Unfortunately, my '05, very clean Mini received hail damage last April...quite a bit on the roof and hood. This is my first auto body damage experience.
The insurance adjuster listed both the hood and roof to be replaced OEM with some PDR for other spots around the car. When I took the car to one of the insurance repair shops (a Mini dealer connected body shop), I was told, in a somewhat negative tone, that "did I realize that the roof would have to be cut off and the new one welded on". I'm not sure if this is true, but if so, this seems like a major production... cutting off the roof, removal of the front and back windows, removal of the interior roof lining and light controls and potentially the front post passenger air-bags etc. Naturally my concerns are whether welding a new roof onto the existing frame will make the car as safe, tight fit and protective as it was before and whether everything else can actually be put back together with a perfect fit. In addition, I see alot of newer cars with their hood and roof paint and their protective finish peeling off, fading or loosing their finish. Is this what to expect from non-factory paint job repairs? Any suggestions or experiences with this situation? Thanks.

 

As long as the body shop knows what they are doing I think it should be fine. There was a discussion on here about cars that get damaged in transit from England, and one of the MINI's had the roof cut off and replaced I think. Maybe you could ask them to knock the dents out from inside the roof out. That way they only have to remove the interior bits, which is pretty easy.

Good luck with this.

 

I can certainly understand the anxiety... sounds like a major structural repair, and it is. But compared to some other repair jobs, this one is not all that tough for a good body shop. I've seen them replace an entire HALF of a car before. Roof... no problem.

As far as paint jobs... I've only seen one MINI come out of the body shop with paint problems... peeling/chipping. And if that happens, take it back to the shop and make them do it right.

 

Sounds pretty nasty to me. How bad is the roof? If it was my car I might consider just taking the money from insurance and living with the dented roof. That may not be an option if you have a car loan.

Pictures of the roof might be in order to give us a better idea.

I guess it depends on long term what you plan to do with the car. I couldn't tell you what would maintain value the best; dented roof, or roof repair (which I assume would have to be disclosed).

Maybe a sunroof? Although I've heard horror stories about after market sunroofs leaking and such.

Good luck, hope it gets cleaned up.

 

Try the pdr guy dent king or orther they might have deferent opinion. i dont
think that they have to change the roof...you said hail not rock ..we need picture to give you bether option..

 

Thanks for the advice so far. My car is pepper white and it has been difficult to get an accurate image of the dents. Went back to the insurance adjuster to find out why a new roof was necessary vs. PDR and was told that PDR needs full access to both sides of metal and with the number of dents, approximately 50 (none broke the paint), the cost would "most likely be more expensive then a new roof"? Is all this really true? Thanks.

 

Depending on the extent of the hale damage on the roof its possible to have it fixed from the outside. I had some hail damage that effected primarly the rear hatch, a little of the hood and the roof in a couple of spots.

For the roof the PDR guys said that they were able to use an adhesive to pull small dents out. They said they have to be small and it has to be on a factory paint job or the paint would pull off as well. I was very pleased with the results.

 

Yeah, that could be true. PDR can cost up to $125 per dent, maybe even a little more, if they are tough to work on. Multiply that by 50, $6250+.

A new roof and the labor, probably half of that, maybe $4,000.

 

Most PDR guys charge by the "panel". I had my 99 Miata completely repaired for about $500 with extensive Hail Damage. The guy even came to my house to do it. He is an artist and skilled technician, IMHO. If you get the right guy, it will be a fair price and better then new. I was truly impressed.

He took two dents out of my mini that I thought would be impossibe for $225. I basically have him come once a year now and go over all my cars for a package price. It's like having your car detailed IMHO. Well worth checking into.

Cheers!
Lee

 

Some poor PDR guy that quotes the OP a price for the roof panel and then sees it has 50 hail dents would crap a brick... not to mention curse as he's doing all that work for that little bit of money.

If you can find a guy that does that, more power to you. But the PDR guys that work around here don't do that. And why would they ? Makes no sense for them... getting paid for 20 dents the same as 3 ?

And if I'm a customer with only three dents, paying the same as the guy with 20, I'm pretty pissed off.