So I drove the vet to work today wanting to take my new car for a spin. I'm in a meeting and my boss comes in and tells me there is a tornado warning. He asked if I drove the vet and I immediately pull up the radar.

What do I see you ask? I see red! Red for about 5-10 square miles. Worst of all, it's coming our way.

As I'm running to the car it's raining harder and harder. All I can think is that I just picked this car up from the museum less than a week ago. Now it's about to be destroyed.

I jump in, tear out of the parking lot and head for the toll road which is towards the storm but about ten times quicker to get home. I'm on the road and then a mike down it starts. HAIL!

At this point my heart is really really racing. I'm trying to go faster and faster but the hail is so thick on the road I'm now driving through slush. I had to slow down from 70 to about 15 just so I could gain control.

I quickly look for an under pass. I see one coming up. Taken!!! And no room for me. I keep going. I see another. Taken again!!

By now I hear the hail bouncing off the car. I'm depressed as I pull in my garage. I shut the car off and sit in it for about a minute not wanting to get out and look. I finally grow some and get out. My windshield has slush all over it. The car is covered with it. I look for cracks since I'm sure fiberglass doesn't dent and will most likely crack. I can't see anything due to the slush on the car. I go inside play with the puppy to cheer me up then go out to look again.

I think I got lucky! I couldn't see any damage what so ever. I looked again this evening with a flash light and nothing.

Does anyone know if I'm being optimistic? Could the clear coat be damaged? The hail wasn't horribly hard since it turned into slush right away. That could have been due to the fact my car looks so hot that the hail started to melt once it got near. Well never know I guess.

 

sorry to hear that happened to you. I would be devastated. Only you can truly tell if the car has been harmed. Get it underneath a fluorescent light and look at the clear. It will give the best view of what your clear really looks like.

 

The fluorescent light is used when they get hail dents out of steel cars to make sure they are straight. Use a hand held fluorescent like a wand and go over the surfaces too check them out. That is how the paintless dent repair guys check their work.

 

The body panels are not "true fiberglass" as you are thinking but rather most panels are SMC (plastic) with fiberglass added and are much more flexible. Most likely your car is fine.

 

Mine was hailed on and I had it just over a month, I can relate to how you felt. I didn't have any damage.

 

I would think with the so called plastic body the car would be fine. Unless the hail was golf ball size or bigger.

 

I still can't believe that facing a force such as a tornado your first impulse was to save your car.......

I kept waiting for the punch line

 

The corvette panels should hold up a lot better then the thin metal on all the other cars.

 

Lets see...you drove toward the storm at a high rate of speed in a hail storm. Hmmm. Maybe next time just find a gas station or other protective possibility and wait it out. I'd have been afraid of breaking my windshield driving fast into the hail.

I'm guessing you are OK. Several years ago I had a Ford Windstar van that went through a huge hailstorm and it looked like giant golf ball except for the hood which was fiberglass (or some kind of plastic) which came out just fine.

 

Glad to hear all was well.. These cars are pretty tough.. as you just witnessed.
I got caught in a hail storm with my 99 C5 when i lived in TX. Nothing I could do but ride it out.. I had all kinds of horrible visions of damaged paint and cracks.. Got it home and it was fine.. Yet my beater car which was parked outside had some nice dings on it..
Congrats on your new vette!!! Don't be afraid to drive it!

 

During hail, I put my Tahoe in the garage and the vette in the drive.

 

I was also wondering why the OP was driving toward the storm, even if it was in the direction of his home. My first instinct would have been to drive away from the storm and the probability of finding shelter would have been much greater plus avoid the danger of driving in a hail down pour.

 

I hope your business meeting weathered the storm as well as your car did.

 

thats what I was thinking... if I left to do that , my boss probably would not have been too happy...she would not have stopped me but would have been like

To the OP, glad you and your car are ok. Next time, take a breath and stay calm when you see something like this coming. Plenty of places to take cover. I think it was worse that you drove 70mph through bad weather Torward the storm and slush roads and had to slow down. There is always Insurance, even though its a hassle to deal with...but it is there for a reason.

 

Glad you got home okay.

If it was quickly turning to slush it may have been soft enough that it didn't hurt your car/paint.

Just be thankful it wasn't raining Toads.

Sorry, I just watched the movie 'Magnolia' the other night.

 

Looks like it's ruined now, done been hailed on .........

It's the coming of the 12 plagues for drafting Tebow