Hail damaged cars; would you purchase?

[SkidFace]

Obvious thread title question.
considering looking at some hail damaged cars as they are always cheaper, will be used for work. Couldn't give a fuck about how a work car looks, dents don't bother me. Apart from cosmetics is there any other reason I should avoid a hail damaged vehicle?
I've been talking to people about it, some seem to think it's a bad idea. I personally don't see a downside.
Anyone here done this? Would I be better off getting someone to inspect cars in Melbourne as this is where most of them seem to be?

[kedderz]

can you get insurance for one and wouldnt it be a head fuck if you ever had to claim? "nah mate that was already there from the hail"?

[mad_cow]

Just don't buy one on the WOVR.

[Captiva Fan]

It'll depreciate harder than a non-damaged car, and insurance may be a little harder to get - I guess it also depends on the extent of the damage, can't hail crack the paint but you can't tell by looking at it 'cos it's been compressed, and then water gets under the paint --> rust?

Depends on how much cheaper IMHO.

[Roy928tt]

As an appliance, no fucks given, absolutely, bring it on.

[Aaron]

It depends. A lot of people have done very well picking up gaol-damaged (economic write-off, aka repairable) cars in Canberra since January.

However my experience of owning one of the cars that was written off was “thank fuck I don’t have to deal with the ongoing problems”.

Obviously depends on the car but things to consider:
- Some/all glass will have been replaced, usually with the cheapest shit glass and any calibrations of onboard equipment not done so your collision warnings or lane assist features may be shit.
- Taillight replacements were pretty common, again expect leaks
- Mine leaked water into the boot/hatch area for the entire time it sat waiting for the insurance company to pay me out and collect it. Yet all glass was intact except for cracked windscreen.
- Mine also developed a bunch of airbag error codes within a couple of days of the storm. Remember that leak I just mentioned. Curtain airbags and water aren’t a good mix.

In Canberra they had 30000+ cars to process through auctions, they sat in paddocks for months in many cases with windows broken or open.

So yeah jump on a bargain - but remember the car may have been a mechanical shit bucket before the storm and now you are getting those problems plus anything else. (Heard/seen a few of those stories play out too)

[Do the safety dance.]

Generally you can only get third party insurance and not full comprehensive, if that's a problem for you.

[irsa76]

Massive gamble, I got lucky with my 121 metro, not on the WOVR hence why I grabbed it. Ended up winning with the minimum $200 bid, and had to cough up another $136 in auction fees which is pretty funny. Apart from the dents the only other hail damage is some of the external plastic trims, rear washer nozzle and one of the front indicators. Needed new front tyres and an engine mount for rego, it has 250k on the clock. Excluding rego and third party fire and theft insurance, didn't bother to see if I could get conditional comprehensive on it, I've spent under $1000 all up including the set of 5 factory 15" alloys I scored off work.
Only real issues it's had is a water leak caused by a dodgy rear quarter window replacement, due to rock into window a couple of years ago apparently, and one fo the central locking solenoids is playing up.
On the other hand, have heard a number of people who ended up paying slightly less than normal market value due to red mist bidding only to sink heaps more into the car to fix it. I know a few people who did all that then found they couldn't register it in NSW, repairable writeoffs.

[big_pete]

Depends on the age of the car for me, if it's older and has already taken the big depreciation hit then he'll yeah who gives a fuck. Anything newer and I wouldnt

[GreatWallGT500]

I have a ba falcon wagon that's hail damaged. Can't get full comp which is a bit shit but I get to save on Insurance and remind myself to keep my eyes open a bit more.

As long as they are ok mechanically and you plan on driving them Into the ground a hail damaged car is for you.

Even something with a rough body is just as good btw

Sent from my SM-G610Y using Tapatalk

[200MPH]

Buy a hail damaged car an you own it for life. Not a problem if cheap and you don't mind keeping it a fair few years. Otherwise no.

I got a economic write off (panel damage), did a cheap fix and have a daily beater. Untidy to look at if you get close, but drives fine. It owes my under 3k and so I don't care too much about not having insurance or the resale when I sell it.

[Falc&Send]

I would only buy one if I picked it up mega cheap like Irsa76. Most of the ones I've seen for sale are barely any cheaper than retail price of a non hail damaged one. Saying that there seems to be a market for them with a lot of people seemingly happy to ger, a $2K discount on a car with $6K damage 🤔

[SkidFace]

Cheers guys, good responses.
the initial plan had been to find a dual cab ute or a van, not spend more than about 5k then chuck on another 2-4k to get it roadworthy. I wouldn't even touch a car unless it were at least 50% cheaper than a non hail damaged one, for the obvious reasons listed above.
I had not even considered that the cars available might have all been sitting in a holding yard getting rained on with smashed windows so this I will take into account should I go down this road.

[Aaron]

Mine sat in my driveway while the insurance company fucked about. For like 7 months. I know owners of a few modified things also ripped out mods and pretty much gave no fucks for reassembly, with a. Dual-cab you may find similar things.

[Sloth]

i had a 3b passat wagon that had repaired hail damage by a prev owner. apart from one mark on the bonnet you couldnt tell. never had an issue with it. wasnt wovr either