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Old 05-17-2019, 09:08 PM   #1
maxthegrear105
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Default 2019 WRX hail damage

So yesterday there was a relatively big storm and there was 1/2 inch diameter hail that pored down for around 5 minutes. I counted 16 dents that are visible and there's others that I can see but are small, so I have 2 questions.
1. Does Subaru have thin metal on their body panels because the 2 other cars I had didn't get near the damage
2. How should I deal with this issue, should I repair it myself or have it done by a body shop?
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Old 05-18-2019, 08:09 AM   #2
soloz2
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Hail damage is very finicky. Growing up in areas where we got frequent hail, I saw varying degrees of damage on cars parked next to each other, even on dealers lots, of cars that came off the same assembly line.

This is what insurance is for. Pay your deduct and have a repituble body shop fix the damage. Paintless dent repair can be pretty good.
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Old 05-18-2019, 12:33 PM   #3
n2oiroc
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Yes, fix it yourself. Take a ball peen hammer and hit from the inside out where you think the dents are.
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Old 05-18-2019, 03:53 PM   #4
jasonwrx86
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Depends on how much it's going to be.
Take it to a bodyshop or PDR place and get an estimate. If it's gonna be higher than your comprehensive deductible, I would go though insurance.
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Old 05-19-2019, 05:17 PM   #5
0wl
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I would try what n2oiroc said first. If at that point it isn't fixed up to your liking you can always take it to a shop. Plus you'll at least learn something.
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Old 05-20-2019, 09:19 PM   #6
oichan
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Yeah, Subaru metal is pretty soft in areas that are steel.

Being a trained PDR tech myself, I suggest you take it into your bodyshop who knows what they are doing. The more misc dents you add into the dent, the more difficult it will be for the PDR tech to repair. You also need to remember that metal stretches. If you stretch the metal, it will never be repairable completely even by the best tech. 99% of the time, the untrained eye do not know where to push (or pull), where to knock down.

GL.
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Old 05-22-2019, 11:34 AM   #7
vica153
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Quote:
Originally Posted by oichan View Post
Yeah, Subaru metal is pretty soft in areas that are steel.

Being a trained PDR tech myself, I suggest you take it into your bodyshop who knows what they are doing. The more misc dents you add into the dent, the more difficult it will be for the PDR tech to repair. You also need to remember that metal stretches. If you stretch the metal, it will never be repairable completely even by the best tech. 99% of the time, the untrained eye do not know where to push (or pull), where to knock down.

GL.
+1, If you have to go on a forum to ask about it, then you're going to do more harm than good hitting your car with a hammer.

I would have assumed N2oiroc was being sarcastic because thats a really bad idea. Your own shiny new car isn't the place to try to learn to do body work.
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Old 05-22-2019, 11:39 PM   #8
Jeff Kaufman
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That's a bummer about your dents from the sky. I have to say, the metal on my '19 Outback seems to be pretty thin compared to other cars I've owned. Enough so that the hood flaps around right at the base of the windshield starting at about 60 mph.
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Old 05-23-2019, 07:31 PM   #9
R15
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Light body panels are (part of) how Subaru hits its fleet fuel economy goals. Compare the weight of the hood or roof of your car to anything on the market under 100k, bet it will be lighter. I know a guy that put a cheap carbon fiber hood on his 16 WRX, it actually weighs more than the stock hood.
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Old 05-24-2019, 05:19 PM   #10
oichan
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That's true. The hood is made out of aluminum which is very difficult to PDR vs steel. Subaru went cheap by using thin steel vs aluminum to reduce weight which result in flimsy panels that are easy to dent.

One can easily dent the door panel just by pushing at it hard enough with their finger. Different story if aluminum.
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Old 06-16-2019, 10:30 PM   #11
maxthegrear105
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thanks for the input, I ended up getting it done by a guy who does dent repair on the side and he did a great job. this wouldn't have been my first rodeo with body repair but I wasn't to worried the first time because my first repair was on a Porsche 944 that I beat.
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Old 07-06-2019, 09:24 PM   #12
bgdbrz
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Quote:
Originally Posted by n2oiroc View Post
Yes, fix it yourself. Take a ball peen hammer and hit from the inside out where you think the dents are.
I've been looking to try this on a few kind of large dents on the doors of my BRZ. Rather try and fix it for free before taking it to a shop.
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Old 07-10-2019, 01:57 PM   #13
2011SubieWRX88
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I used a plunger on my previous car (e36 bmw) on the hood to remove a golf-ball sized dent and it worked - maybe worth a shot.
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Old 07-13-2019, 04:37 PM   #14
oichan
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Those were steel hoods. VA hoods are aluminum and plungers will not work.

Get it done right the first time using a PDR professional.
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