AUSTIN, Texas — Some car owners in Central Texas are till trying to get their cars repaired from last year's big hail storm.
Esteban Lozano, owner of Dingz Happen, a paintless dent repair shop in Austin, said a majority of his clientele is coming in for one thing – hail damage.
"It takes on average maybe five days to fix one car. So when you have that many affected vehicles with a storm that big, I have work for almost two years," said Lozano.
Due to the severity of the 2021 storm, the rise in hail damage led to an influx of customers needing car repairs. Lozano said his waitlist is over six months out. However, the local business owner warns locals to do their research before picking a repair shop.
"We call them door knockers, or out-of-town companies. They usually will come around and start knocking on doors claiming that they're local companies. What ends up happening is these unexperienced companies are butchering a lot of people's cars," said Lozano.
Lozano, who has been in the auto industry for 13 years, said he's had plenty of customers come in his shop after falling victim to "door knockers."
"I can't tell you how many people I've had come in because of some other company totaling out their car because they butchered it to the point where it was beyond repair. You really have to be careful," said Lozano.
April and May, according to Lozano, are peak months for business. Aside from keeping vehicles covered during spring storms, the business owner said having a good deductible with your insurance company will help.
"Here in Central Texas, we do get hail almost every year and it's important to have the correct deductibles that way you're not paying a whole lot out of pocket," said Lozano.
If drivers do not have carports or garages to store their cars in during severe weather, according to Progressive, some companies sell car covers specific to this purpose, but you can use your own blankets as well. Just make sure you duct tape them down – the winds can pick up pretty quickly during hail storms. The tape can leave a sticky residue on your car, but most likely won’t cause any damage to the paint.
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