HAIL DAMAGE-PICS POSTED

hey everyone,
two sundays ago here in ny we had a violent hailstorm. i was not able to get to my aveo to get it into the garage. my cousin runs a bodyshop where i bring all of my work when needed. according to the owner of the bodyshop my hail damage is so extensive that it managed to damage every panel on the car. sure i look around my car and see some dings, and they bother me. however not enough to part with the car. the owner of the shop feels that my insurance company more than likely will total the car. here are my options of which i need everyones opinion please: (noted that i have 1 more yr of payments at $178.00 per month.
1)let them total the car and buy a used newer hatchback(when i bought the sedan in 04 i really wanted a hatchback but the dearlership did not have any so i took what they had)
2)let them total the car and buy it back from them for whatever they charge me and pay off gmac hoping they give me enough money to do both or i'm screwed
3)cancel the damage claim all together and just live with the dings(you can see the dings if you spend the time to look)
so thats it all. please help me with this.
thanks,
fred

If you have Gap Coverage, I would let them total the car, then buy it back from them.
It gets paid off, and you can buy it back hella cheap. Only down side is that it will have a Savage Title, and you will have a hard time selling it later.

If that is not the case, you can probably get a body shop to do a "heat job" on it, where they heat up the dings, and many times they will pop out on their own. Finish paying it off, and keep on going.

Third option is to just deal with the dings, repair what you can, and move on.

I know this doesn't help much, but these are really your options.

hey gene, when they do this 'heat job" does it damage the paint? right now i'm leaning towards just cancelling the claim and moving on and forgetting about the whole thing. i mean i really gotta take the time to look closely at it to identify the dings,and some, well i can clearly see.

Heat jobs can damage paint. (They super heat the area then take a cold rag and run it across. 9 of 10, the ding comes out. But it does damage the paint.)
I would say, if it is that hard to see, say to hell with it, and rock it anyway. Worse comes to worse, after she is paid off, you will have the extra money to get it fixed and painted.

hey gene, i did a little research on a procedure where the dinged area was hit with a blow dryer for 30 seconds to 1 minute to heat up the metal, the the area was coated with liquid carbon dioxide out of a aerosol can and as the frozen section of the co2 dissappeared, the guy wiped it down, and it did not seem to show any damage. do you think thats possible?

Quite possible. Heating and rapid cooling, for small dings, usually does the trick. As long as it is not majorly creased, most body repairs are simple.
That trick is commonly known as a "shot in the dark" but most I have known to try heating and rapis cooling swear by it..

Ok, you only owe 2K on the car and it is an 04. I say keep it and live with the dings. Now you can park anywhere and not worry about anyone dinging your car. I know it sucks, but I don't think a claim is worth the hassle.

it makes a lot of sense rob, but i'm kinda anal about how my car looks. i work to hard for what i own to let it get crappy.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NYChevoo

it makes a lot of sense rob, but i'm kinda anal about how my car looks. i work to hard for what i own to let it get crappy.

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Sounds like you already made up your mind. Good luck with the repair.

well, anyway aveo brothers and sisters, heres the info. my car has been at the bodyshop to get the hail fixed. the adjuster came out today to look at it and they "totalled" the car. i called gmac and i owe $3318.00 balance. so i hope i get paid enough to pay off the balance, and then i would want to purchase the car back from statefarm, and fix my dings as i go along. am i offbase? should i just let it go and buy a used hatch? to be perfectly honest right now i'm in no position to purchase a new aveo as much as i want to. i could afford a nice used one, maybe 2006 or 2007, but not at the 2009 level yet financially. hey all, this is the first little car i have owned since i was a teenager that i am comfortable in and i'm 6ft 1in and 300lbs.

Ok, I already said what I thought, but here is my rationale. I don't know the miles or condition or trim level of your car, but would put a value of around 5K on a 2004 LS sedan with average milage. That said you owe 3.3K, so you net 1.7K minus any deductables. Tax and tags alone will probably be around 1K, so you net a down payment of 700 bucks minus any deductables. I wouldn't want to buy a used car cause you already have a used car that you know more about than the one you will buy. Therefore this is why I said I would probably live with the dings. I think it will cost you more in the long run.

hey All, and Rob,
you are on the money! state farm offered $5230.00 if i walk away and let the car be a total loss. so here are my options.
1) take the $5230 as car is totalled pay off the $3318 owed pocket the difference.
2)cancel the claim everything returns to normal except i dont get any money, and the car has dings i can live with
3) take $4380 from state farm which is the $5230-$850 which is the salvage value of the aveo which leaves me with $4380, pay off the $3318 owed on the car.then i need to send my title into dmv for branding now as a "salvage vehicle". after title is recieved back i must take car to an official NYS inspection office for them to make sure car is roadworthy and that i'm not resurrecting some piece of junkyard crap. and i fix the dings slowly as i gather more cash.
given the 3 options and knowing that i still need a great commuter car and one i know that has been mechanically cared for i choose mine and go with option 3.
Rob, mine is a 2004 base model sedan with 80000 miles on it. its only options are automatic, the mp3/cd player, and a/c. when i first purchased the car back in july of 2004 it was $9000.00 out the door tax, title, and tags. i bought it new off the lot.

Damn bro!
That is actually pretty sweet!
I say take the money, buy the car back, get the title, inspect it, and fix it a little at a time. You get it paid off, you get a little change in pocket, and you still get to keep your ride. If you aren't looking at selling it anytime soon, I say rock on! I mean, you will have a paid off car, okay, so it has a few dings, those can be fixed a little at a time, and since the car is still road safe, getting a salvaged inspection shouldn't be any issue.

Everyone wins. Down side is that your insurance may raise a bit, but think of it this way, you won't have a car payment, so you can afford the couple extra dollars on the insurance. Other down side, I don't think you will be able to re-insure it, at least not with full coverage with a value of $850. But even a bonus there, Liability insurance will save you even a little more change.

yeah gene, i'm pretty decided on keeping my car at this point. i really love it for what it is, and it hasnt done me wrong. its a great car, and the dings are not that noticeable unless you are me,or take the time to find them.

OK, not to beat this horse to death, but make sure you consider a few things with option 3. First, by putting in a claim you may raise your rates. And, if by chance you need to put in another claim in the near future, you could become a high risk, negating any money pocketed, maybe even worse. Second, I am not sure of the salvage title process and lenght of time, but I would guess you cannot drive the car while it is in limbo between titles, how could you, no title, no registration, etc. Lastly, you will probably never be able to sell the car with a salvage title, at least not for more that 100 bucks. Currently your car is valued at 5K and you owe 3K, 2K in equity. I think you may be going out on a limb with the claim. I always view insurance as a last resort, for the above stated reasons. Just trying to give you another viewpoint. I wouldn't want to put in a claim if I didn't have too. Have seen too many people get jacked because of claims and tickets.

ok, heres my final post on my situation. based on all posts recieved and the fact that i spoke with an inspector at a salvage inspection location for NYS, i'm keeping my car. the inpsector told me that since i owned the car since new and continue to own it my salvage inspection will not be a problem at all. he told me they are looking for machanical or structural defects and that my hail damage since it is minimal to the naked eye, and not like i have fenders hanging off, will breeze me right through the inspection process. he also advised me to go to dmv to renew my registration and to get my regular yearly inspection done immediately at my local garage. the reason for this being that when i send my title into dmv to have it "branded" a salvage vehicle i will have to wait for the title to come back, then apply for the state salvage inspection which can take up to 4wks to get an appt. he said there is no reason for me to lose use of my car. if i didnt renew and resinspect then when the car was "branded" a salvage vehicle my chance to renew and reinspect would be lost until after i have the salvage inspection was done.
so of the $5230 that i got for my car, $850.00 bought my car back, $1026 i pocket in cash, $3354 pays off my gmac loan, and i own my car, no payments free to at my leisure and my expense remove the supposed hail damage that i need a magnifying glass to see and some i know i can see. the only other expense is $200 to NYS for the salvage inspection. the whole situation feels good to me, besides if i took the $5230 and paid off gmac $3354.00 where could i get a used car cared for as well as my own for $1876 remaining? i feel like its a win win for me.

u should post some pics of the damage. im curiuos to see it.

ok, mike i'll try to get some pics up. its kinda hard to see cause you gotta look closely.

Ok Groupos Aveo's Locos,
here is the final chapter in my long and boring story of my Aveo,a nd what did I do with it.(with pictures) I made the decision to keep my car. As of right now according to State Farm, and confirmed with GMAC my loan has been paid in full. Lien release enroute to my address. I'm also getting a check back for $1063, and I have to send in my title to DMV for "branding" as a salvage car, then make an appt with NYS Salvage Inspectors to have the car inspected to make sure there are no structural, mechanical, or stolen parts on my car. I just reregistered it and had the yearly safety inspection done for 2009. Enjoy the pics, click on them and they get big.
[img][attachment=1:331nek4t]Aveo%20LF.JPG[/attachment:331nek4t][/img]
[img][attachment=0:331nek4t]Aveo-RR.JPG[/attachment:331nek4t][/img]

thats not bad at all. in fact i think the hail was more of a blessing than anything LOL!

that is pretty good trade.... ill have to go and throw some ice cubes at mine now and see what they say......