Think I was hit with Hail, Can this be buffed out?

[dcapone]

Over the weekend, I think I was nailed with thousands of little hail drops during a powerful thunderstorm. Now everything on my car is all "dinged" but not dented just thousands of little marks in the paint and the windshield. Part of me is hoping that the dings don`t go into the paint and I can buff out everything and then end up being left with a thin clear coat at which point I was hoping I could just have a new clear coat layer painted on. Does anyone have any suggestions for what to do, the car is brand new less than a month old and I`m pretty pissed.

[barrettward]

It`s fairly hard to tell from the pics because the car seems somewhat dirty. The first step however may be to call you insurance company. If not, wash, clay, and then bust out the PC / Rotary. Try to get a fingernail into one to check the depth.



A tip: holes that are too small to be examined with a fingernail are generally the perfect size to be check with an automatic pencil. Let a mm of lead out and see how badly it drags.



Barrett

[dcapone]

Yes it is a bit dirty, today was the first day it hasn`t rained here in about a week and because of that was the first day I suspected anything with what appeared to be water drops on the windshield. I intend to wash it tomorrow morning, however all of the tiny spots (simliar to the size you see in the windshield pictures) are all dings. The best picture is really of the windshield because I quickly cleaned it before taking the pictures. Essentially the bumps in the windshield are what is all over the car.



I plan to call the insurance company first thing in the morning, I guess I`m just hoping to preserve the original factory paint layer if possible.



I`m assuming witht he pencil thing you mean push some out and place it in the hole and attempt to fully "retract" the lead and see how much doesn`t retract to determine the depth.

[barrettward]

dcapone: If you can get your fingernail to catch into the scratch / bump / mar, it is generally too deep to be corrected well with a machine.



If the pencil lead does not easily catch, you likely have enough clear to correct it with a machine polish.



Barrett

[dshreter]

I`m a little bit confused by the pictures. Is that first picture a clean windshield? If that windshield is clean thats some very serious damage. I have a hard time imagining how hail could even cause that kind of damage to a windshield. I also wouldn`t imagine that the windshield would damage as easily as the paint, so I`m really hoping your car is just dirty. Be very gentle and careful when you wash...

[barrettward]

Rereading this thread: I`m a touch confused.



If that first pic is your windshield (clean) - than you need to be looking for someone with a sandblasting rig that you have pissed off.



Barrett

[dcapone]

Yes that first pic is the windshield clean and the damage does look like the car was sandblasted, however the dmaage occurred during a big thunderstorm and it only occurred on the surfaces parallel to the sky, the roof, hood, trunk, windshield, and read windshield are all bad while the front of the car and the sides and the rear are all basically untouched. The side windows have a few dings but extremely minor compared to the windshield and rear windshield. On the sides of the car I can`t really find anything at all. Again, I intend on thoroughly washing tomorrow morning and retaking the pictures tomorrow night again as the pictures show the dings much much better from the light from the flash, nothing really shows up in the daylight. But I`m heading to bed for the night but I`ll be checking for any suggestions in the morning before washing.

[dcapone]

btw...my first sentence was trying to say, I`m not exactly sure it was hail and I have my doubts as well, except I couldn`t think of anything else that would cause damage only on the surfaces parallel to the sky during a severe thunderstorm.

[Scottwax]

Wash your car, post more pics.



Usually, hail dents the metal but the paint is usually fine. As long as the damage isn`t too severe, a good body shop PDR (paintless dent repair) guy can remove the dents and save your paint. One of my customers had her RX330 hit by golf to tennis ball sized hail and the damage was estimated at $2700. I saw it when I cleaned her husband`s ZO6 earlier this month and the RX was scheduled to go in a few days after I was there. I`ll see it in about 10 days and be able to see how effect the shop was in removing the dents.



I`ve had two cars significantly damaged by hail so believe me, I feel your pain. Back in May 1995, Fort Worth (about 10-15 miles west of me) was hit by softball sized hail and a couple dealerships had to total out every car they had outside during the storm. :nervous2: