Hey guys,
Got stuck in standstill traffic about 500 feet from the hotel we were staying at in St. Louis yesterday and got blasted by hail. You can't imagine how pissed I was. I actually wound up going way around traffic to the right and then back over to the left to get under the overhang in front of the hotel. The overhang could fit 4 cars underneath, I was the 4th. I'm actually pretty lucky, it could have been worse as it hailed HARD for probably another 3 or 4 minutes after I was safely under the overhang. I was exposed to the hail for maybe a minute, though it seemed like a lot longer.

The damage itself actually doesn't seem as bad as it sounded like it was going to be. The car is pretty dirty from having the rainwater dry on it and I'll have to wash it to get the full extent of the damage, but I can see that there are some noticeable dents. Obviously they are mainly on the hood, a couple on the roof, and a couple on the rear quarter / trunk area. I'd estimate I counted maybe about 15 dings, mostly of the small / tiny variety, but I assume there are probably more that I'll see when I get it cleaned up.

Anyway, it really sucks but I think I'm pretty much over it at this point. The freak random nature of what happened and the timing of the whole thing (the car was outside from under a roof for six tenths of a mile, and I could SEE the hotel from where I got pelted) just drives me up the wall, but in the big scheme of things there are a lot worse problems to have than dings in your Jaguar, so whats the point in being upset? Time to figure out my options. Honestly I'm not sure the damage is going to really be all that noticeable, but I'm leaning towards getting it fixed anyway because I think it'll drive me nuts knowing its there.

Does anybody have any experience dealing with something like this? I guess I just call my insurance company. I am assuming no matter what I do I'm going to hit my deductible, and that this would fall under comprehensive if I decide to make a claim? Never made an insurance claim in my life before, would being damaged by a freak storm affect my rate? I'd kind of hope not. Next I guess I try and find a reputable body shop. Kansas City, Tulsa OK, Springfield MO, and Bentonville AR are all driveable for me so I'm thinking I should be able to find plenty. I know the XK is kind of unique in that it is all aluminum, but I think most hoods are made of AL, so for this type of repair perhaps its not that "special"?

Anyway, thanks for reading, any experiences or things to watch for... I'd really appreciate it. Thanks again guys.

MCP

 

Sorry to hear this. I know paintless dent removal can work but I'm not sure how well with an alloy bodied car. Glad it was just your car that suffered damage and not you or your wife.

 

This would be under your comprehensive. I'm currently going through the same thing only with gravel damage from crossing a mountain pass.
Spoke to my agent with concern, as I'm only 2 years out of a "total loss" (my fault) collision with my Audi. I was assured I was OK because comprehensive is treated as a separate policy.
In my case I have no "physical" damage to the body, just paint glass and plastic.

Of course my insurance wanted me to go to their shop, but I called two Jag dealerships and asked for recommendations. One of those shops got the work.

Vince

 

About 6 months ago I was talking to a salesman at Jaguar of Great Neck, NY and he told me a number of their XK's had hail damage from a very unusual hail storm in their area. The car I most wanted to see was off the lot getting its hail damage repaired. Perhaps if you call them (or any other Jag dealer in a hailstorm area) you might get some tips.

Another frustrating thing about something like this is that it gets picked up on CarFax and can hurt your resale value.


Tony

 

Paintless dent removal works well on our aluminium bodies. I had it done on my XJ and it came out incredible. I had hail damage to the roof when I bought it. They took out 25 dents and the body was razor sharp after. They find more dents than you do and are paid by the dent.

 

Thats good to know, thanks for the responses guys it makes me feel a lot better. I found a couple places over near where I work that, from the look of their websites, have a lot of experience with PDR. Both places specifically mention aluminum as well. After doing a bit of research last night, it seems like this type of damage is pretty common out here (which really isn't a surprise I guess) so there seem to be a lot of places that do this type of work.

Thanks again, I'll report back after I get things straightened out...

 

If it was me, I'd be less worried about the wife than the car.

 

Just got back from a repair shop (from my internet research, this seemed like "the" shop in the area). He says as hail damage goes, what I have isn't too bad and he's sure its completely fixable, which makes me feel a lot better. I had counted about 18 dents, he found around 30. He said they had a car in already from the exact same storm I was in that had almost 300 dents in it, which just makes me shiver. I'm glad I got under that awning. 1750$ was the quote, so time to get insurance involved. Oh well. He did say that working on aluminum is a little tricky and that it takes time and experience, but that when he was done it'd look like new and you would never know it had been worked on.

They had an Aston Martin V8 Vantage in their shop currently, which makes me feel better about handing my car over.

 

See if you have "dent wizzard" in your area. They charge by the panel, not the number of dents. We have a guy here thats been here for yrs and is awesome. If he cant get behind the panel to push it out he glues a special plug to the dent to lift it out and still no damage to paint.

 

Hope it all works out for you and there's not a trace of damage.

 

Picked up the car today, I looked about as hard as I can look and I couldn't see anything. There was one spot that I remembered as being the worst... right near the left rear "hip"... it looks perfect. No paint or fillers or anything like that required, just a lot of patience and skill I guess (they had the car for 2 days). I'm out my deductible but well worth it to have the car back to new again.

No more driving for me if the clouds look bad though...

 

So happy to hear that it came out perfect for you!

 

Yup, works like a charm. Actually had PDR done to the XK last week. Since I got it there was 2 (I could see) little dings that bothered the hell out of me. Well the PDR guy found one more along the rear arch. Could not tell it was ever done.

I am a believer after my 2nd aluminium bodied car.

 

Nice...
Glad you found an quick a sweet fix.

Just got mine back today as well (after a complete repaint, new windshield headlights, fog lights, grill and 3 weeks time)...
Total billed insurance was $14,000


I have to admit they did a great job as the car looks flawless... but $14,000?

Now I'm REALLY scared where my insurance rates will go....


Vince

 

14k wow! Yeah its not cheap thats for sure... the total bill actually wound up being a bit over what the shop originally estimated it to be, somewhere in the 1,800$ range. The shop worked directly with my insurance though so I never had to do anything, which is nice. If the insurance company will pay it I guess its impossible for it to be too far off the going rate, but boy thats a lot of money for something that required no parts. I'm not complaining though, it looks perfect and thats what matters most.