About to submit hail damage claim on V8 Unicorn

TejasRunner01

New member
Whelp, a terrible storm came through today while at work. Uncovered parking, golf ball and larger hail got my MINT Nautical Blue 08 V8 Limited with 161k pretty good..

About to submit a claim to Geico, any advice? Have full comprehensive coverage. First time claim, ever.

Thanks for any advice!
 
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One or many? Got a photo of the damage?

I'm sure its covered, less the deductible, but the real question is... is it worth filing a claim over.
 
This x75. Roof, sides, fender and hood
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That got you pretty good.. 75 hits to the 4Runner like that?

Let us know how it goes... now I am genuinely curious how insurance would handle this.

That's a lot of paint and body work assuming a dent pulled isn't going to cut it. I wonder if they will want to call it totaled.
 
I am happy to let you know how it goes. It is kind of crazy to see dents this large and no broken glass....


Those are wicked, they will likely total it if it’s actually around x75 as bad as the photo.

Have a good PDR guy look at it in case they total it you know if it’s reasonable to buy it back and have the work done with what they give you for it.

Keep us posted! Good luck.


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I see way more expensive cars totaled through Copart due to hail damage that isn't as bad as the picture you sent.. If you're truly at 75-ish hits across at least 4 panels, Mint or not I would imagine they'll write this off as a total loss.

If I had to guess, a good PDR guy can certainly bring it back, but the cost won't be cheap. Another option would be to PRD roof and buy other panels and paint, but either way you look at it it's going to be a ton of work so I'm curious to know what happens. Good thing you had full coverage on it.
 
My black Xterra got bombed exactly like that in 2000. Roof, hood, hatch, and a few on the sides. State Farm gave me $1700 & though I was skeptical, I went the PDR route.

This is no exaggeration - you couldn’t tell it had even been damaged except for one small ding in the top corner of the roof where their tools couldn’t reach. I was astounded at the results.

The cost was $1100 and I discovered how naive I was about claims when I called State Farm and asked where to send their $600 “change.” They kindly set me straight. LOL
 
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My black Xterra got bombed exactly like that in 2000. Roof, hood, hatch, and a few on the sides. State Farm gave me $1700 & though I was skeptical, I went the PDR route. Cost $1100, but - and this is no exaggeration - you couldn’t tell it had even been damaged except for one small ding in the top corner of the roof where their tools couldn’t reach. I was astounded at the results.

I discovered how naive I was about claims when I called State Farm and asked where to send the $600 “change.” They kindly set me straight. LOL


A good PDR guy is no joke. Wife leases (works better for her) Mazda’s. Last car was a 2018 CX-5, nice little grocery getter. It was parked at work during a hail storm and got about 40-50 dime size hits, and a few worse quarter sized ones. Hood, right fender, roof and deck lid/spoiler. Not wanting to file an insurance claim, I contacted a local guy.

He came to my house, fixed it in my garage (there’s mobile service for this now lol) at a time convenient for me. Cost me $600!

He is so good, it passed final inspection before turn in. I mean, you seriously could not tell it had ever happened. I tried finding some of the worse dings and couldn’t see or feel where they had been. Changed my mind about PDR for sure!


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This is one of the few times that declaring the car a total might be to your benefit. I've seen the entire stock of a new car dealer totaled by hail and then repaired by a quality PDR guy and sold at a substantial discount with factory warranty. That's a nasty dent and I suspect they will total the car, give you whatever the market value is (no premium for Unicorn status unless you can convince them otherwise) and then you can ask what they would charge to buy it back and then take it to a highly skilled PDR person. Do know that the title will become branded as a result of this so take lots of pictures to show what the actual damage was so that you can prove it wasn't an accident with structural damage. The branded title will result in diminished value but I think you'll probably have put $6,000 in your own pocket when everything is said and done. Do look for broken paint at the dents as that changes the outcome dramatically and a lot of PDR guys won't touch the car if the paint is broken in numerous places.
 
My 08' got hammered with hail 7 years ago. Hood, roof, doors. Insurance covered it and home damage, 18K total, 13K on home and 5K for the 4runner.
Your comp policy will cover it no problem, should include rental car while 4Runner in body shop for a week.
 

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