Why You Need to Be Careful When Trying to Repair Hail Damage to Your Car

Wild weather can strike without warning across Australia and it's not unusual to hear reports of golf ball sized hail whenever a storm strikes. You may have been unlucky to encounter one of these weather events in recent times and your car is certainly showing signs of this freak occurrence. What can you do to rectify the problem, so that you can restore the appearance of your pride and joy?

Is It Worth a Home Fix?

Firstly, you have to determine the extent of the damage. Sometimes, your car may have been parked on the periphery of the storm and didn't catch its full fury. In this case and if the dents are quite small and not particularly deep, then you may be able to use a do-it-yourself technique to fix this.

Heating and Cooling

Some enthusiasts have been successful in popping small dents out by rapidly heating and cooling the metalwork. If you live in a sunny climate and temperatures are particularly high, you may be able to park the vehicle in the midday heat, before applying dry ice to the area. This will change the surface temperature dramatically, causing the medal to distort and (hopefully) popping the dent out in each case.

Some other people believe that you can use a hairdryer on a cloudy day instead, which would need to be pointed at the area for several minutes at a time. Be careful not to touch the edge of the dryer to the paint though, as this may cause blistering.

Using a Kit

If these heating and cooling methods do not work or may seem to be too much of a risk, you may be able to fix some smaller dents by using an over-the-counter repair kit. Usually, these are better for less obtrusive dents and shouldn't be used if the number of impact points is quite extensive. If you try to remove a big dent using a repair kit you may end up doing more damage than there was in the first place instead.

Asking the Pros

For the majority of extensive problems, it's far better to trust the work of a professional at an auto body shop. They will analyse the damage and provide you with the best course of action and in many cases, you won't need to have a new paint job. In the meantime, try to find a covered parking space so that you can cut down your risk of exposure to these heavy thunderstorms in the future!