Last year, I bought a new car. Rather than trade in my old one, I decided to sell it myself. Before I put it in the market, I took the car to a local shop and got my old baby a new paint job. The new paint made all the difference with the car. While operationally it was sound, the outside was not all that great. After the fresh coat of paint, the car generated a lot of attention from prospective buyers. I even had a bidding war going on between two parties who really wanted it. If you have an older vehicle to sell, it pays to invest in a new paint job. Let me tell you more about why this strategy works. Follow my tips for selecting the color and the paint type, and you'll get a great price for the old jalopy.
Selling Your Older Car: Why a New Paint Job Matters
Hail Has A Lot Of Fury
Nora Boyd
Rain storms can be gentle, even calming. Other times, they can turn into raging beasts filled with thunder, lightning and furious winds. And then there are those storms where the patter of raindrops suddenly changes to a sharp pinging sound, and you know that Mother Nature is unleashing her fury in the shape of hailstones. While some hail may be innocuous, bigger stones can cause serious, expensive damage to your vehicles.
What You Need to Do After a Hail Storm
Once the storm has passed and it is safe to go outside, it's important to check your vehicles carefully to assess whether or not the hail has caused any damage. If the stones were large, the damage may be immediately noticeable. In May 2017, for example, hailstones the size of golf balls rained down on parts of Denver, breaking windshields and car windows. In other cases, however, hail damage can be hard to spot. The indentations caused by the stones may be small and shallow. So, at first glance, you might think your car managed to make it through the storm without a scratch.
While these indentations may be hard to spot, they could seriously affect the value of your car if you decide to sell it. A used car salesperson who is experienced in looking for hail damage will be able to easily identify the dents caused by the stones, even if you weren't able to spot them. So you'll want to locate these indentations as soon as possible after the storm so that you can make a claim with your insurance company and have them removed by an auto body and paint service.
Here are some tips that will help you find the indentations that hail can leave:
- Dry off your car. Rain drops on your vehicle will make it almost impossible for you to spot the small craters.
- Check any metal parts of your vehicle first. It can be easier to spot hail stone indentations on metal.
- Inspect the glass and plastic light covers carefully. While you are sure to notice a broken windshield, you might miss the fact that a hail stone put a small hole in your tail light cover.
- Look over your car from a sideways angle, not from above. You will have a hard time spotting the dents if you just eyeball your vehicle from above. Instead lean down so that you can inspect your car's surface on a plane. That will make it easier to note any indentation.
Fortunately, a professional auto body and truck repair service should be able to remove the dents and restore your car to its pre-storm appearance.
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