Key points
  • Hail-damaged cars can look like bargains, but the savings don’t always stack up against repair costs, insurance hurdles, and lower resale values.
  • Always check if the car has been written off before you buy by completing a $2 PPSR check.
  • Even minor hail damage can cause long-term problems, like rust, if left untreated.

‘Golf ball-sized hail', ‘supercells’, ‘one in 100 year event’. These are events Australians have become increasingly familiar with and can result in major damage to vehicles - presenting potential bargains for car buyers. But the issues a hail-damaged car can present can vary by degrees, similar to the degrees that hail can damage a car. 

If you're considering buying a hail-damaged car, you should ensure you're aware of its insurability, cost to repair, and potential future issues you'll have to be conscious of.

  1. Savings.com.au’s two cents

Buying a car with hail damage can seem like a good deal, often discounted to half-price or more. However, this could be a false economy. If you’re intent on repairing, the repairs could outweigh the cost of the value of the car. Insurance can also be hard to secure or cost more on a hail-damaged car. Further, hail damage left unchecked can cause rust and long-term problems for your car.

Make sure you weigh up the savings realised by buying a cheaper, hail-damaged car against the costs of higher insurance premiums and potential repairs.

What to know about buying a hail-damaged car

The first thing you should find out about a hail-damaged car you're considering purchasing is whether or not it's been written-off. 

If an insured vehicle is damaged by hail or the likes and the cost to repair it is equal to or more than the cost to replace it, many insurance providers will simply 'write it off' - making it no longer registerable or insurable.

Can a written-off vehicle be put back on the road?

Vehicles written off due to cosmetic damage are generally labelled 'repairable write-offs' and can be put back on the road if someone devotes enough time or money to fixing the damage. In a lot of states, it’s fine to buy and sell a written-off vehicle, provided it’s listed as a repairable write-off.

In other cases, a dealership will seek to write-off dozens of vehicles if they're hail damage. These written-off vehicles then often find their way to auction houses.

  1. To check if a car has been written off you can check the Personal Property Security Register (PPSR). For around $2 you can find out a whole lot of info about a vehicle a seller might not want to divulge.

Remember, a car that's written-off once will flag as having been written-off forever. This generally means written-off vehicles can't command the same valuation as non-written-off vehicles, even if they're meticulously repaired.

Can you insure a hail-damaged car?

A car’s roadworthiness affects its ability to get insurance. Ergo, a written-off car is generally not insurable unless it's repaired and receives a roadworthy certificate.

If your car is hail-damaged but hasn't been written-off, your insurer will likely want to know about the damage before you take out a policy.

Some insurers may refuse to insure a hail-damaged car while others might view it as a liability and charge a higher premium.

How much does it cost to repair a hail-damaged car?

It’s common that a hail storm doesn’t totally write-off a vehicle and instead only dings it up a bit. The best technique to repair hail damage will depend on how bad the damage is. Generally, a fast and easy cosmetic repair will cost far less than a total panel beater and repainting service. 

A popular technique that repairers use for hail damage is ‘paintless dent repair’ or PDR. With PDR, a panel beater will go over the surface of the car, gradually smoothing out dents to not damage the paint. Depending on the extent of the damage, PDR could cost anywhere from a few hundred dollars, to thousands.

If total panels are looking like a golf ball, chances are it’ll need more extensive repairs, including a full respray, which could cost thousands, and negate the benefit of buying the cheaper hail-damaged car.

Tip: Consider the cost of repairing damage against the cost of buying an undamaged car

Repairing a hail-damaged vehicle could end up costing more than the car is worth. You might find you save $5,000 by buying a hail-damaged car and spending $6,000 to fix it.

Make sure you weigh up both costs - and the general hassle of ferrying a car back and forth to various services - when considering a purchase, particularly if you're not particularly mechanically-minded.

Long term effects of buying a hail-damaged car

Beyond being an eyesore, hail damage can gradually eat away at your car’s paint and, left too long, can allow rust to form if water seeps in under the paint.

Surface rust isn't often a huge deal, but rust can eventually eat through the metal body of a car. If you’ve got a hail-damaged car, it’s important to get the damage attended to as soon as you can.