# Is minor hail damage to car just a cosmetic problem? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 6, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-minor-hail-damage-to-car-just-a-cosmetic-problem/577407 "2011-04-06T16:12:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cagey\_Drifter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@Cagey\_Drifter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cagey_Drifter)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-minor-hail-damage-to-car-just-a-cosmetic-problem/577407/1 "2011-04-06T16:12:55Z")
Or will it cause other problems down the road (like rust)? I got some hail damage the other day, but I’m reluctant to fix anything that’s simply cosmetic. I don’t see any paint damage, by the way. Any experts want to chime in? ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-minor-hail-damage-to-car-just-a-cosmetic-problem/577407/2 "2011-04-06T17:08:56Z")
Isn’t body rust reallly just a cosmetic issue? I’ve seen 40 year old beaters with rusted out fenders and body panels perfectly able to truck on down the road. ---
**Author:** ![Al\_Bundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@Al\_Bundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al_Bundy)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-minor-hail-damage-to-car-just-a-cosmetic-problem/577407/3 "2011-04-06T17:54:04Z")
Car dealers down south call the dimple darlings. A passing storm can destroy the horizontal surfaces on an entire outside car lot. It’s really not financially practical to remove the tiny dents. In your case there’s really nothing special to be done except perhaps waxing the surface regularly. It should not cause rusting problems. I’m assuming that you cannot see cracks where the paint is broken. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-minor-hail-damage-to-car-just-a-cosmetic-problem/577407/4 "2011-04-06T18:00:07Z")
My dad’s pickup was caught in a big hailstorm. The sort where afterwords the insurance companies bring in extra people and setup tents to processes the huge number of insurance claims from the same event. The pickup had pretty sizable dents all over the top and hood. He got a check from the insurance company for the loss of resale value and did not have the truck repaired. There were no subsequent problems with rusting or anything else. So as Al says unless the paint is damaged it is just cosmetic. ---
**Author:** ![Hairy\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecc23a/32.png) [@Hairy\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hairy_Bob)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-minor-hail-damage-to-car-just-a-cosmetic-problem/577407/5 "2011-04-06T18:01:46Z")
The rule of thumb we used at the garage I used to work at was that if the paint wasn’t broken, then it was fine, and was unlikely to rust as a result of the dent. This applies to all dents, car park dings are much more common in the UK than are hailstorms. We get hail, yes, but I’ve never seen it bad enough to dent a car. ---
**Author:** ![Disgscen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f05b48/32.png) [@Disgscen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disgscen)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-minor-hail-damage-to-car-just-a-cosmetic-problem/577407/6 "2011-04-06T20:15:45Z")
My father hasn’t bought a car without hail damage in decades. We lived in a pretty stormy area, and if he wanted a car, he’d do his research then wait for a big hail storm. Then he’d check out the local dealers to see what was available, and make a low-ball final offer. They’d act insulted, and say they’d never call him, and they would, week after week, coming down a little at a time. He never once raised his offer–just waited. Saved thousands each time.