Hail damage in Chicago

[shredderc]

We had golf ball-sized hail a few days ago in the Chicago suburbs, and my car was pummeled for at least a couple of minutes. Got some dings on the hood and driver's side door. More concerning is the crack in the front windshield. Haven't noticed anything on the glass roof, though. I filed a claim with State Farm yesterday, Good Friday. Does anyone know if the whole roof and windshield would have to be replaced, or are they separate pieces?

 

[MorganB]

The glass windshield goes to the B pillar and is a separate piece from the rear roof glass. Sorry about the damage :/

 

[Steveinarizona]

I remember a few years ago there was A huge hail storm in the Houston area and many cars were totaled. Good luck.

 

[shredderc]

I remember a few years ago there was A huge hail storm in the Houston area and many cars were totaled. Good luck.

Totaled, wow. I could see if they were sitting in a dealer lot. I would not want to buy something like that. My car seems to drive ok. My real concern is the cracked windshield. I may seek paintless debt repair for the dings. For the glass, does anyone recommend Safelite, or a regular body shop?

 

[Adnillien]

For the glass, does anyone recommend Safelite, or a regular body shop?

Lucid service is the only place that can replace the windshield and re-calibrate the ADAS sensors.

 

[shredderc]

Oh, wow.

 

[shredderc]

A local PDR tech said the hood's double layer and aluminum composition makes pulling those dents very difficult (Teslas have the same problem). Replacement may be the only option.

 

[Steveinarizona]

A local PDR tech said the hood's double layer and aluminum composition makes pulling those dents very difficult (Teslas have the same problem). Replacement may be the only option.

It is very hard to rework Aluminum. Some ahole hit both of my passenger side doors on my BMW 530e and left no note. Of course, the insurance company instructed the body shop to try to repair it and as they knew, it didn't work right. So they had to replace the door skins on both passenger side doors.

Aluminum is great for reducing the weight of the car; not so great for reworking.

 

[elusive7]

That is REALLY unlucky. I'm also in the Chicago burbs (Naperville) and when I looked outside and saw the golf ball sided hails coming down, I immediately checked to see if I left my Touring outside (luckily it was in the garage). Gold Coast Auto Body is a Lucid-Certified Repair Shop but specifically with State-Farm, they'll likely end up not wanting to pay their full amount (they charge higher for labor, etc than State Farm's In-Network does so that discussion can be a bit of a pain in the ass). Sorry about your loss

 

[shredderc]

Update: PDR removed several dents, but the ones on the hood and one on the rear side panel are inaccessible. It was recommended to take the car to a body shop. Anyone know of shops in the Chicago area that work with Lucid and can get parts? Lucid named Gold Coast Auto Body and O'hare Auto Body.

 

[oldnick25]

Update: PDR removed several dents, but the ones on the hood and one on the rear side panel are inaccessible. It was recommended to take the car to a body shop. Anyone know of shops in the Chicago area that work with Lucid and can get parts? Lucid named Gold Coast Auto Body and O'hare Auto Body.

I currently have my car at Gold Coast Auto Body. Very professional, and communication is good.

 

[shredderc]

Thanks. I had a car there about 20 years ago, haha. I'm sure a lot changed. Did you get a loaner from Lucid, or your own insurance company?

 

[elusive7]

Gold Coast Auto Body is good and Lucid certified -- they might quote a bit on the higher end though but it's expected as Lucid certified facilities typically have higher cost.

 

[saabfan]

Update: PDR removed several dents, but the ones on the hood and one on the rear side panel are inaccessible. It was recommended to take the car to a body shop. Anyone know of shops in the Chicago area that work with Lucid and can get parts? Lucid named Gold Coast Auto Body and O'hare Auto Body.

What was your outcome? They replaced the hood? Sadly my Lucid Air GT was damaged tonight in a storm. Dime-sized dents on hood. Couldn’t see any on the trunk upper panel but I’m sure there have to be some. The black window trim had a dent as well.

I submitted a claim to USAA.

 

[shredderc]

What was your outcome? They replaced the hood? Sadly my Lucid Air GT was damaged tonight in a storm. Dime-sized dents on hood. Couldn’t see any on the trunk upper panel but I’m sure there have to be some. The black window trim had a dent as well.

I submitted a claim to USAA.

Yes, hood had to be replaced. That's the tldr. To elaborate, I took the car to the body shop when they said they had the necessary parts. I learned later the plan was to have "their pdr guy" assess before ordering a hood. I wish I had insisted this assessment take place before I left the car. "Shockingly," the pdr didn't work, and they had to order a new hood, which took a while, as you can imagine. Another rate-limiting step was the calibration of sensors by Lucid. They have to tow the car to Lucid service for this, and that transportation ate up a day each way. The calibration itself takes a day. Then there's a day where each side says "*They're* supposed to call *us*." And then there's the weekend. So, a one day calibration takes 6-7 days. Lesson being, you need to stay on top of the process so you don't start coming out of pocket for a rental. Did your roof glass survive?

 

[saabfan]

Thanks for your response.

As far as I can tell, the roof glass survived.

The nearest service center to me is 250 miles away in Houston. Ugh.

 

[smyles09]

Yes, hood had to be replaced. That's the tldr. To elaborate, I took the car to the body shop when they said they had the necessary parts. I learned later the plan was to have "their pdr guy" assess before ordering a hood. I wish I had insisted this assessment take place before I left the car. "Shockingly," the pdr didn't work, and they had to order a new hood, which took a while, as you can imagine. Another rate-limiting step was the calibration of sensors by Lucid. They have to tow the car to Lucid service for this, and that transportation ate up a day each way. The calibration itself takes a day. Then there's a day where each side says "*They're* supposed to call *us*." And then there's the weekend. So, a one day calibration takes 6-7 days. Lesson being, you need to stay on top of the process so you don't start coming out of pocket for a rental. Did your roof glass survive?

Did your glass get replaced? We had hail damage last year in VA and the body shop didn’t tel us they replaced the glass but I know the rock chip that was there at the A-pillar is no longer there. Point is, they replaced my windshield and ever since the auto sensing wipers haven’t functioned. We’ve taken it to Lucid twice and they haven’t been able to fix it either.

 

[shredderc]

Wow. Lucid did replace my windshield. That was the easiest part of the process. They brought a GT loaner to my house, and I drove that for 3+ days, and they brought my car back to where I was working. I think it was in this thread where someone said only Lucid can replace the windshield, and they have to recalibrate the sensors. I haven't noticed too much of an issue. Sometimes, the auto wipers don't come on as quickly as I would like, but they do come on. Can Lucid just replace your whole windshield?

 

[hmp10]

A local PDR tech said the hood's double layer and aluminum composition makes pulling those dents very difficult (Teslas have the same problem). Replacement may be the only option.

It is very hard to rework Aluminum.

I've had several dings taken out of our two Lucids. It's true that aluminum is more challenging than steel, which I found surprising. However, with so many cars now being aluminum, "dent doctors" would soon be out of business if they didn't master techniques for working with it.

Regarding the hood, there are a couple of approaches that might work for the hood despite the honeycomb panel under it. If the hood has neither a PPF nor ceramic coating on it, some dings can be worked out using suction from above.

Alternatively, sometimes a small hole (or holes) can be drilled in the back layer to gain access to the rear of the dent. This happened with a door ding near the edge of our Lucid rear door where the sheet metal folded back to create a smooth rounded door edge. The "dent doctor" drilled a small hole through the folded flap to access the dent from behind and work it out. He then sealed the hole with silicon, and everything looks fine. That honeycomb under the hood should be able to accept a few small holes without compromising its purpose of stiffening the hood. If the dent is at a point where the hood is bonded to a honeycomb rib, that could be more problematic. But, then again, that's less likely a spot which would have gotten dinged in the first place due to the underlying bracing.

Every time I've had one of the five dings worked out on our two Lucids, the repairman started by telling me it would be difficult, if not impossible, to get a satisfactory repair in that location, either because of access problems or a complex configuration of the sheet metal in that area. Apparently, very little of a Lucid's sheet metal surface doesn't have something structural or electrical behind it. With effort and a bit of ingenuity, though, every repair has been done leaving no sign the ding was ever there.

 

[shredderc]

I've had several dings taken out of our two Lucids. It's true that aluminum is more challenging than steel, which I found surprising. However, with so many cars now being aluminum, "dent doctors" would soon be out of business if they didn't master techniques for working with it.

Regarding the hood, there are a couple of approaches that might work for the hood despite the honeycomb panel under it. If the hood has neither a PPF nor ceramic coating on it, some dings can be worked out using suction from above.

Alternatively, sometimes a small hole (or holes) can be drilled in the back layer to gain access to the rear of the dent. This happened with a door ding near the edge of our Lucid rear door where the sheet metal folded back to create a smooth rounded door edge. The "dent doctor" drilled a small hole through the folded flap to access the dent from behind and work it out. He then sealed the hole with silicon, and everything looks fine. That honeycomb under the hood should be able to accept a few small holes without compromising its purpose of stiffening the hood. If the dent is at a point where the hood is bonded to a honeycomb rib, that could be more problematic. But, then again, that's less likely a spot which would have gotten dinged in the first place due to the underlying bracing.

Every time I've had one of the five dings worked out on our two Lucids, the repairman started by telling me it would be difficult, if not impossible, to get a satisfactory repair in that location, either because of access problems or a complex configuration of the sheet metal in that area. Apparently, very little of a Lucid's sheet metal surface doesn't have something structural or electrical behind it. With effort and a bit of ingenuity, though, every repair has been done leaving no sign the ding was ever there.

This is very helpful. There has been hail once or twice since that fateful day, but I think the car was already inside and the chunks weren't nearly as big.