Hail damage appraisal: $6k - roof tear-off?

RaftingDave · Jun 29, 2018

So after last week's Wrath-of-Zeus hailstorm, my appraiser came out and looked over my 2017 Bighorn. (6600 miles).

New hood, easy call.

The roof rails ALONE have >120 dime sized pits, the doors have >80, the box has >50. The roof has over 100. She thinks they can PDR those. She didn't bother counting the hood; that'll get replaced.

Total estimate $6k. $500 deductible. Plenty of others have gotten hit worse, so apart from the lengthy wait and a couple of weeks without the truck, I can't complain.

They want to tear off and replace my roof. Really???

Anyone ever have their roof cut off and replaced?

evanxrs · Jun 29, 2018

Wow that is wild. Where you located?

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MarshRam · Jun 29, 2018

Damn, It better look just like it did when they are done. Maybe you could brave it with a new mod and chop off a few inches or add a couple. jk, just messing with you. All jokes aside, hope it all goes smoothly, totally sucks. Nobody wants to replace their roof and hood when the one they had was perfectly new.

huntergreen · Jun 29, 2018

I have seen this. An old friend had this done in Texas. Couldn't tell it wasn't the roof from the factory.

Jwithing · Jun 30, 2018

Convertible truck... Do it

clay282 · Jun 30, 2018

I figured there was some serious hail damage here in the south since so many are showing up on Copart but WOW! 6 grand and they replace the roof... how long does that even take???? I hope they let you take pics. That would be something to see.

magician · Jun 30, 2018

Most vehicles these days are put together with bonded seems and your roof is no different. Taking everything apart on the inside an drew then breaking the bonding and removal of the old roof. Windshield and back window have to come out as well as the headliner. The paint blend lines should be as close to seems or in the door wells when done. Check all of your trim as well as leaks around all the glass before leaving the repair shop. Make the shop keep the truck inside once the roof is off. Most won't start until they have all the parts anyway but it doesn't hurt to tell them. Keeps you in your truck and not in a rental longer..

Good luck

CLOUDL1GHT · Jun 30, 2018

This happened to my dad's aluminum f150 about a year ago. The roof skin had to be replaced like yours and I **** you not... it's just glued on.

Just like @magician said

mtnrider · Jun 30, 2018

That sucks. There are a lot of things I Don't miss about Colorado, and hail is one of them.

RaftingDave · Jun 30, 2018

magician said:
Keeps you in your truck and not in a rental longer..

Good luck

No rental. I have my '94 Grand Cherokee as a spare.

sdyk · Jun 30, 2018

We got hit by the same hail storm. I got an estimate for the same thing. $5.8K with the roof and hood replaced plus a number of PDR dents

CLOUDL1GHT said:
This happened to my dad's aluminum f150 about a year ago. The roof skin had to be replaced like yours and I **** you not... it's just glued on.

Just like @magician said

I'm glad you guys chimed in. I'm actually pissed at the PDR place I went to. They told me that it would have to be cut off so I should just have them (the PDR company) do the best they could so the structural integrity of the truck is maintained (by not cutting the roof panel). Luckily I haven't given the truck to them yet and I will be cancelling that appointment.

RaftingDave · Jun 30, 2018

sdyk said:
We got hit by the same hail storm. I got an estimate for the same thing. $5.8K with the roof and hood replaced plus a number of PDR dents

I'm glad you guys chimed in. I'm actually pissed at the PDR place I went to. They told me that it would have to be cut off so I should just have them (the PDR company) do the best they could so the structural integrity of the truck is maintained (by not cutting the roof panel). Luckily I haven't given the truck to them yet and I will be cancelling that appointment.

You're in my neighborhood, bud. Where did you go? We're planning on Gerber (on Pearl, in Boulder). They did a good job for us 5 years ago on our Jeep, but they can't even look at it until end of July.

sdyk · Jun 30, 2018

RaftingDave said:
You're in my neighborhood, bud. Where did you go? We're planning on Gerber (on Pearl, in Boulder). They did a good job for us 5 years ago on our Jeep, but they can't even look at it until end of July.

I'm not sure now... I was looking at Accurate Autobody down here in Aurora. They seem to have good reviews. I may get an estimate from them and also Caliber Collision. I may take a look at the Gerber near me. I don't mind waiting a while to get it replaced as long as I know it will be done properly.

sdyk · Jul 3, 2018

So I have had two shops tell me that the roof is welded on and it would need to be cut off and a replacement welded back on. I also had a friend who used to be a Dodge mechanic tell me same..

magician said:
Most vehicles these days are put together with bonded seems and your roof is no different. Taking everything apart on the inside an drew then breaking the bonding and removal of the old roof. Windshield and back window have to come out as well as the headliner. The paint blend lines should be as close to seems or in the door wells when done. Check all of your trim as well as leaks around all the glass before leaving the repair shop. Make the shop keep the truck inside once the roof is off. Most won't start until they have all the parts anyway but it doesn't hurt to tell them. Keeps you in your truck and not in a rental longer..

Good luck

magician are you positive about the Rams having bonded roof panels and not welded? Or were you just making a general statement about vehicles today? I am totally hoping you are right (for the sake of my roof) but like I said I had two shops and a mechanic tell me otherwise...

Also anyone who has had their roof replaced could you confirm?

RaftingDave · Jul 3, 2018

My insurance agent (and friend for more than 30 years) is down on Gerber, so we may be looking elsewhere for the repairs.

The estimate is good for a year...i was initially hoping to get this over with quickly, but now thinking I'll wait until fall.

Like you, watching comments on the roof tear off.

magician · Jul 5, 2018

sdyk said:
So I have had two shops tell me that the roof is welded on and it would need to be cut off and a replacement welded back on. I also had a friend who used to be a Dodge mechanic tell me same..

magician are you positive about the Rams having bonded roof panels and not welded? Or were you just making a general statement about vehicles today? I am totally hoping you are right (for the sake of my roof) but like I said I had two shops and a mechanic tell me otherwise...

Also anyone who has had their roof replaced could you confirm?

It was a general statement and to go a step,further speaking in generalities, it will be seem sealed and spot welded in place. If the shops your using have done this before you won’t know it when it comes out. A bunch of shops will try PDR bc the skilled ones can do magic.

RaftingDave · Jul 11, 2018

sdyk said:
I'm not sure now... I was looking at Accurate Autobody down here in Aurora. They seem to have good reviews. I may get an estimate from them and also Caliber Collision. I may take a look at the Gerber near me. I don't mind waiting a while to get it replaced as long as I know it will be done properly.

I just got back from the Caliber in Boulder - yes, no question, the roof has to come off. They can get me in first week of October, and it'll take 25 days. (Not a misprint.)

I'll visit Gerber in a couple of weeks, but Caliber has me on their schedule as of now.

You getting any better news?

sdyk · Jul 11, 2018

RaftingDave said:
I just got back from the Caliber in Boulder - yes, no question, the roof has to come off. They can get me in first week of October, and it'll take 25 days. (Not a misprint.)

I'll visit Gerber in a couple of weeks, but Caliber has me on their schedule as of now.

You getting any better news?

The time frames these companies give is crazy. No way it takes that long..

So I took it to Service King a week ago they told me something similar. They said they could get me in September 4th and it would take 4-6 weeks. Ridiculous.

So.. I took it to a PDR company (Colorado PDR) and he said he could probably save the roof and get it done for a couple hundred less than what the insurance quoted me for the roof replacement. They are going to do all of the dents except for the hood (which I will still have replaced) for $3.1k. I am taking it in on Monday and it will take 2 days. I will let you know how the experience goes but I would suggest you talk to a reputable PDR company and ask them for an estimate to fix the roof because you don't want it cut off. Don't hand them the insurance estimate, just ask them for their own estimate of what it would cost to make the repairs.

On a side note: I found out that those collision repair places just contract out the PDR anyway and isn't usually done in house.

RaftingDave · Jul 11, 2018

sdyk said:
The time frames these companies give is crazy. No way it takes that long..

I would suggest you talk to a reputable PDR company and ask them for an estimate to fix the roof because you don't want it cut off. Don't hand them the insurance estimate, just ask them for their own estimate of what it would cost to make the repairs.

On a side note: I found out that those collision repair places just contract out the PDR anyway and isn't usually done in house.

Yeah, I guess I'll do that. Neither my wife nor I have unlimited spare time to chase this stuff down, but I'm not happy where I'm at right now.

Let me know how your PDR experience goes (before/after pics?), and I'll buzz a couple around here.

sdyk · Jul 17, 2018

RaftingDave said:
Yeah, I guess I'll do that. Neither my wife nor I have unlimited spare time to chase this stuff down, but I'm not happy where I'm at right now.

Let me know how your PDR experience goes (before/after pics?), and I'll buzz a couple around here.

I just got back from Colorado PDR and they did a fantastic job. I looked closely and wasn't able to find any dimples, dents or waves. Even the large dents seem repaired beyond notice. I took it in yesterday at 8 am and they were done at 4 pm. I would recommend checking it out if you have any trouble finding a quality place.

A couple before and after photos

Hail damage appraisal: $6k - roof tear-off?

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