Protecting My Baby

[scoobybri]

We just moved out of our old house that we sold into rental townhome while our new house is being built. Old house had a 2 car garage that was actually used for cars. The townhouse only has a one car garage. I got an alert that a hail storm was on the way so I had to make a decision: Which car would have to bear the brunt of the storm...the M3 or MY? Both are the same age so it came down to which one has the most glass and metal surface to be damaged. So the MY got the garage while the M3 shivered outside waiting for the storm. Then I got an idea: We had just moved and had a few dozen moving blankets in the garage. The ones that professional moving companies use that are thick to prevent damage to furniture. (Not those crappy U-Haul ones.) So my wife and I went into "Save the car" mode. As we were putting the blankets on (most of the car was double covered) the wind picked up and we were holding them on for dear life. Dime to quarter inch hail started pouring down, pelting us relentlessly...and painfully. We were holding on for dear life. Within a few minutes, I realized that the blankets were wet and heavy enough to lay on the car on their own without us holding them in place. We took off for shelter.

The blankets held in place for the duration of the storm. On initial inspection, I don't see any glaring hail dings. I've gone through several hail damage events in the past and know that I won't be able to tell for sure until I give the car a good wash and can see it in proper lighting but I think we avoided most if not all of the damage. Fingers crossed!

(Step ladder and straps/bungies were helping us hold the front blankets on.)

 

[HeatproofGenie]

Hail sucks. Good job protecting your car. Much better to just not have to deal with damage/insurance all around.

 

[PACEMD]

That was a real Hail Marry but sounds like it worked. Fortunately the hail we get in NC/VA tends to be that spare change size. Here in Montana, it's usually golf ball to baseball-sized, causes a hail of a lot of damage........

 

[Soul Surfer]

HOLEE COW! My best advise would be to move to a state with less hail storms (kidding). Great idea with the moving blankets though. What about building a canopy?

 

[scoobybri]

Dried the car off and, amazingly, no hail damage! Lesson learned. Heavy wet moving blankets can protect your car against dime to quarter sized hail. Wish I could post a video here. The thumping that the car took is much more dramatic in motion.

 

[DayTrippin]

I dodged a major hail storm a few weeks ago. I took my floor mats and trunk protector out and used them to protect the metal parts of the car. Worked in a pinch and I always have them with me.

 

[PACEMD]

I had forgotten, when I first brought my M3P home in 2019 I took my wife for a drive about. We were way out in the wilds of Montana when my wife noticed a hail storm about 1/4 mile ahead of us. We both freaked out a bit thinking our new car would look like it had been in a driveby. But I turned around and experienced my first 0-60 acceleration test. Straight flat road with clear land. We outran the storm. Now if FSD-beta could just do that at will........