When you Purchase a Vehicle with Hail Damage

As you may know, hail damage may be difficult to fix because it usually affects the entire vehicle including the sheet metal.  You may occasionally find hail damaged vehicles for sale at your local Cross Keys Auto dealers’ lot.  Whenever a hail storm occurs a dealership’s entire inventory may get damaged and many vehicles that are lower priced may not be worth the time it takes to fix them, so they get sold at a reduced price, with most of the imperfections being cosmetic only, any glass, safety or mechanical components that get damaged will be repaired.

Hail damage can be so severe that the cost of repairing a car may be more than the car is really worth, so the vehicles are considered totaled by the car insurance companies who may end up taking the cars and selling them at a discounted price to consumers.  The vehicles will have a title that gets flagged with “hail damage”.  The windshield, glass mirrors, and mechanical components that have been damaged will most likely be repaired so that the car is in safe operating condition when purchased by a consumer.  There may even be some cosmetic repair done so that the vehicle does not look quite as when it was initially damaged.

If you are not that concerned about the aesthetics of your next vehicle, you could be in a position to get a really great vehicle that is very mechanically sound at a rock bottom price, there may be quite a bit of negotiating room when you purchase a vehicle with hail damage from your local dealership.  Be prepared because you may have to come up with a bigger down payment as a financial institution may not extend 100% auto credit on a vehicle that has had hail damage because of the subsequent lower re-sale value.