Well, this is something I never wanted to have to share, but I also wanted to share my experience getting this resolved. My IS 500 was hit by a falling tree branch while I was parked. It happened in the spa parking lot of a resort where my wife and I were staying the night before the Lexus Performance Driving School.




It was a fairly windy day - and you can see in the first photo that the whole parking lot was littered with leaves and twigs. I don't particularly like parking under trees, but there weren't many other good places to park. The spa seemed to be very busy that day. In any case, I am not sure the dent is fixable, since it is on a crease in the body work - particularly since it's on a quarter panel. The clear coat got taken off, but I am not experienced enough with stuff like this to say if the paint itself is fine. I really, really hope we don't end up needing to replace the quarter panel.

I am working with the hotel security, as they seem to be taking at least partial responsibility. After all, if they're going to force people to park under trees, they should do a better job pruning dead limbs from the trees. It was windy, but still - there were loads and loads of these limbs throughout the parking lot. Even if I had chosen a different space, I might've still returned to a damaged car. I'd be surprised if I was the only one. I also went ahead and created a claim with Geico just to document the incident in case things don't work out with the hotel.

Any advice or thoughts would be appreciated.

 

Part of me feels that could be Paintless Dent Repaired without too much issue but if the paint has issues it will need secondary attention. That stinks!

 

Arentz - That really sucks Damage on a sharp crease like that is not easily fix IMO - I suspect that the best way to fix this will be through a bodyshop that will remove the quarter panel, repair the dent in the crease line, unfortunately will also have to do a small paint repair and do a bit of blending. The saving grace, if any, is that this shouldn't be overly expensive and that your color is fresh, so the blending will be easier IMO. Also, where you don't live in a very cold climate, this will also help with the longevity of the paint repair and where this happened on a solid surface, it shouldn't really flex and crack (like a bumper would for example).

So yeah, it still sucks but it would have been a lot worse - I hope this will help you feel a bit better. Now, I am not an expert and maybe the paintless repair suggested above will work but I doubt it would be unnoticeable and where the clear has been damaged/removed, I think what I am suggesting will give you a better outcome and in the long term, will be a better solution. This spot repair will avoid also have to replace the whole quarter panel. Also, for what it's worth, I personally not get my insurance involved with this...Maybe it is different in the US but by the time you paint the deductible, lose the claim free discount and such, it would be easier just to pay out of pocket, especially if the spa is willing to go at least half with you.

My 2 cents

 

Bummer! I would recommend the same and worry about the clear coat part after the dent is repaired.

 

Dang, I’m sorry that happened. Best of luck getting it sorted out with the hotel and insurance, keep us updated!

 

A good PDR tech can take that out only remaining trace might be paint damage.

 

Thanks, all, preliminary estimate from Geico says PDR should be able to pull the dent out, but that paint blending is probably needed... That kinda sucks, but hopefully it is not going to be too difficult/expensive to replicate the paint color nicely lol.

 

That really sucks, sorry to see that. A good PDR shop should be able to take that out without any problems, however. I'm gonna guess anywhere between 300 and 500 bucks.

Selecting the best shop you can find is the most important thing though, the quality of work really matters in PDR situations.

 

Depends on what you're willing to live with there might be some paint scuffing/scratches still visible after paint correction. Going by your pictures it looks to me like the clear coat flaked off, base coat still good. If so then easy repair spray some clear problem gone.

 

Sorry for this! What a bummer. The rear quarter panel is part of the car; it ain't getting removed. Horrible spot to get a dent, you may or may not get lucky with a professional dent repair guy.

Good luck getting the hotel to pay for damages. Usually acts of God are not covered. You'll have a hard time proving negligence on their part.

Your car will now have a 'minor accident' reported on its history in Carfax/ Autocheck.

Not sure what your deductible is, but it may have made more sense to just pay for the repair out of pocket and keep insurance out of it and your title report clean.

Good luck on the repair and keep us updated. Would like to see how it turns out.

 

The clear coat that was removed we're talking about is this, right? Yeah I definitely wouldn't re-spray the whole panel for this. Touch up paint or buff+polish+touch up clear coat+rinse and repeat + wax is as much as I would do. It's not even the size of a quarter.

 

One possible silver lining - Maybe since it's a spa, they'll be nice. It's not like a Walmart or McDonalds parking lot. Hopefully this spa doesnt have a big legal team...or any legal person for that matter.

This. This part really sucks. But if he plans to keep the car forever it doesn't matter then. Still really sucks though...

 

Yeah they're giving me the run-around... but hopefully they'll at least get me my deductible back, or something.

Yeah, hopefully it's not too late to keep things clean. So far the estimate is less than the deductible on my insurance...

 

Sorry that happened, really sucks. Instead of making a report to insurance, I would just get PDR

 

Thanks.
Too late at this point, I am afraid. I am also fearful that it will be more expensive if PDR is not possible. In that case, having the involvement of insurance would be useful. I'll see what happens. I could always cancel the claim if things end up going well.