Hail damage to car (Dallas: 2013, insurance, how much)

[bo2da]

Hello,
I am trying to gauge how often does hail in Dallas area damage/dent cars. Given the open parking lots all around did not seem like a big deal but wanted to ask people who have lived there for a while. Also how much notification do people get of events that requires moving cars in shelter? Does one have to subscribe for such notifications specifically or standard weather channels are good enough? For people who do not have covered parking what are the options in that case? Thanks for the time.

[Grainraiser]

I have lived here for 60 years and I have only had to have hail damage repaired once. I did have a boss that bought a brand new Corvette and 3 days later he had severe hail damage and it broke out his windshield. This was around 2013.

[tcualum]

My mom just recently got hail damage. Several years ago there were two really bad hail storms close together that caused every home on our street to need a new roof. That would definitely have damaged a car. Usually, you get warnings ahead of time of a storm that will probably produce hail. Before I lived in a house that had a garage I'd drive my car to a mall or office building that had a parking garage and wait out the storm.

[ChristieP]

When severe weather is forecasted, the news usually gives 1-2 days' warning about predicted storms which may potentially include large hail and damaging winds. On the actual day of the storm, there will be announcements on TV and radio, and when they actually hit, you may have 30 minutes to an hour's notice that the storm contains large hail. Every Texan I know, self included, has a weather app with live radar on our smart phones. We keep an eye on that weather radar when there is sever weather, and the apps will also give audible tornado and severe thunderstorm warning alerts. Personally, I use the Fox 4 WAPP, but there are several good ones.

I will never live in Texas without a place to park all of our vehicles under cover. I've already replaced 2 roofs on houses due to large hail, and I am in process of replacing a third due to the storms we had in mid-March. In one of those storms, I still had hailstones come up under the covered parking (I was at work) and dent the hood and trunk of my car. One of my friends was caught on I-35 during a storm with large hail, and the hail broke her front and back windshields, and severely damaged the hood, roof and trunk. Her insurance company totaled the car.

[bo2da]

Thank you very much for the responses. Definitely helps for a new comer.

[Threestep2]

What kind of shelter to you plan to take your car to?