I can't believe what happened on July 11 in Exeter NH. Hailstones nearly baseball size battered my 1987 300D.
Windshield still in one piece but cracked all over. Roof, hood, trunk lid and other surfaces have a total of at least 100 dimples from 1/8 to 1/4 inch in depth.
Mechanically, of course, no effect whatsoever.
And of course, I do not have comprehensive insurance (which is ok, it would be declared a total wreck I'm sure and I would receive very little compensation).
My choices are:
1)drive as is (with windshield replaced) and just accept the appearance.
2) scrap it - good engine etc (although the #14 head)
3) do something (don't know what) to mitigate the appearance.

Has anyone been thru something like this? Any suggestions?

are the dents creases in the metal? Can they be pulled out w/o damaging the paint? The windshield repair should set you back about 250$.

I've got a friend looking to spend 500$ on a good used car. He's not worried about the appearance. If you sell it, you should be able to get a better offer than that.

-CTH

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get an estimate from dent wizard or painless dent removal places? They would probably be easy to fix... Or Eastwood may have a DIY paintless dent remover kits... Better than scraping a good car.

Zack

Fix the windshield and drive it.

just took a 700 mile trip taking note of every 123 I saw. I saw only one. My point is these cars are disappearing and to send one to the scrap heap because it got dented would be a sin IMHO.

Cheers,

Bill

EDIT: Just noticed we're talking about a 124. Still, I feel the same way.....

being in the auto body repair biz in areas that get hit with hail must be a godsend... im dreading hurricane season.. its here but no canes yet and we do get large hail when that comes..i do have full coverage on the benz so if it gets dented it all gets fixed.. but thats besides the point.. hail sucks

Being in NH I can tell you the photos I saw of a row of SAABs at the local dealer in Exeter was shocking! It looked like the hoods had been beaten with hammers the dents were so deep. I never could imagine hail could do that much damage...I figured just some light pock marks but these were real deep divets! The dealer claimed that all of the cars on the lot would be totalled! Go here to see it:

http://www.wmur.com/news/9497417/detail.html

Go to the link:

Video: Cars At Dealerships, Police Cruisers Damaged

Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time! OUCH!

If the damage to your car is limited to the hood, trunk lid and roof you can probably get the hood and trunk lid from a junk yard and get the roof repaired and the car painted and be good to go again. I would guess you'd be spending about $2000 but on the bright side it is cheaper than a new car.

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Marty D.

2013 C300 4Matic
1984 BMW 733i
2013 Lincoln MKz

I have never seen so many hail warnings here in New Hampshire this year. I am glad that I have only seen the hail in my yard twice in my life. I grow giant pumpkins for my other hobby and I always cringe when I hear about hail because it can ruin my whole growing season. I would see how much the car would be to fix. Then if it is too much money to fix, I would look for a car that needs all the parts from your damaged car. I know that there are a lot of mercedes on craigslist for New hampshire and Boston. Good luck with the repairs!

DK

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1983 300sd 253,000 + 13,000 (10,000+ on veggie and biodiesel)= 266,000
1983 300sd 390,000 (Leaky windshield seal) Known to me as the shower car. Parts car now!
1 junk 300sd Watch out for the skunk that lives underneith it!

WOW! Baseball sized hail and you "only" got 100 dimples! Have you seen any of the "new cars" and the damage done to them? My point, these old MB have some real steel in the body. Mine went through a golf ball sized hail storm, I picked up a few light dimples on the hood....my nieghbors little red Toyota 200 yards away as the crow flys was a total loss.

NOW, you had better go check your roof for damage!

Sorry, it happened, but I would keep it and drive the wheels off of it. Life must go on.

__________________
Mark
1983 300TD Wagon
Even a broken watch is right twice a day

For the love of Mike, your car is nearly 20 years old, probably runs well and is paid for. Keep driving it till the wheels fall off. I've got a 1982 Chevy Diesel truck that is eaten up with salt water termites. The roof is held on by foan sealent, you can see the road through the floorboards, the windshield is more cracks than glass, nothing besides the engine works on it, it is covered in caustic alumina and bauxite and yet it still goes any and every time I crank it. Plus, I can fix it. Be glad you have a good car that you can fix for less than $70 an hour.

Meh, we have hailstorms like that once a month in Texas. Heh.

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Kip,

What the heck is a salt water termite? A termite that eats steel?

That is one bad dude.

Here in the east the state is responsible for the rust on our cars due to all the winter road salt.

Cheers,

Bill

I agree life goes on. It will be expensive to repair the dents. I was behind a car a week ago. It had two bullet holes in the trunk, and a bumper sticker " I was shot at, did you?". Now you can get a sticker " I was hit by golf-size hail, did you?" .

Wow, baseball size! Lucky no one was hurt or killed!


I'd start looking in junk yards for a hood and trunk lid that match's. Then just swap them out. Have dent doctor do their best on the roof, then some paint, figure $1k for the whole repair.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

On the Texas coast rust that is caused by driving on the beach or being around salt water we say is caused by salt water termites. It eats holes in you car the same as termites eat in your house.

Kip,

Sorry for the stupidity on my part.

We get the same type of beach rust here too. Add to that the salt on the roads in the winter.

Funny though....I think most east coast folks think that rust doesn't just doesn't happen in the west.

Cheers,

Bill