Posted: 3/11/2010 2:45:03 PM EDT
| Generally how large does hail have to be to damage a vehicle (e.g. chip the paint or dent the body)? |
Not as big as you think but I don't have an exact size for you. 
Had golf ball sized hail here a few years ago and that shit shattered windows as well as beat the shit out of the body. Smashed in tail lights and head lights too. A neighbor down the street left his brand new BMW 5 series in the street.. |
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I have a few dents from some 1/4" - 1/2" hail but you have to look for them to notice it. More noticeable when the car is clean. I have a buddy that got bombarded from baseball hail and it was pretty ugly. The paint was fine but he had some enormous dents. He got the pulled out and you can't notice. I think his insurance covered it too. |
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Quoted:
I don't know where the damage threshold is as far as size, but some vehicles have tougher sheetmetal than others. I had a 99 Silverado and a 2001 Tundra in the same storm, $600 to fix the Chevy, $1700 for the Toyota. Did your insurance cover the repairs? I've prepared for the annual Spring storm season here in north Texas by cleaning out the garage so both vehicles will fit within the garage now, so hopefully this will be a moot point for me, but I was just curious anyway... |
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A few years ago not far from me (Exeter, NH area) there was a severe hail storm. A relative of mine was working outside and he told me that as the cars were driving and the hail started, their windshields all just started shattering. IIRC the hail was between golf ball and softball sized.
I saw some of the cars that were damaged and they had dents ALL over them. The cars looked like golf balls. There were many car dealerships that were affected by the storm. Hundreds of cars with completely ruined body panels and glass. Sucked, but you could get an almost brand new car super cheap if you could stand the dents. |
| It also depends on if it's being pushed by winds. For instance, pea sized hail may not do much damage if any at all if it's just raining down. Add 80+ MPH straightline winds behind it and yes, there will be damage. Velocity as well as mass and do nasty things. Never thought my storm spotter experience would come in handy here. |