Filing a claim on my truck for the hail damage.....need advice!!

Did not read whole thread. Here goes. Most of the vehicles in AZ. are combo repair that means half PDR (paintless dent repair) half conventional (body shop). Some insurance companies will be writing checks straight to you. Do not get excited as this usally means it is severly underwritten. You cash the check, it's a wrap.Thus you were not "fairly" compensated. Please take your truck to a local body shop of your choice and ask about the dent techs. 85% of the work will be done by non-Arizonians. This is common. The business is a sub-contract by nature. Good techs are never in one place. We travel that's how we make the jack. Ask who is pushing the dents. It is a good idea to go to a shop your ins. company stands behind. (DRP Shops) Do not let guys drill holes. That is amatuer bullshit. Also remember that tents are for the circus not auto repair. Best of luck to all with a loss. Also get written warranties.

 

Just talked to my insurance co.
They have an appointment for me tomorrow to estimate the damage.
I have a high deduct so I may end up having my dent bumpin dude take care of it.

I bet he is working 20 hrs. a day right now.

 

BTW. I know this is a big suck right now but it is relly going to boost AZ local economy.

 

"The guy I know does the dent repair on the presidents helicopter"...........interesting factoid...............

 

I call B.S. on that. Just my opinion I know MANY dent guys that travel the world doing hail. Alot of the good techs are still in Perth, Ausralia and Canada right now. Calgary got blasted. There is alot of riff raff lying s.o.b's in this business. pisses me off.

 

Well I got a check for $8k to fix the truck. They seemed fair on the estimate they wrote to replace the hood, roof, both doors, roof moldings, quarter panel, and fender all on the drivers side. The only thing they are gonna pdr is the pass side fender and there's only a few dents. Now I need to Find someone selling parts so I can save some money

 

Wow, That is a bunch of replacement parts.
I saw a hood on craigs list for $75.00 but I am not sure of the color.
There have been fenders and bed side fenders sometimes.
Search Tacoma and see what you can find.

Best of luck.

 

My wife and I had to have both of our cars repaired from hail damage about a year and a half ago, between both, total of 12k damage. Most panels were so bad they did have to replace them altoghether. You always hear baseball size hail and always think, "yeah. I'm sure", but this was definitely that big. found some in my freezer still a few months back. They did a really good job, but the only thing is the paint, it seems that it chips a whole lot easier. Maybe I'm just crazy, but the frist 3 years I had my truck, never had any chips on the hood, now there are several pretty big chips. (Same for wife's Camry) Good luck.

Side question: Is there any way to prove they used a cheap paint and that I can have it redone? My insurance guarantees repairs for life.

 

Thought I would update anyone who cares.....got my truck back yesterday. $3500 for all the repairs (PDR/bondo/paint) except the hood. Im still looking for a painted hood but ill prolly just get one from Toyota and have my guy paint it for me. So maybe $4000 after that total to get her back to new. That left me with $4800 to spend on goodies!!!! I ordered AVID sliders & light bar, TRD skid plate, roof rack, floor mats, and a tuffy box. Im so stoked the $5k i have left basically paid for all the upgrades I have done to the truck since i got her in May and the stuff i just ordered so its like i got them all free!!

 

Not bad, my hail claim for my Taco and wife's camry and year and half ago totaled just over $12,500