We get so many calls about hail damage repairs, and for some technicians, their main source of work is traveling to where the hail hits.
Whether your car, truck, or SUV was parked outside during a storm, or you were driving through one, hail can cause enormous amounts of damage to your vehicle.
SIDEBAR: About once a week or so we get a call from a potential customer asking us about hail repairs, cost, and time involved. After a little digging throughout the conversation, we find that either the customer has found a “great deal” on an online car for sale with just a little hail damage, or they’ve already purchased a vehicle with “a few hail dents”. We ALWAYS recommend NOT purchasing a vehicle that has been damaged with hail and is selling at a great discount. Many of them have already been totaled, so if you buy one, and care about the exterior appearance of your car, you are most likely looking at a $1000 minimum for medium to moderate damage. Also, you don’t know the full extent of the damage. Cars with Colorado hail damage are not even close to the same damage you may see here in Pennsylvania. There very well could have been broken glass and rain in the electronic system inside the vehicle. We always advise against it.
Jeff called us about hail damage on his 2021 Subaru Outback. Now he had been traveling and drove through a storm in the Midwest. He had initially said there were only a few dents. (Hail damage is like cockroaches….if you see one, there are 20 more that you’re not seeing until we put a light on it.) 
This picture is for reference only. Jeff had already called his insurance company which was State Farm. We had Jeff schedule an appointment to bring his Subaru in for assessment and estimate. We always ask that you bring your vehicle in clean. If it is dirty, we cannot see what we’re looking for. Hail estimates usually take about 45 minutes from start to finish and you’ll have your estimate emailed to you either right away or the same day. Sometimes it takes a little longer if we have to add replacement parts, like trim or moldings. You can then forward it to your insurance company. Most times, insurance companies will want to do their own assessment and estimate. In this case, we worked with State Farm as Jeff had already opened a claim. He scheduled his repair and dropped off his Subaru Outback at our shop. An adjuster from State Farm came to our shop, reviewed our estimate with us, and approved the repairs (It does not usually go this smoothly). In cases of hail, paintless dent repair is the preferred method of repair when possible.
Paintless dent repair (PDR) is a specially designed method of repair aimed at repairing vehicle surfaces marred by dents without using conventional bodywork practices like sanding, filling, and repainting. Trained, skilled technicians utilize unique tools to gently massage and reshape the metal from behind the affected area, putting the metal back to its original form. This process safeguards the vehicle’s original paint, rendering it an ideal solution for addressing minor damages such as dings, dents, and hail damage. (We also specialize in larger gnarly dents as well!!) Not only can paintless dent repair be cost-effective, but it also stands as an eco-friendly alternative by eliminating the use of harmful chemicals typically involved in repainting. It’s a meticulous and minimally invasive procedure that upholds the vehicle’s factory finish and resale worth.
Back to Jeff and his Subaru. After his State Farm adjuster
approved the repairs, (no, it wasn’t Jake from State Farm, but who doesn’t smile when they hear that?) we got straight to work. We start with “tear down” or “R&I” for instance, for damage on the roof, we drop the headliner. this gives our technicians access to all the little dents in the roof. We remove any panels that are obstructing our access like wheel well liners, or the interior of the trunk. Whatever we need to do to your vehicle look as good as or better than a body shop repair. On regular door dings, we only have one technician working at a time. If we have all the panels ready to go on a hail repair, multiple technicians can work at the same time, keeping repair time to a minimum and getting you back in your car, truck, or SUV sooner. We worked diligently on Jeff’s car, and we were able to complete the repair in only 3 days!! Now not in Jeff’s case, but there are times when a hail repair requires us to order parts from a dealership, or replace the glass, or work in tandem with a body shop for painting. Any of these cases puts us at the mercy of other company’s time and availability. We’ve had parts (like moldings and trim) on backorder for weeks. Now those are not necessary for your car’s safety or drivability. So, we can return your vehicle to you and schedule a quick stop to install the parts as soon as they come in. Another thing we’ve dealt with is paint damage. There have been times in certain hailstorms that hail broke the paint on one panel but not others. We repair the panels without paint damage using paintless dent repair and say the hood of the vehicle is going to need painted. Then we contact a body shop (we’ve worked with both Gerber Collision and Ross Paint and Body. They both do great work!) and work in tandem with them to get the vehicle repaired properly. Jeff didn’t have to do anything. We already had this accounted for in our estimate, and insurance company approved it. We took care of getting the hood to and from the body shop and back to his vehicle. The same goes for glass. While we at Dent Repair Now do not replace glass, we call and schedule reputable companies to come in and replace your glass while we are repairing the dents.
We were able to provide Jeff and his Subaru Outback with a 100% repair in only 3 days. He was really pleased to have his car back so quickly and looking like nothing had even happened to it to begin with.
If you have damage either from hail, a door ding, or even larger, please feel free to reach out to us and let us take a look at your damage. We can help you decide if paintless dent repair is the right way to go, or if a body shop is best option. You can fill out the form on our website or text us photos of your damage to 724-607-8980 and we will be in touch to see how we can help you.
You can also stop in at the shop for an in-person evaluation of your damage. We are currently located at 4699 Campbells Run Road, 
Pittsburgh, PA 15205. That’s right next to I376 (The Parkway) just off of the Campbells Run Road exit if you’re coming from I79 or Downtown Pittsburgh. Make a left at the stoplight. If you’re coming from the airport area, use the Ridge Road exit and then turn right.
For more information, you can check out our website Dent Repair Now. You can also see all of our social media platforms by following this link.
