Terrible thunderstorm last night with large hail. Defender has around 150 dents in dings on every panel exposed to the sky. Anyone ever navigated a claim on hail? What should I expect and best practices? Like anyone else I want my defender returned to its original state with no loss of value. Am I dreaming?

Insured by progressive.

 

Ohh, I feel for you. Wife had a 1 yo F-Pace that got hit on every panel as well.

Paintless dent repair was going to be $6k. My favorite body shop was going to be $14k. Progressive estimated it at 7k and wrote a check. We never actually had it fixed. She just dumped it as a trade-in and the insurance check made up for the amount they offered vs. excellent condition.

I have had PDR done before on some bad dents and they can do completely stunning things. You would legitimately never see the repair. The guy I used had a ton of YouTube videos showing his work and he un-crushed a beer can. Plenty of fly-by-night guys will pop up like they do here in Florida every time there's hail.

 

Thank you for the response.

Anyone know if paintless dent repair shows up on a car fax? I am ok going that route by a well recommended vendor but worried about the value of a >100k vehicle.

 

Depends. If you file a claim, the insurance company will report it. If you self-pay, ask the PDR guy if he reports it.

 

This is the guy I've used if it helps give you an idea of what to look for.
https://youtube.com/@cfldentrepair

I really can't say enough about his work.

 

Thank you

 

​​​​​​He might know someone in your area. I'm sure they have some sort of trade shows, trainings, etc. It's probably a fairly tight community of dent poppers. Maybe call him?

 

Can't thank you enough for that link! I was only vaguely familiar (which is to say ignorant) with the concept and unaware it had made such leaps in technique and results. While I currently don't have a need (knock on wood) I've already started looking into in here in the greater Denver CO area. Like all things - it's gonna happen - it's just a question of time - be it a door ding or something more material.

 

Sorry you're dealing w/ this !

I have a question: How did the black painted panel on the roof do, between the top of the windshield and the panoramic roof. Is it dented up? I ask because mine has a dent in it that I believe is from a dealer visit, however they claim it is "plastic" and there's no way they dented it. They were, interestingly, fixing my sunroof so were up in the area.

One key to PDR - it's all about the talent of the individual doing the PDR. So get the man/woman who 1) started the business or 2) owns the business, ie the expert... they are usually the best. Experience w/ vintage Porsches and other collector cars has taught me that. Pretty much every town has 1 or a few PDR people who the car collectors use. That's who you want -- I'd advise against the PDR person the dealer uses, the PDR person the insurance recommends, and not the PDR company that also tints windows and does aftermarket accessories. I've seen some PDR people do a really poor job. Especially on aluminum panels -- it's more difficult and some won't even work on them (ie your hood, the front fenders are steel)

I doubt PDR would show up on insurance (having done it many times on many cars) but I would just ask, as someone pointed out.

Long ago, I had a very nice Mercedes E420 (1995) that was at the Nashville airport during a crazy hail storm, every window broke. Every panel was thrashed. Car was totaled. Hail is no joke!

 

Thanks for the advice.

The panel between the windshield and sunroof is unharmed. The other panels on the roof and battered to hell. Not sure the difference as all of them are plastic.Maybe the front one is aluminum?

I think the hood is aluminum.