Strike TWO???

[Ed Lim]

Hello all. Just a little story to tell ya'll...
Here in Chicago, we've been having a very soggy summer. When I was a little boy enjoying summer vacation, I remember having days and days of uninterrupted sunshine, but lately, it's been raining at least once a week (global warming? El Nino? Armageddon?) Lately, when we get thunderstorms, they have been EXTREMELY SEVERE. Downed trees, power outages, flooding, and yes, HAIL. Sometimes I'll park out "in the open" so my PT could get a little rinse off with some rain, but mostly so a tree won't topple over onto it if things get nasty. But now I'm fearing hail damage, so I'll park under a tree. Tree or open? Tree or open? Branches or hail? Branches or hail? Friday, I was speeding home trying to avoid a hailstorm that turned out to localize itself on the southside of Chicago. Folks were getting on the radio telling the hosts about it and the background sounded like someone pouring a gallon of marbles on the hood of a car. YIKES! Strike ONE. Then, Saturday I was at a picnic only 3 miles from my house. It rained heavily at the picnic, and it was relocated to the church rectory. When I got home, it looked like White Christmas! A neighbor told me we had tons of hail, and the street in front of my place had become a lake. Ice and debris littered our sidewalks and front yards. YEOW! Strike TWO! This time it was too close, cuz if I stayed home, which I was going to do, who knows what would have happened. So, naturally, I'm fearing Strike THREE! My fiance has a Saturn with dent resistant panels, so she can't relate to my fears. How much does hail damage repair cost, so I can start saving my money now? Or am I over reacting and valuing my car over the health and safety of my loved ones? So far I think that someone up there is smiling down on me, or at least giving me a warning..(to get a house with a garage?!) OR, MAYBE the Big G Himself drives a PT?! God bless us, every one...

[turbomangt]

Ed, I just sent you an invitation to join the Chicagoland PT Cruiser Club of America via e mail. We have a good group forming, with lots of interesting things going on like car shows, picnics, fun rides, and share customizing ideas. Let me know back, / as far as the hail, I have been lucky my car has been inside everytime we get a storm like that, but it sure keeps "dust busters" busy. Hopefully my car won't see those guys, Gary

[CREWZIN]

quote:Originally posted by Ed Lim

My fiance has a Saturn with dent resistant panels, so she can't relate to my fears

Ed,

Tell your sister that she does have to fear those hail bullets. The "dent resistant" panels of the Saturn are ONLY on the dooor and bumpers. The hood, roof and trunk are metal and will dent, bend and crease like any other metal piece.

Short story of my own. I was in my wife's Saturn when a hugh SUV backed out of a parking space and couldn't see me waiting in the driving lane. The SUV hit the Saturn (slowly) in the passenger door and actually lifted the Saturn up off the ground before the idiot realised what was happening. She pulled forward, we inspected the Saturn and there was no sign that anything had happened

[JohnM]

Ed - I have a 2003 GT that's already been hammered with hail and repaired. I'm in Dallas and in April we had a doozy. Unfortunately, my GT, with only 3,200 miles, was in harms way at the time. It was hammered bad with dents on every panel except the drivers door. My first reaction was that I would have to trade it in, cause I couldn't live with a repaired car. My insurance co, Allstate, is apparently known for lowball estimates so that you don't take the money and then don't do the repair. The game is that the body shop has to negotiate with them to adjust up to the *real* cost to fix the car. Bottom line is they gave me a check for $2,600. So ... I had no choice but to get it fixed, and see what it looked like.

I took it to a BMW dealer for repair (my neighbor is the GM) that is known for great paint work. But ... the entire fix was done with paintless dent repair ... not one speck of new paint was put on the car. The was cost was ... guess what ... $2,600. The repair is virtually undetectable unless you know, and know what to look for in PDR. I've decided I can live with it, and not the loss to trade it in on a new one.

Good luck in Chicago land!!

[bobs turbo pt]

hail!! no thanks !![B)]