Hail Repair FAQs
FAQ
At Select Auto Hail, our mission is to elevate service quality in the Auto Hail Repair industry. Our focus is on prioritizing customer needs while delivering superior quality and service at an affordable rate.
We achieve this through innovative repair techniques, exceptional customer care, and leveraging technology for efficiency.
Our team is committed to cultivating trust-based relationships with our clients. Beyond providing estimates and repairing car dents, Select Auto Hail aims to be your go-to hub for all auto hail repair needs. This includes handling insurance claims, navigating insurance complexities, assisting with deductible coverage, offering free rental cars, providing valet services, and backing it all with an unbeatable lifetime warranty.
As we expand, we’ll continually introduce additional services to ensure our offerings are comprehensive.
When faced with a storm, trust Select Auto Hail with your car.
At Select Auto Hail, our auto hail repair process is designed to be simple and convenient for our customers. Here’s a brief overview:
File a claim with your Insurance Provider: First things first. Contact your insurance provider to schedule an inspection, either on-site or in-store.
Assessment and Estimate: Our team will assess the hail damage on your vehicle and provide you with a detailed estimate for the repairs.
Insurance Coordination: We’ll communicate directly with your insurance provider to streamline the process.
Repair Appointment: Once the insurance claim is approved, we’ll schedule a repair appointment at a time convenient for you.
Repair Process: Our skilled technicians will use advanced repair techniques to restore your vehicle to its pre-damaged condition. This may involve paintless dent repair (PDR) or traditional auto body work, depending on the extent of the damage.
Quality Check: After the repairs are completed, we’ll perform a thorough quality check to ensure that your vehicle meets our high standards.
Return of Vehicle: Finally, we’ll arrange for the return of your vehicle, either through pickup or delivery, so you can get back on the road with a dent-free car.
Throughout the entire process, our team is committed to providing excellent customer service and keeping you informed every step of the way.
The administrative fee is $250, and storage fees amount to $125 per day. Additionally, reimbursement for labor hours spent on preparing the estimate, capturing required photos, and any approved repairs or parts purchases completed before notification of the Total Loss designation is available.
Auto Hail Repair
Absolutely not. Hail damage is categorized as a comprehensive claim or an “Act of Nature,” which insurance companies do not attribute to individual fault. Therefore, filing a hail damage claim does not result in increased insurance premiums. You can confirm this information with your insurance agent, as they will confirm the same.
Auto hail repair costs can vary tremendously depending on factors such as the car’s condition and the extent of the damage. Minor damage typically costs around $3,000, while more severe damage requiring panel and parts replacement can exceed $15,000.
Fortunately, hail damage is typically covered by comprehensive insurance policies. When you choose Select Auto Hail for your repair, there are usually no out-of-pocket expenses, including repair costs, insurance deductibles, or rental vehicles. If you don’t have comprehensive insurance, feel free to contact us for custom pricing. We strive to provide fair and transparent pricing for all our customers.
If your insurance policy doesn’t include rental car coverage and your vehicle needs to remain at our shop for repairs, Select Auto Hail will cover up to $35 per day for a rental car. Typically, rental cars cost around $25 per day, so this coverage is sufficient for most customers’ needs.
Additionally, we’ll even meet you at the rental company to facilitate a seamless transition!
Certainly. We’ll provide you with pictures and updates upon request, ensuring full transparency throughout the repair process.
Select Auto Hail offers a Lifetime Warranty policy for Paintless Dent Repair. Once the metal has been restored to its original position, it will remain that way for the vehicle’s lifetime. If any issues arise in the future that you believe are related to our repair, simply contact us, and we’ll rectify the situation.
We prioritize customer satisfaction, treating every customer with the same care and attention we would want if we were in their shoes. This commitment to excellence has earned us an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.
Select Auto Hail offers a Free Valet Service for customers seeking convenience during their auto hail damage repair. If you require valet service to our facility, your dedicated customer service representative will pick up your vehicle. We’ll handle communication with your insurance regarding the estimate and repair progress. Once the repairs are complete, your representative will return your vehicle to you. If a rental car was provided by Select Auto Hail, your representative will also handle the pickup and return of the rental car, all at no additional cost to you.
Estimates are subjective assessments of damage and can vary widely, especially when it comes to hail damage, which can be challenging to detect outdoors in bright sunlight. At Select Auto Hail, we utilize specialized paintless dent repair lights to ensure accuracy in our assessments.
As industry leaders in auto hail repair, we have extensive experience in resolving and negotiating differences between our estimate and your insurance company’s estimate. If our estimate exceeds the insurance estimate, we’ll handle the process of contacting your insurance company directly to secure any additional funds, known as “supplements,” necessary to restore your vehicle to its pre-loss condition. This proactive approach ensures that your vehicle receives the necessary repairs without any financial burden on your part.
Typically, your hail damage repair estimate remains valid for about a year after the incident. However, this timeline can vary depending on your insurance policy. It’s advisable to initiate your claim and proceed with repairs promptly to avoid any potential complications.
It’s worth noting that the initial estimate is based on current labor rates and parts costs, which may fluctuate in the future. Therefore, it’s in your best interest to address the repairs sooner rather than later to avoid potential cost increases.
If you opt not to repair the hail damage to your vehicle and instead settle your insurance claim for a cash payment, your insurance policy will likely have a restriction placed on the un-repaired damage. This can lead to several issues:
For instance:
- Your insurance company may initially estimate your damage at $3,000, while your car is worth $20,000.
- After deducting your deductible ($500), you receive $2,500 and choose not to repair the car.
- However, if you decide to trade in the car later on, the dealership might offer only $10,000 due to the $10,000 worth of hail damage on the vehicle.
- This discrepancy arises because there’s typically more damage on the car than initially estimated by the insurance adjuster.
- So, despite receiving $2,500 initially, it could end up costing you $10,000 on your trade-in.
This scenario isn’t hypothetical; it’s a common occurrence. If you later decide to repair the hail damage, you’ll need to inform your agent to have any restrictions on your policy removed.
Paintless Dent Repair
Paintless dent repair (PDR) is an advanced technique for fixing dents on your car. Unlike conventional methods that involve painting over dents, PDR gently pushes the dent out of the surface using special tools, preserving your car’s factory paint warranty. This high-quality technique requires specialized training and years of experience to perfect.
We excel in addressing a variety of dents, ranging from minor dings to substantial ones, under the condition that the paint remains intact without any breakage or cracking, and there has been no prior body repair on the panel.
Depending on the condition, PDR may not achieve optimal results. For instance, if there’s a crack or missing paint at the core of the dent, or if the dent is too large and has stretched the metal beyond restoration, causing it to “oil can,” where it pops up and down.
If this occurs, we’ll inform you and explain that conventional methods involving paint and bodywork are necessary to restore the panel. Rest assured, there won’t be any additional charges, and we’ll submit a supplement request to your insurance to cover the repair costs.
Moreover, it’s important to note that PDR isn’t applicable to plastic panels, rocker panels, or bumpers, whether they’re made of plastic or metal.
PDR offers several advantages over traditional dent repair methods. Firstly, it’s significantly more affordable as it doesn’t require paint and fillers. Additionally, it’s non-intrusive, preserving the vehicle’s factory paint warranty, and it’s more environmentally friendly since it doesn’t involve re-spraying the vehicle. Moreover, PDR is typically faster to complete.
Regarding paint damage, PDR itself doesn’t harm the paint. The act of accessing the dent from behind the panel or using the “glue-pull” technique won’t damage the paint. However, severe hail damage can stretch the paint, causing the metal to remain uneven during the repair process. In such cases, particularly with extremely large dents referred to as “soup bowls,” our expert technicians may not be able to fully flatten the metal using PDR alone. In these instances, we’ll aim to flatten the panel as much as possible and then sand it down and repaint it for a flawless finish.
At Select Auto Hail, we offer a lifetime warranty on our work, demonstrating our confidence in the quality of every dent repair we undertake.
Give us a call to find out whether PDR is the right solution for the damage on your car at 1-888-974-3368. Alternatively, we now offer a Virtual Inspection for your convenience!
Car Dent Repair
Prices for paintless dent repair can vary greatly, starting at $100 for very small (dime-sized) dents and going up to $1,000 for larger, more challenging dents. Additionally, the amount of remove and install (R&I) labor needed to access the dent will factor into the price. Our all-inclusive pricing considers the location, sharpness, and accessibility of the dent, ensuring no surprises at pickup.
Yes, we can! Aluminum is thicker and more challenging to fix compared to traditional high-strength steel panels. With more vehicles transitioning to aluminum for its lightweight and eco-friendly properties, this question arises frequently.
However, large dents on aluminum may sometimes be beyond the scope of paintless dent repair. It’s best to bring your car to us for our technicians to assess.
Additionally, it’s important to note that aluminum panels come with a 25% mark-up due to the extended time required to achieve a perfectly smooth finish compared to steel panels.
Select Auto Hail is dedicated to educating people about hail damage and its repair possibilities. Yes, it can often be fixed and covered by a comprehensive insurance claim!
For instance, if your car, worth $10,000 or more, sustains light damage, it’s typically repairable through your insurance without impacting your rates. However, severe damage, such as that caused by large hail, may exceed the value of the vehicle, leading to a total loss scenario where insurance may not cover the repairs.
To determine if your hail damage is fixable, reach out to us for an assessment. Within minutes, we can evaluate the damage and provide you with a rough estimate of the repair costs.
Absolutely! We specialize in automotive claims, and we’re happy to handle all aspects of a paintless dent repair (PDR) claim, serving as the main point of contact with your insurance company.
For minor dent repairs, the cost may fall below your insurance deductible. While we can’t waive deductibles for these repairs, it’s prudent to obtain an estimate first to assess whether making a claim is worthwhile. Often, if the dent can be repaired using PDR and your deductible is, say, $500, the repair cost may be less than your deductible, making it unnecessary to file a claim.
It varies based on your needs. Sometimes, customers bring cars with dents that also involve scratches or other paint damage. In such cases, they may only want the dent removed, and either they or we can apply ‘touch-up’ paint to mask the scratch, minimizing the color difference.
This solution isn’t flawless; it’s just touch-up. However, it’s considerably more affordable than a full repair at an auto body shop, which involves filler and repainting.
If you’re aiming for a perfect fix and the paint has been noticeably damaged with a scratch or crack, consulting a full auto body shop is recommended.
Regrettably, no. Bumpers are typically made of plastic, and paintless dent repair (PDR) doesn’t apply to plastic the same way it does to metal. Repairing bumpers often requires paint and filler.
If the bumper is metal, it’s usually made of a very thick metal that also doesn’t lend itself to PDR. In such cases, if the bumper sustains a dent or damage, the only option is usually replacement.
