Hail + Tesla = sad sad day :-(

[Tubbers]

Got caught in the sydney hailstorm yesterday. Towels didn't save the tesla from a beating. Golf ball sized hail has left golf ball sized dents.... so sad

 

[Bullet1]

Worst Nightmare......dread the thought, hope all goes well with your repairs/insurer.

Aldi of all places had car hail covers with thick padding on sale several weeks back. I went to check them out but sold out in 30 mins. Didn't know such a thing existed but worth considering keep such a thing in the boot.

 

[RichardMcN]

Very sad. @omniwolf suffered damage too.

 

[DJ 240V]

Sorry about that

Is this problem worse because of Aluminum? Do other cars fare better ?

 

[jerry33]

Sorry about that

Is this problem worse because of Aluminum? Do other cars fare better ?

No. Other cars fare just as bad. Maybe worse because aluminum is stiffer.

 

[WhiteStar]

Worst Nightmare......dread the thought, hope all goes well with your repairs/insurer.

Aldi of all places had car hail covers with thick padding on sale several weeks back. I went to check them out but sold out in 30 mins. Didn't know such a thing existed but worth considering keep such a thing in the boot.

Yes that is really sad. So sorry. Take heart, it'll be back to how it was, no doubt very soon.

Since I often travel to very stormy regions, I bought a hail cover. After hail warnings yesterday I used it for the first time. Despite being under the carport, it got hit by large hail stones. Not sure if the right size is available at Supercheap Auto, I cannot see X-Large listed on their website. Definitely worth ~$250.

Hail Protection Car Covers

 

[Tozla]

Sad to hear. Mother nature can be unforgiving. 20 years ago my beloved '94 Integra suffered a similar fate.

 

[lunitiks]

Holy crap look at those ice balls in the first pictures! I can't imagine how it must be like living with that kind of hail happening. Couldn't you be killed or seriously injuried?

 

[bradjc]

Ahh! That's sucks. Local panel beaters just filled their books for the next few months...

 

[PJF000]

Holy crap look at those ice balls in the first pictures! I can't imagine how it must be like living with that kind of hail happening. Couldn't you be killed or seriously injuried?

Naw, only when they get to basketball size.

 

[Bet TSLA]

Holy crap look at those ice balls in the first pictures! I can't imagine how it must be like living with that kind of hail happening. Couldn't you be killed or seriously injuried?

Mystery of Skeleton Lake solved: Scientists reveal bones found around edges of Indian lake belonged to hundreds of 9th century tribesmen who died in freak hail storm | Daily Mail Online

 

[SR22DRIVER]

View attachment 215375 Got caught in the sydney hailstorm yesterday. Towels didn't save the tesla from a beating. Golf ball sized hail has left golf ball sized dents.... so sad


View attachment 215372View attachment 215373

How did the glass fare with the hail. It is a bit hard to tell looking at the photo. So sad to see the damage.

 

[Tozla]

Even small hail stones can cause decent damage to paint.

I've seen big hail stones break glass.

 

[Mark E]

In 1999 we had a storm here in Sydney that broke roof tiles and smashed windows. Hundreds of houses had no roof. A friend of mine was in her car when the storm hit, it smashed ALL of the windows while she was in the car.

1999 Sydney hailstorm - Wikipedia

 

[Dborn]

My BMW Z3 suffered damage in the 1999 hail storm, as did my boat. The canvas covers looked like a machine gun had been used on them.
Sad to see the Tesla above. I was at the service centre at the time the severe weather warning came in. I warned the crew there to bring the cars in which they did, and I drove to the nearby homemaker centre to park under cover.
Paintless dent removal may be the go with your car, especially if the fenders are also damaged, otherwise replacing all the affected panels is going to be prohibitive. The bonnet may be worth replacing.

 

[Tubbers]

To answer your questions - the aluminum seemed to fair better than steel. They weren't side by side, and I had towels on tesla, but my Toyota it totally trashed (dozens of craters dents)

The glass took the full brunt, including the pano sunroom - held it off. Saw others in area with windows smashed (esp rear), so it is tough stuff.

I got hit on the hand trying to get towels on car, and it hurt a lot (worse than a paintball). I suspect if one hit my head it would leave a nasty bump.

The bonnet is most impacted, but the doors have a few small ones, and the roof rails (between door and glass roof) have one or 2. Not sure how they fix those.

Seems some insurers texted warnings, would have saved them a fortune. Not Comminsure ;-(

The annoying part is not having any hail damage in 25 years, and the worst one only 4 months into tesla ownership ;-(

 

[Dborn]

There are paintless tools that use a suction or vacuum system, which I suspect is the easiest way to get to things such as the roof rails.

 

[Mark E]

Anecdotal experience relayed to me from my old Porsche 928 days from other owners and my long term mechanic was that the aluminium panels (the 928 bonnet, doors and guards) seem to stand up better than steel in hail storms. The theory is that it bounces back rather than just deforming.

I have no idea if that's true or not but the only hail type dent in my 928 was a single one on a steel section of roof. I think that it was caused by a falling branch but can't be sure as I only found it when washing the car one weekend.

That being said, if the storm was bad enough to smash glass then it's likely to dent panels.

 

[Tozla]

I got hit on the hand trying to get towels on car, and it hurt a lot (worse than a paintball). I suspect if one hit my head it would leave a nasty bump.

I've been hit by a paintball at close range on the hip and bum. It did not tickle.

 

[Shock-On-T]

I got damage in Turramurra on the pacific highway. Managed to get undercover but took a few dents in the bonnet.
Windscreen of a Subaru near me was actually smashed by the hail. Never seen anything like it.