It is said that mother nature is truly a force to be reckoned with. In the blink of an eye, a natural disaster can take out our homes, businesses or even our cars. Whether it be a mudslide, earthquake, tornado or severe hail – we are truly at the mercy of mother nature when it comes time to our precious vehicles. Hail damage is one of the most common results of the wrath of mother nature, with over 4000 hailstorms being recorded in 2018. Along with the frequency comes the unbelievable damage from hail, adding up to billions, yes billions, of dollars of damage to property and crops every year.
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If you are the victim of a hail storm and your vehicle has been destroyed; you may be asking yourself, how can I sell my hail damaged car or truck? Options like Craigslist or selling it for parts are common methods of selling a car with damage. You can also sell your car to a network of car buyers that specializes in purchasing damaged vehicles.
What Is Hail?
You may think you have a good handle on what hail is, especially if you’ve been the victim of a hail storm. However, the process of how hail is created is actually quite fascinating and gives more of an indication as to why it’s so damaging when it actually does fall to earth. Essentially, hail is a solid form of precipitation that falls to the earth as a solid piece vs. droplets. This is different than freezing rain which freezes as it nears the ground, versus falling as a frozen object. So what we’re dealing with here is a frozen chunk of water that can vary in size from a few centimeters to several inches! At times, even the size of a softball is not uncommon. These ice balls are commonly referred to as hailstones.
How Is Hail Formed?
Hail is formed during severe thunderstorms. This is an important point because it also gives rise to the next part of this discussion, which answers where hail
Is most commonly found. During thunderstorms, intense cold within the storm cloud can produce frozen droplets of water. As these frozen drops of waterfall from the cloud, strong updrafts of wind carry the frozen droplets back up into the cloud. At this point, the original frozen droplet is covered in another layer of water and re-falls out of the cloud again. This cycle continues until the hail forming in the cloud is either too heavy to remain in the cloud or the updraft stops and all the hailstones drop out of the cloud at once – yikes!
Where Are Hail Storms Most Common?
Although hail storms actually happen all over the world, they are exceedingly common right here in the United States but only in a particular area. The American Midwest, also at times known as tornado alley, is one of the most common areas to find severe hail storms. The same storms they can collide and produce tornadoes are the same storms they can produce golf ball size hail they can completely destroy your car or home. Whether it be as far north as Michigan or as far south as Texas, this entire region of the country is extremely susceptible to severe hail storms. This isn’t to say they are not possible on the eastern seaboard or the West Coast but the type of hail that usually comes in these areas is much less damaging.
How Does Hail Damage Cars?
Hail damages cars through sheer force and weight. Even if it only weighs a couple of ounces, a chunk of ice flying out of the sky is going to cause some serious damage when it lands on your car down below. While the damage is rarely mechanical, hail damage vehicles-look as they’ve been through a prize fight with Mike Tyson. Body damage, fender damage, window damage and also interior damage after hail impregnates the car by the windows that have been broken. So essentially you’re dealing with blunt damage and also the possibility of water damage within your interior! You can see why A hail storm is extremely dangerous for not only yourself but also your car. Remember if you’re caught out in the middle of this and are not under safety, the hail will mercilessly pelt you just like it does your car.
How Much Is A Hail Damaged Vehicle Worth?
In order to determine how much your hail damaged vehicle is worth, you’re going to need to do a little homework. Start by contacting three separate body shops and procure your estimates from each one of those body shops. There’s a good chance there will probably be a wide variety of costs given back to you for the damage to your vehicle. It’s not always good to simply go for the cheapest either! With this in mind, you’re going to need to determine what your vehicle is worth if it was in perfect condition or near perfect condition.
Utilize a resource like KBB to determine what the selling price of your vehicle would be. This selling price is only if the vehicle is in good condition, which most certainly will not be a car that has been severely damaged by hail. Once you know the value of your vehicle subtract the value of the repairs and you will get the idea how much your car is actually worth at this time.
Should I Use Insurance For My Hail Damaged Vehicle?
The first thing you’re going to want to ask yourself is if you want to go through your vehicle's insurance in order to be reimbursed for your damaged car. This question really depends on how much your car is actually worth in relation to how much it will cost to get your car repaired after the hail damage. For example: If your vehicle sustained $2000 worth of damage but you have $1000 deductible and your car is only worth $2500, it may not be worth it to process the claim with your insurance company. On the flip side, if your vehicle is worth $10,000, you have $1000 deductible and it will cost $2000 to fix – then you should absolutely go through your insurance company and complete the repair.
You also have the option of taking a cash settlement from your insurance company and continuing to drive a vehicle that has cosmetic damage. You will often see people in hail storm-prone areas of the United States utilizing this option because they are dealing with the inevitability of it happening again. There are definitely pros and cons to taking a cash settlement, especially when you may be able to get more for your vehicle and not process the insurance claims that may raise your rates and also be extremely delayed.
How Do I Sell My Hail Damaged Car or Truck?
If you decide to forgo working with your insurance company and decide to sell your hail damaged vehicle on your own, you face a bevy of options that generally have a strict set of pros and cons. In almost all of the scenarios, the person or company who will be buying your hail damaged vehicle will either be looking to sell it for parts or fix it and resell it for a profit. With this in mind, you’re going to need to be mindful of avoiding predatory schemes that can cost you money in the long run and also your sanity in the short term.
Generally speaking, you can either sell your vehicle through craigslist, strip it down to part it out, sell to a junkyard or sell it to a network of car buyers that specializes in purchasing damaged vehicles. All of these can accomplish the task of getting cash for a vehicle that has been damaged by hail but the methods and difficulty of doing so vary greatly between each type of selling transaction.
Selling Your Hail Damaged Car On Craigslist
When most people think about selling a used car of any type as a private party, they are thinking of utilizing the free, community-based services of craigslist. While this can be a very useful service for people who are looking to buy and sell used vehicles, it is also littered with issues and scammers who are looking to take advantage of people by making a quick buck.
If you’re going to list your car as having hail damage, you must understand that people use that hail damage as a method of drastically knocking you down in price, which you probably expected. If you’ve done your homework, then you already know what it costs to get the damage repaired. If you don’t do your homework, then the scammers on craigslist will manipulate you into believing that your car actually has way more damage than it does and they will pick up your car for a low price. Seller beware!
Parting Out Your Hail Damaged Car or Truck
This is something that is very commonly done in parts of the country where hail storms are exceedingly common. There are groups of individuals who will purchase hail damaged vehicles and then strip the body of the car with the damage and sell the parts and componentry underneath for money. If you feel that this is something you want to undertake on your own and have never done it, I would ask you to consider just how mechanically inclined you are. Not only will you have to deal with ripping apart a car, you will also have to deal with storing all the parts, listing all the parts separately on various websites and then collecting your money. While this can prove quite lucrative, it’s more of a DIY junkyard and requires substantial time and energy. Plus, it can take quite some time to recoup your money.
How About Junkyards or Auctions?
A junkyard is going to operate under the principle of ripping your car apart for parts and metal. The whole business model of a junkyard is to rip apart your car, just like parting out your car, and then utilize their yard and website to sell the used parts. These are typically full-scale and professional operations that employ mechanics and technicians that are extremely proficient at ripping up our cars. You also need to consider that a junkyard is always going to give you a bait and switch and the process can be seen is not quite forthright.
A car auction, whether it be a private or public auction, will often be attended by wholesale vehicle purchasers. These business owners attend the auction and try to get the vehicles for a low price, whether they are hail damaged or not, with the intention of either fixing them up and selling them whole or ripping them down into parts and selling it all separately. For the average consumer, selling your hail damaged car at auction is not going to be the best option for you.
Why Not Sell Us Your Hail Damaged Car?
Our service is truly one that is the best of a few worlds. We offer the convenience of being able to go online, type in a few details about your car and get an upfront price. Not only do we offer this amazing convenience to you but we also offer you an incredibly fair price for your car as well. Cash cars buyer is a network of car buyers who specializes in purchasing vehicles that have hail damage! Our supply chain allows us the ability to maximize the selling price of your vehicle, so we can put more money in your pocket.
The process is actually quite simple. First, utilize our online tool to type in details about your vehicle. Next, we gave you an initial purchase price for your vehicle based on the details. If you except this price, we will send out a skilled appraiser to ensure that the details you type in match your car. Once you have completed this, we pay you on the spot for your car! That’s right cold hard cash in your pocket. If needed, we even tow your car away at no cost to you. Our service pays you a fair price for your car while also giving you the gift of time. Rather than mess around with craigslist or spend months parting out your car, take the cash and go buy something that isn’t full of holes!