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this post was submitted on 12 Nov 2023
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Frugal
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I've bought hail vehicles exclusively for about 15 years. The savings aren't what they used to be in the current used car market, but you can still save a solid 20% on the price of the car.
I've been able to own lower mile/better quality/higher trim cars that I otherwise wouldn't have been able to afford by doing this.
What's a hail vehicle?
A hail damaged car that was totaled out by the previous owner's insurance, making it technically a salvage title vehicle.
Late model vehicles tend to be readily totaled out since body work is so expensive. Insurance companies don't want to dump >30% value of the car into repairing cosmetic damage, put it back on the road, and then risk having to throw more money at the same vehicle again if another incident happens. They'd rather cut their losses, replace the car totally for their client, and then get what they can out of the damaged car at auction.
In mid-summer, after thunderstorm season, you can even get totaled dealership cars with like 70 miles on them. Mechanically pristine, but cosmetically banged to hell.
Back in the day, you could get them at nearly half their sticker price. Nowadays, it's not that cheap, but they're still a great deal and I swear by them.
A vehicles with damage Fram hail, usually supweficial dents in the topside.
Hail is not cheap to fix. We got relatively minor hail damage on one of our cars this year, the bill was over $8000. That was all just dents - no glass, no trim, no lights, no mirrors. I bet hail cars with no other problems get totalled all the time.
It's often a scam though. When the insurance pays, the solution is always very expensive. if you have to pay out of your own pocket, many mechanics will be able to find cheaper (but not always as good) alternatives.
I witnessed a dent repair that would cost 20 times more at through the insurance than if the local mechanic had his dent expert come in and fix it.