How much will I get for hail damage on my car? (St. Louis: insurance, loans)

[ableigh]

I have a 2011 Maxima with 9550 miles on it. I just got the car 6 months ago (not a scratch, ding, or dent on it) and it got to enjoy mother natures wrath of hail this weekend. My back window is shattered out, the front windshield is cracked, and there are huge dents ALL OVER the body. Basically the only 2 parts of the car that don’t have dents - the front and back bumper. After the back window was broke, it continued to pour in my car for about 2 hours until I got home, so the interior/speakers/back wiring all got soaked. What are the chances of it being totaled? I would rather it be totaled than have it all repaired because I've heard it doesn't ever look the same after.

[psusra112]

Car is probably totaled thanks to the water+hail damage. If you've got a loan on it and bought it new I feel bad for you. Insurance probably won't give you what you owe on the loan.

[ableigh]

Thanks for your input! Well the loans not too high, I put a considerable amount down on it. KBB prices it at a higher value than I bought it brand new at. Now its just dealing with insurance that will be the fun part.

[flynavyj]

Yeh, i wouldn't doubt if they totaled it, especially if you can explain the water issues. This round of hail seemed significantly more intense than the hail storms of 2001, which caused everyone I knew to get new roofs, and plenty of cars were totaled out as a result!

[tofuluvr]

Yikes! Does this happen a lot?

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by ableigh

I have a 2011 Maxima with 9550 miles on it. I just got the car 6 months ago (not a scratch, ding, or dent on it) and it got to enjoy mother natures wrath of hail this weekend. My back window is shattered out, the front windshield is cracked, and there are huge dents ALL OVER the body. Basically the only 2 parts of the car that don’t have dents - the front and back bumper. After the back window was broke, it continued to pour in my car for about 2 hours until I got home, so the interior/speakers/back wiring all got soaked. What are the chances of it being totaled? I would rather it be totaled than have it all repaired because I've heard it doesn't ever look the same after.

I had a BRAND NEW 2012 Chrysler Ram Truck sustain MORE damage than that in the Phoenix area. When the body shop was done with it, you could not tell the difference.

I doubt that your car will be totaled.

[ableigh]

Insurance came out and looked at it yesterday, they said it was about $12,600 in damage. I talked to the auto body shop and they said estimates are about 20% too low. To have it totaled I would need a little over $7,000 more in damages. They valued the car at ~$30k which is about $6k more than I paid for it! The estimate wasn't including any unseen water damage though, so we will see what happens once they get it taken apart!

It hails every now and then here. I think this is the worst we've had in a while! Insurance said this is the worst car he's seen! Im assuming he hasn't seen many other from the area I was in because EVERY car in the parking lot looked like this!

[Sundaydrive00]

Originally Posted by tofuluvr

Yikes! Does this happen a lot?

I've had the same car in St. Louis for almost 10 years now. It has always been parked outside everywhere I've lived. The first time I got any hail damage was last year while living in Charlotte, NC.

[flynavyj]

We had a pretty nasty hail storm about 11 years ago which ended with lots of new roofs, and hundreds of paintless dent repair spots showing up in parking lots infront of strip malls from North County through South County. Good luck with the repairs, depending on your economic situation it's either good, or bad that they didn't total it for you...on one side, you'll get to keep the car you purchased, and on the other side you'll have a damage history report on the vehicle when you go to trade it in or sell it in the future...and I believe Hail Damage is required to be reported, hopefully all electrical connections will be replaced, or can be sufficiently dried out...I'd be afraid of a corrosion problem that causes electrical gremlins a year or more down the line, and the problem being buried so deep under the seats, carpet, etc that it's a real headache to get to. Gah...I hate car damage!

[jribe]

Originally Posted by ableigh

Insurance came out and looked at it yesterday, they said it was about $12,600 in damage. I talked to the auto body shop and they said estimates are about 20% too low. To have it totaled I would need a little over $7,000 more in damages. They valued the car at ~$30k which is about $6k more than I paid for it! The estimate wasn't including any unseen water damage though, so we will see what happens once they get it taken apart!

It hails every now and then here. I think this is the worst we've had in a while! Insurance said this is the worst car he's seen! Im assuming he hasn't seen many other from the area I was in because EVERY car in the parking lot looked like this!

Honestly, i would ask for a new evaluation on the value. How could the car possibly be worth $30,000 used? I would look at KBB- it's saying about $28k- but that is in "excellent" condition. Obviously, the car wouldn't qualify for that- and the reason you should fight is this: when you decide to sell your car, trade it in, or whatever- you'll have to tell them if the car has been damaged (even if repaired) and most dealers will have you sign a paper saying you disclosed everything. I would assume this would also be reported under CarFaxs as well. All of this means you will be offered substantially less because the car has been damaged and they will come up with some excuse of why they will give you less than they should.
Everyone knows cars depreciate as soon as you drive them off the lot- i would really try to get another valuation. Even bring it to a dealer to see what they would give you "trade in"- get it in writing- and give it to your insurance company. Also ask what they would pay for a similar vehicle with no hail damage. I have used KBB's "sell your car" quotes before too- i was given what KBB offered as the quote.