Hail Dings on front

Hard to file a claim on 3 YO damage though. :) Would have to wait until spring and hope a heavy storm rolls by and blame it on that one instead.

I can see it now, call it in, asked when did the damage happen? August 2016 in Colorado. Silence.

JBarca wrote:
Hi,

I'll give you some info to think on as you sort through this. I'll echo to be honest in your sale. If someone asks about the dings, explain it to them, straight up. Trying to hide something sets yourself up for what else is he not telling us.

That said, if you go down the get it fixed path, this can cost an amount of money. I am somewhat of a retired camper restoration hobbistet/extremist... I am on my 10th camper water damage restoration now and I deal with taking off and putting on aluminum siding without issue. I can even show you have to do it.

The siding will come off starting at the bottom. Then you work your way up. The corner molding needs to come off in order to do this. As far as the factory seal, you can restore that even better than factory if wanted. In the end, this will come down to the "labor" cost rate plus the materials along with material mark up.

Using your picture,


If the very top panel with the yellow clearance lights is not damaged, this repair will be less. If that panel can stay in place, then they do not have to deal with the roof seam along the front. The comments about having to replace the whole roof due to dealing with that seam are not accurate. You can lift that seam, not damage the roof or restore any small damage if there is any, BUT that roof seam will take time to deal with it. It can be more than taking the entire front siding below it off.

I would estimate it could take 2 techs 8 to 12 hours (16 to 24 hours) to take the old siding off, the old corner moldings off, not the top panel, clean up the corners & roof area, staple on the new siding, install new corners with new sealing tape, new Dicor on roof areas and apply new decals. I say 2 techs as most shops do this in 2's. I myself would do it with only me, but I have done it enough to know how.

Add another 6 hours if they have to deal with the top panel off and back on.

You are now up to 16 to 24 hours + 6 hours or 22 hours to 30 hours of charged labor.

At $75/hour (low end) this is $75 x 22 = $1,650 to $75 x 30 = $2,250.

At $110/hour (more likely for a good shop) This is $2,420 to $3,300.

And neither of them includes the materials, including new decals with material mark up.

While that estimate may sound high for the labor, that is reality of what a good shop may charge you. It may even be more if they find water intrusion in a corner which is likely. You having it stored in a barn is a major savings to a camper. But corner water intrusion, especially the front is real. Just because you can't see it, does not mean it is not there.

If you do the labor yourself, this is a lot cheaper as long as you want to take on the project.

Offering the new buyer $500 off if they ask about it, your ahead of the game. Granted it does not look great, but for a couple starting out with as their first camper, they may get a great deal for the money and they can live with the dings.

Hope this helps

John

To follow along on this, I have a 2015 TT that got to sit out in a hail storm in 2016 (at least the tornado stayed a couple miles away). The front looks much like your trailer. I filed a claim with my insurance company. They cut me a check for 50% of what I paid for the TT. Since I had no loan, I pocketed the money and left the trailer as is. When the time comes the sell/trade the TT I will gladly knock a bit off the price to satisfy the new owner.

Having a loan complicates it a bit as far as filing an insurance claim and not repairing the damage.

"I would buy it... Your HONEST!!!

Hi,

I'll give you some info to think on as you sort through this. I'll echo to be honest in your sale. If someone asks about the dings, explain it to them, straight up. Trying to hide something sets yourself up for what else is he not telling us.

That said, if you go down the get it fixed path, this can cost an amount of money. I am somewhat of a retired camper restoration hobbistet/extremist... I am on my 10th camper water damage restoration now and I deal with taking off and putting on aluminum siding without issue. I can even show you have to do it.

The siding will come off starting at the bottom. Then you work your way up. The corner molding needs to come off in order to do this. As far as the factory seal, you can restore that even better than factory if wanted. In the end, this will come down to the "labor" cost rate plus the materials along with material mark up.

Using your picture,


If the very top panel with the yellow clearance lights is not damaged, this repair will be less. If that panel can stay in place, then they do not have to deal with the roof seam along the front. The comments about having to replace the whole roof due to dealing with that seam are not accurate. You can lift that seam, not damage the roof or restore any small damage if there is any, BUT that roof seam will take time to deal with it. It can be more than taking the entire front siding below it off.

I would estimate it could take 2 techs 8 to 12 hours (16 to 24 hours) to take the old siding off, the old corner moldings off, not the top panel, clean up the corners & roof area, staple on the new siding, install new corners with new sealing tape, new Dicor on roof areas and apply new decals. I say 2 techs as most shops do this in 2's. I myself would do it with only me, but I have done it enough to know how.

Add another 6 hours if they have to deal with the top panel off and back on.

You are now up to 16 to 24 hours + 6 hours or 22 hours to 30 hours of charged labor.

At $75/hour (low end) this is $75 x 22 = $1,650 to $75 x 30 = $2,250.

At $110/hour (more likely for a good shop) This is $2,420 to $3,300.

And neither of them includes the materials, including new decals with material mark up.

While that estimate may sound high for the labor, that is reality of what a good shop may charge you. It may even be more if they find water intrusion in a corner which is likely. You having it stored in a barn is a major savings to a camper. But corner water intrusion, especially the front is real. Just because you can't see it, does not mean it is not there.

If you do the labor yourself, this is a lot cheaper as long as you want to take on the project.

Offering the new buyer $500 off if they ask about it, your ahead of the game. Granted it does not look great, but for a couple starting out with as their first camper, they may get a great deal for the money and they can live with the dings.

Hope this helps

John

deltabravo wrote:
I'd leave it as is. I believe that to replace teh top panels, all the lower panels would need removed.

I'd rather have a rig with a tad bit of cosmetic damage, than have an RV repair shop monkey with it, some of which aren't all that good at major repairs like what your's would require.

The likely minimal increase in resale value for a perfect rig isn't worth the time or hassle in my opinion.

This is exactly what I am thinking too. It would destroy the integrity of at least 4 seals, not to mention that the roof membrane can be damaged by the repair and nothing short of replacing the entire membrane will correct it.

I went to 2 RV shows today, and there are a few that have the same floor plan as ours but lacks a lot of storage. I looked at the Alpha Wolf again today and it's the choice we made to replace the current one, so now to decide if we want to list this one, and if sold get the AW, or stick with the Coleman for a few more years. After all, there is nothing wrong with it, everything works, it's clean, it tows well, the downside is that it's tight for us and the kids have outgrown the sofa futon. I considered replacing the sofa with one that has no side arms like they now have in the slide out units. The problem would be I would need an end wall to hide the mechanism. It still wouldn't solve the lack of center space that we have.

Things to consider, but that Alpha Wolf sure is a nice unit.

I'd leave it as is. I believe that to replace teh top panels, all the lower panels would need removed.

I'd rather have a rig with a tad bit of cosmetic damage, than have an RV repair shop monkey with it, some of which aren't all that good at major repairs like what your's would require.

The likely minimal increase in resale value for a perfect rig isn't worth the time or hassle in my opinion.

I if was looking to buy your camper Id be inspecting the roof and top side covers for damage. It that checks out ok the dents would not bother me but would exploit them as a haggling point when negotiating.

I've heard stories of using dry ice to remove dings. I don't know how well it works and it might be a lot of work.

If I were buying it and it was in good shape I would not care about a few hail dings. The front of my TT is dinged up because I live on a gravel road.

jfkmk wrote:

GrandpaKip wrote:
Have you checked with a body shop that pulls hail dings out of cars?

I had hail dents removed from an SUV. They charged $100 per ding. Fortunately insurance covered it because there were 35 dings.

Wow. With no insurance, I’d live with them.

You could try that Eastman kit and see how it works, pretty nice tool to have around the shop, anyway. The problem with hail strikes is that they are small, deep, and are difficult to get the metal back to looking factory new.


For convenience, I'd suggest to sell the trailer "as is". Like posted above, it's patina for a used rig and you could even brag that the trailer withstood the ravages of such a big storm with no damage other than those few dings.