Auto Hail Repair

Should I try to pop my car dent with dry ice or compressed air? That is a question we get often. Different voices on the internet can point you in various directions, making it hard for someone who doesn’t have any experience and just wants answers quickly. Before you start trying out any of those techniques yourself as an alternative solution, know that we will provide answers about the myths associated with auto dent removal here!  We’ll give concise responses with all necessary information for an informed decision-making process so please keep reading on… The old way of repairing a car dent is expensive and time-consuming. It involves grinding down the surface, repainting it all smooth again with paint that’s not too thin or thick so as to risk leaving any marks behind; then you’ve got sanding followed by hours worth on top quality primer/base coat before finally getting back into your vehicle one last round for good measure – this process can take up weeks depending and costing tens of thousands of dollars. So car owners dread the repair and often search online for cheaper alternatives. There are numerous dent repair DIY tips from YouTube and blogs. The most popular ones are the compressed air dent removal and dry ice dent removal methods. But do they actually work? Hair dryer and compressed air dent removal – It Does Not Work. This is one of the most popular DIY methods of dent removal. You’ll find numerous videos and blogs that test this method or provide detailed description. Myth – How does hair dryer and compressed air dent removal work? Heat up the surrounding area of the dent using a hair dryer gently and slowly to avoid damaging the paint. One it’s hot enough, apply cold compressed air (or a high-risk alternative: dry ice) to cool down the center of the dent quickly to cause the metal to pop back to its original shape. Does it work? No, not even for tiny dents. You could patiently watch this popular YouTube video, in which Donnie tested multiple dents of various sizes, and find out after 15 minutes, none of his dents were fixed. Or you can take our word for it. Maybe you’d think the cold compressed air wasn’t cold enough and are tempted to try dry ice next. Dry Ice Dent Removal – It Does Not Work. Myth – How does dry ice take dents out of a car? The theory is that dry ice will cause the temperature of your vehicle’s bodywork to drop sharply, which in turn will help the dings to even out. Does it work? Dry ice dent removal is a popular topic on Google with more than 4.4 million results. So it must be true, right? Unfortunately no… Even if you pair the dry ice with the hair dryer method, the answer is still “No, it just doesn’t work.”  Some people believe this used to be an old-school method when cars were made of thick metals, requiring a speedy and extremely hot and cold cycle. And many of them try and then end up at our shop because it caused more damage. So why doesn’t it work? First of all, you have to heat up the metal significantly, and your hair dryer can’t produce that much heat. If it can, you may want to discard it because that wouldn’t do any good to your hair. When you apply that much heat professionally, you worsen the damage on your car, leading to more types of damage that would require repainting and spending more money. We haven’t seen any shop use this method for many years because, in addition to paint damage, the metals in modern cars will be weakened under immense heat. Also, dry ice is incredibly dangerous and cold enough to burn the skin in a similar fashion to frostbite. If you accidentally eat, swallow, or inhale dry ice, call 911 right away. Park In The Sun – It Doesn’t Work. The sun offers a lot of benefits, but it doesn’t pop out dents. This is another myth based on temperature changes.  Various articles on the internet claim that should you expose your car to the blazing hot rays of the sun for a considerable amount of time, its metalwork will expand. In turn, the dings and dents caused by the hailstorm will naturally begin to pop out. How we wish it’s this simple! At least this one doesn’t deal with harmful substances. So feel free to try it out, but don’t be disappointed when it doesn’t work. Make Use Of A Dent Repair Kit – It may or may not work. If leaving your car to bathe in the sun doesn’t seem to work, your internet search for DIY dent repair will likely lead you to a dent repair kit. The clue is in the name — this is a specialist type of equipment used to remove dents and dings from the bodywork of vehicles.  These kits are easily accessible and can be found in most auto supply stores. Better still, they’re incredibly affordable. As a result, it has led many car owners to believe that the paintless dent repair is easy and can be done by an amateur. It is doable, but do you have the skills? And should your car be your guinea pig? A DIY set technically works. However, we strongly advise you let the professionals fix your car’s dings and dents. Using these tools requires skills and practice.  DIY dent removal kits often come with a glue gun, a heat gun, various pulling tools, etc.. If not careful, you could further burn or crack the metal—and end up spending much more money fixing it. In addition, depending on the dent locations, you often need to remove the damaged panel before you could work on the dents. Provided you can find tons of resources teaching you how to remove and refit panels of your car, be sure to watch those videos

Colorado ranked second in the US for the number of hail loss claims in 2019. Living in Colorado means it’s very likely that your car will have hail damage at some point. When you need hail repair for your vehicle, you want to be sure you’re using the best repair company. Here are some important factors to consider helping you find a company that meets your needs. How They Treat You and Your Car The first thing to consider is the quality of service you’ll get from an auto hail repair company. Do they really care about you and your car? You rely on your vehicle, and you need it repaired quickly to the highest possible standard. Look for an auto hail repair shop that listens to you. They should treat you and your car with respect.  Paintless Dent Repair Does the hail repair shop offer paintless dent repair (PDR)? For most hail damage, PDR is your best option. What Is Paintless Dent Repair? PDR will repair hail damage as well as other dings and dents. PDR will work as long as your vehicle’s paint didn’t chip or crack. Modern automotive paint is extremely hard and resilient, and it remains intact through the impact of most hail. A PDR technician will first determine the extent of the hail damage. The technician then accesses the back side of the dent by getting behind the body panel. Finally, the technician uses special tools to carefully work the metal back to its original shape. Advantages of Paintless Dent Repair PDR has several advantages over traditional body shop repairs for hail damage. 1. Speed of the repair PDR is faster than a repair from a body shop. Your car could be repaired in as little as a few hours depending on the extent of the hail damage. 2. Less expensive PDR takes less time, less materials, and less labor than a body shop repair. You will pay less for PDR. 3. Preserves your vehicle’s resale value A body shop has to replace entire panels of your car. If anything in the repair doesn’t exactly match the rest of the vehicle, you lose resale and trade-in value. PDR restores the original appearance of the car without replacing panels or repainting. Maintaining your factory finish helps protect your car. You will also keep the manufacturer’s paint warranty. Body shop repairs can show up on a Carfax report. PDR is a less invasive repair and doesn’t leave a record on Carfax. A clear Carfax report reassures potential buyers when you sell your car. 4. Better for the environment PDR doesn’t use harmful chemicals or solvents like paint and paint thinner. It’s better for the technicians’ health, and it releases less toxins into the environment. Paintless dent repair is usually the best and least-expensive way to fix hail damage. Look for a hail repair company with expertise in this technique. Repair Experience Choose a well-established automotive hail repair company with experienced technicians. It’s no secret that a company with a proven track record is more likely to give you the level of service you’re looking for. Performing a quality PDR repair requires skill and experience. During storm season, some dent repair shops hire less experienced technicians just to handle the demand. Even worse are the storm chasers who come into town after a storm to make a quick profit and leave. These types of businesses can leave you disappointed. Here are some questions to ask when you’re looking for an automotive hail repair company: How many years of experience do the technicians have? – StormWise has been repairing auto hail damage for more than 25 years. What are their quality check process? – We have a multi-point Quality Check inspection to ensure that nothing is missed and the car looks amazing when you pick it up. How do they stay up-to-date with the latest repair methods? – Our paintless dent repair (PDR) technicians go through a rigorous audition process prior to onboarding with StormWise. This is how we guarantee you’re leaving your car in good hands. Quality of Work A good hail repair company will stand behind their work with a warranty. Anything less than a lifetime warranty should make you think twice. If a dent is repaired properly with PDR, it won’t ever come back. In addition to a comprehensive warranty, look for a company with a documented quality check procedure. You want to be sure that nothing is overlooked. Your car should be as good as new when the repairs are finished. Quality of Service A reputable auto hail repair shop will make the repair process easy and convenient. Here are some services to look for in a top-notch company: Can come to you for the inspection and estimate Valet service to drop off and pick up your vehicle Free rental car if necessary Can replace the windshield and aftermarket parts if necessary Will help you file an insurance claim Will waive your insurance deductible Will work with your schedule Having a repair shop handle the insurance claim on your behalf is a big advantage. Dealing with the insurance company by yourself can be stressful. You can feel pressured to use one of the insurance’s contracted partner shops, which is almost never in your best interest. Look for a hail repair shop that will be your advocate and give you five-star customer service. Repair Timeline Some shops put customers on a long waiting list, especially during storm season. Look for a company large enough to handle high demand. They should be able to tell you how they scale up when they need to. Customer Reviews See what other customers say about any hail repair company you’re considering. Google, Yelp, and Facebook are good resources to get an idea of a company’s reputation. A few bad reviews are normal. The overall rating will tell you what most customers’ experience with the company was like. Choosing the Best Auto Hail Repair Company When you need hail repair for your car, you want

Every year, thousands of cars suffer from hail damage across the United States. If you have comprehensive insurance to cover auto hail repair and are looking for auto hail repair, you’ve probably seen advertisements about “Auto Hail Repair, Pay No Deductible.” While waiving deductibles is becoming common in the auto hail repair industry, a few customers question the legality and how it works.   For us at StormWise, assisting customers with deductible coverage is a business decision. We are on a mission to provide the fastest, easiest, and best experience for hail damage repair. Let’s explore the ins and outs of insurance and deductible options for hail damage repair: Is it legal to waive a deductible for auto hail damage repair in Colorado? This is the burning question on everyone’s minds, so let’s talk about this first! The reason people commonly think that waiving an insurance deductible for an automotive claim is illegal is based on Colorado Senate Bill 38 (C.R.S 6-22-101 to 6-22-105), signed into law in 2012. The bill specifically states in section C that the bill is intended to protect consumers by “Prohibiting roofing contractors from paying, waiving, rebating, or promising to pay, waive, or rebate all or part of any insurance deductible applicable to an insurance claim made to the property owners property and casualty insurance for payment for roofing work on the residential property covered by a property and casualty insurance policy.” You may notice one key word the text from the bill itself, which is “roofing.” Contractors whose business involves residential repair are not allowed to waive, rebate, or promise to pay any part of an insurance deductible. The good news is that most automotive repair facilities are NOT repairing homes or signing customers up for  residential insurance claims and repair, so if an auto hail repair shop in Colorado has offered to waive your deductible, it is 100% perfectly legal to do so. There are two things that must occur for a company to break the law under this bill: 1) they have to be a residential contractor, and 2) they have to be performing work as covered through an insurance claim to residential property. Since you wouldn’t have a residential contractor fix your car or ask an auto body repair facility to repair storm damage to your home, there’s really no way for an automotive repair facility to break this law.   Automotive hail repair specialists, such as StormWise, are not residential repair contractors, and thus wouldn’t be violating C.R.S 6-22-101 by waiving all or part of your automotive hail claim deductible. Average insurance payout for hail damage There’s not much info out there about this because hail damage estimates can be quite complicated. We’ve written an article explaining the details on how to assess hail damage on a car. But if you Google average insurance payout for hail repair, you’ll find the only answer, stating $2,000 – $3,000.   However, having worked in the hail repair industry for more than 20 years, the average hail damage payout is much higher than that. According to our database, the average insurance payout for hail damage is $6,500. That doesn’t mean we’ve never had a $2,000 hail repair, but most vehicles damaged in a hailstorm have extensive damage to the tune of $7,000 – $8,000. It can go as high as more than $15k sometimes. How much does comprehensive insurance cost for hail repair? When you have full coverage, your policy includes the standard 3 separate types of coverage: liability, collision, and comprehensive. Liability covers the other party’s vehicle in the event you’re at fault in an accident, collision covers your vehicle if you are at fault in an accident, and comprehensive is what covers your car in the event that an “Act of Nature” causes damage to your car, such as a flood, hurricane, hail storm, etc. In general, insurance companies will quote you a package price to include all three coverages when you request a quote for “full coverage.” The price will be evaluated by your insurance company based on your vehicle’s value, your driving record, the history of insurance claims, and some other factors. There are also extras you may elect to purchase on your policy such as glass coverage (usually a low price, low deductible option to cover the glass only damage to the car in the event of rock chips or a break in), rental car coverage (an extra monthly amount to provide a rental if your car is in the shop needing repairs), or vehicle replacement coverage (with some insurance companies, you can pay for them to actually give you 20% of your car’s value in the event that the car is totaled to put down on a new car…how great is that?!) We checked several insurance estimate calculators and came up with the average estimates based on general information below: Comprehensive insurance coverage for 2018, Subaru Crosstrek, for 80 miles/week, with lease (so we know the comprehensive coverage is included in the quotes). Nationwide: $1592/yr Allstate: $2784/yr Geico: $2478/yr Farmers: $2920/yr Progressive: $1684/yr State Farm $2679/yr Do I have to pay a deductible for hail damage? Indeed, comprehensive insurance usually comes with a deductible that has to be paid. Sometimes a zero deductible is an option at an additional cost. In most cases, customers carry a $500 to $1,000 deductible. If your car is hit in a hail storm, regardless of your deductible, the cost to repair your hail damaged vehicle will likely exceed your deductible amount. If you live in an area where hailstorms are frequent, your deductible expense can accumulate fast. Now comes the good news for Colorado residents: We can help cover your hail claim deductible! Not a myth: Auto Hail Repair No Deductible Unlike a direct repair shop, which doesn’t or can’t afford to assist customers with their deductibles, StormWise is an independent premium repair company in Colorado, specializing in auto hail repair. Paying for your deductible is a business decision we

It’s a question we get all the time! Should I go with a Direct Repair Shop or take my chances with an independent repair shop? What is DRP? Direct Repair Shops, or commonly known as “DRP’s,” Direct Repair Programs, or Direct Repair Networks, are basically body shops with whom your insurance company has direct contracts to fix their customers’ vehicles. When you call in your automobile hail damage claim, many times your claims representative will encourage you to go directly to their DRP to have your estimate and repair done.  Sometimes your insurance company will have their adjusters in-house at that body shop who are writing estimates and paying their insureds out for the covered damage. Other times, they may have a deal worked out with the shop where an employee at the shop writes the estimates, and your insurance agrees to simply pay whatever their estimate comes to, or provides a fee to the shop for each estimate written. Unfortunately, the way most insurance companies determine what shop to use as a direct repair shop is by going around to various shops in the area and seeing who will do the work the cheapest. Do I have to use a direct repair shop? The short answer is No! As a consumer, you have the right to request that your vehicle be repaired at a shop of your choice. If you’ve ever had body work done, you know that this is a disastrous way to determine who will work on your car. In this business, the proverbial saying “you get what you pay for,” definitely holds true. There are three main reasons I highly recommend NOT going with the direct repair shop your insurance company has selected.   1. No chance of any deductible assistance The first main reason is that DRPs are going to charge you your deductible no matter what!  The Direct Repair Shops have to do this for a number of reasons; a major one is because the body shop’s agreement with the insurance is that they are required to perform the repairs for whatever the insurance company’s adjuster has written the damage at. Unfortunately though, adjusters miss damage more often than not. So the body shop can’t afford to lose any more money than what they’re already more-than-likely going to lose since the adjuster may have missed some things.  In fact, about 99% of the cars we see have at least some damage that the adjuster has overlooked, which we typically send a “supplement request” to the insurance for so they will pay for the COMPLETE repair of the vehicle (since typically, people want ALL the dents fixed, not just a few of them :).   As a DRP, they aren’t allowed to supplement in some cases, so they need that last $250, $500, or $1,000 to make a profit on the car. 2. Most DRPs don’t specialize in hail damage repair Here is the second main reason I’d recommend not going to your insurance company’s direct repair shop: many times DRPs are “Body Shops,” meaning they specialize in working on the exterior body of the car. This includes painting, replacing parts, and using fillers to fill in holes. Now, fillers and re-painting is not always bad, you just really need to make sure you’re going to a shop with a lot of experience and knows what they’re doing if you’re going to have fillers such as bondo put into your new car and are thus going to have it re-painted.  Here’s a good video on the right and wrong types of bondo: Again, it’s very important to note that in this business you get what you pay for. When an insurance company has selected a body shop who agrees to do work for cheaper than any other body shop in town, it’s important to ask yourself why have they agreed to do the work cheaper? What corners are they going to cut in order to save money for themselves and still make a profit? Are they using quality products that will last as long as the car? Or are they going to fill it and re-paint it with cheap products that will crack out over time, fade poorly as opposed to the factory paint job, or just look plain sloppy?  So, back to the subject here, that a reason a Direct Repair Shop may not be a good option is that they are usually body shops. Paintless Dent Repair is the preferred method to repair hail damage, and the easiest, least invasive way to fix it. StormWise is not a standard auto body shop. We are a paintless dent repair company specializing in hail damage repair and dent removal via craftsmanship and metal-working: a process which does not require new parts, fillers, or paint.  As opposed to us, body shops are going to be more inclined to simply purchase new parts, such as a new hood, roof, or deck-lid, instead of using PDR to fix your car’s hail damage. That’s how they make their profit. Auto body shops do this because maybe they are not as quick at PDR as they are at simply purchasing and painting a new part, or because it’s actually cheaper to have their in-house guy who is well-seasoned at using fillers and re-painting perform the repair instead of paying a PDR specialist like the technicians we employ to fix the dents.  As we previously mentioned, fillers and paint aren’t always bad, but good paint guys are very hard to find. After-market paint will in most cases devalue your car no matter how good it looks, after-market paint usually fades differently over time as compared to the factory finish, and after-market parts, such as hoods or decklids, may not always fit your car exactly as an original manufacturer part does. 3. Why not use a hail repair specialist?  Lastly, if your insurance company is paying for this repair, wouldn’t you want to have the work done by people who can make it appear as if your car never had hail damage? Why take a chance at having a body shop do the work and potentially