up a time to assess the damages and give you an estimate of how much it would cost for repairs. - Should I be worried about the quality of the hail repairs done by the dealership?
This is another situation where a 2nd look never hurt anyone. Some tell-tale signs of a shotty hail repair are overextended dents, paint touch-ups, and replacement panels.- Over-extended dents: This happens when an inexperienced PDR technician “pushes” the dent out too far. Look for inverted dents that have some weird paint disfigurement. Overextended dents are VERY hard if not impossible to correct with PDR.
- Paint touch-ups: If you see what looks to be “shiny” or “dull” spots on the vehicle or paint that doesn’t quite match – the paint warranty has been breached.
- Replacement panels: The good thing about buying a hail-damaged vehicle from a dealership is that they use OEM instead of Aftermarket panel replacements. OEM will retain the value of the vehicle – Aftermarket will decrease the value of the vehicle. You can learn more about OEM and Aftermarket parts here.
In the end, if you purchase a hail damaged vehicle that has been repaired – the quality of the hail repairs is going to be obvious – properly repaired hail damage should be invisible.