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.

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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.

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