Here's the story:

Got $3800 from Statefarm from their estimate for the "traditional" fix - sanding, hammering, painting, or replacing nearly every body panel on my car. Was s'posed to take over two weeks and my ROOF would have to be replaced!

Got a quote from a "Painteless Dent Repair" place (not the dry-ice method - they push the dents out from the inside) for $1425. Took two days. I picked it up today, there was one tiny dent that couldn't be repaired b/c of location (upper edge of hood - barely noticeable). They dropped the price $50. The car looks as good as it did b/f the hail.

I can't say good as new, b/c I went over every inch of the car today and noticed a few little paint chips and some scratches on the top of the rear bumper. Totally, from resting things on it. If there was ever a place that needed the 3M clear stuff - damn!

So, I am more than happy with the repair. I put the extra $2400 on the priciple of the car. Can you believe the self-control!?! And hopefully a nice wax job will take care of some of the scratches - ya think?

 

Get the Turtle Wax color cure with Chip Stick. It'll fill in all of the chips and minor scratches. I'm hooked!

 

they just slowly work them out with those flat stick things..

 

I don't know if you've posted abou it b/f, but I thought someone said the color selection was limited - or was that something else?

 

Good job! You did the right thing! you car's resale value won't be hurt as much, a few dings here and there for a used car is OK. You made a very sound decision by putting remainder $ towards the principle. I wish I could say pay-off before doing any mods...

 

Thanks. The traditional method would've required me to disclose that the car had more than $3000 in body work done on it to any potential buyers. And some a$$hole dealer offered me $12,000 for my car $13,000 if I fixed the hail myself. Scuzbag, I'll never go back there. I was even bummed when a Nissan dealer said around $17,000. That was b/f haggling though. Anyway, I think I chose the best deal - although I just read i the paper that '02 SEs are going for $21,888.

hmmmm...

 

Sounds encouraging......what size were the largest dents your car had? all mine were dime size.......had estimated 130+ dime size dents. pick my car up in the am from the dent wiz......nervously waiting to see it.

 

Congratulation on the fix. You've made the smart choice for not trading in your Maxima just because of the hail damage.

 

Dimes, nickels, maybe even a quarter or two. I think as long as there is no crease or it's not on a spot of folded metal (too thick), it's no prob.

Good luck.

 

True, I just get the bug every now and then.

 

that stuff has some of the worst reviews of any car product I have ever seen. I normally use a good rubbing compound followed by a lot of wax on my scratches.