New cars damaged by hail... what happens to them? (insurance, vehicle, buying)
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Well, you all know I am (or was) in the market for a new car in the next few weeks. Well after tonights severe weather with HUGE hail, we have damaged BRAND NEW cars everywhere on dealers lots.
I dont want to end up with a brand new car that has had hail damage and repaired. Do they fix them and sell as new (as if nothing happened), or are they not legally allowed to do that?
We had hail damaged cars back in 2002, but I dont remember how it was handled.
cars are probably insured so they are most likely fixed... dont see how a dealership would just let something like the weather drastically reduce his or her inventory.
It all depends upon the severity of damage to any given car ...
Some will be sold "as-is" for a discounted price
Some will be repaired and sold as new; I know of a couple of bodyshops that exclusively work on dealership new cars to repair damage to a vehicle before it is first sold/titled. Typical work includes damage in transit, demo drive damage, and parking lot damage to a new vehicle as well as hail repairs. The quality of work varies ... I've seen some that held up as well as a factory new car, and I've seen some where the paintwork aged differently and didn't hold up. I own an MB where this happened ... it's a one owner car that has never been to a paint/body shop in it's life since it left the dealership, and the left rear quarter has broken down clear coat and aging metallic paint that is different from the trunk lid and the left rear door ... obviously a repaint repair done after the car left the factory. Sold as new without any mention of the repair work to the buyer.
Some will be straightened out with paintless dent repair techniques and sold as new
Some will be totalled out by the insurance company and sold at wholesale auction; some of these may end up getting repaired but will generally now get an "S" title so will have considerably less value and retail cost.
IMO, it pays to have any new vehicle inspected as thoroughly as you'd inspect a used vehicle in a pre-buy inspection. I've done this many times for my clients through the years and we have found numerous damaged vehicles that weren't quite so "new" anymore. I've found apparent bodywork as well as significant undercarriage damage that has been repaired ... sometimes to a very good level of workmanship, sometimes ... not so good. But when you're buying new, you should get full value for your money, not some wrecked/damaged car that's been repaired.
Probably band-aided up and resold for almost new vaue. I know after Hurricane Katrina cars that we're 4 feet underwater were being resold here FL at premium prices.
We don't hardly ever get hail danage but dealers get hail danaged cars and sell them at large discounts for monor damage. If a dealer gets caught sellg a car that was danaged and repaired without telling the buyer ;he can be sued for selling it has new undamaged. Had a freind that won such a suit on other damage.
Car dealers have Hail Sales. The dealer has insurance to cover the losses, then sells the cars at a discounted prices, made up for by the insurance settlement.
Of course, that means YOU pay for the damage. The insurance company adjusts its rates to cover the casualty, and that higher insurance rate is spread out over the entire economy, reflected in higher prices for everything. It's always the bottom feeder that pays for everything, because you and I, the consumer down here, have no power to pass the cost on to somebody else.
When the insurance companies pay out a benefit of $300-million, every American pays one dollar of that back, somehow, and the insurance company remains solvent. Or, did you think that Mr. Allstate pays for hail damage out of his own pocket?
Well, you all know I am (or was) in the market for a new car in the next few weeks. Well after tonights severe weather with HUGE hail, we have damaged BRAND NEW cars everywhere on dealers lots.
I dont want to end up with a brand new car that has had hail damage and repaired. Do they fix them and sell as new (as if nothing happened), or are they not legally allowed to do that?
We had hail damaged cars back in 2002, but I dont remember how it was handled.
Do they sell them at discounted prices?
(btw, our cars were damaged as well).
I was managing a car dealership during that period in 2003.
We bought 45 hail damaged cars at rock bottom prices and sold them all at great profit....WITH damage. And they still represented good deals to the customers that bought them.
Some people replaced hoods and trunk lids, but most just drove them, since they were good deals.
Most cars damaged while in inventory or in transit are simply repaired and sold as new. Disclosure of the damage varies by state and sometimes is dependent on the total dollar amount involved.
In Texas, any damage over $500 (I think that's it, it's been a while) must be disclosed and signed off on.
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