1 day old and damaged !

[wynants]

Yesterday i collected my long awaited black graphite takumi ES, what a dream car ! today disaster struck, i was driving through a lane with a lot of trees, suddenly a very loud "clank" , i know straight away what it meant! acorns! a large one hit my roof and left a dent in it, i was close to tears ! 

I went straight to my dealer who told me there are ways to fix it whitout elaborate paintwork! Next week i know more BUMMER

[SH20]

Jean, don't panic.  A dent in a roof is an easy fix.    Your dealer will know specialists who are often referred to as Dent Master Specialists/ Franchises.    Something called a glue stick is temporarily bonded to the affected dent, various diameter glue sticks are used dependent on the diameter of the dent.   Small dent small glue stick.   Large dent large glue stick. Although it is glued to the dent area a special releasing agent is used to release the  stick without any sign it was there.    The attached glue stick has a small slide hammer slipped on to it and the dent man will slide the weighted body up and down so it gently lifts the dent out.   Once released any minor high spots are gentle tapped with a nylon punch and then the area is cleaned up without any paintwork required.    So go on to YouTube and type in glue stick repairs and be amazed what this process can do.     I brought over a firm from the USA once who specialised in hale stone damage where a forecourt of new cars were hammered by a ferocious storm of golf ball sized hale stones causing multiply dents to roofs, bonnets and boot lids in the main.  We authorised very few new parts to be fitted, all or most panels were repaired by glue stick technology.  Do you know this company track storms in the US specifically to know where there is likely to be hale stone damage and then go in with multiple teams to assist dealers sort out the damage and the Insurers are happy to pay rather than fit new panels.        

[Ala Larj]

I'd more worried about the quality of the metalwork if an acorn can cause a dent. Hope you don't get hailstones where you live!

[SH20]

If the dent is close enough where the headlining can be just eased down a little these techy guys can use long spooning irons with assorted tips and if they can get a purchase they can spoon the dent out by caressing and working the dent  from the inside.   If access is restricted then they use glue sticks.   You won't even know there was ever a dent. 

[Malc]

9 hours ago, SH20 said:

You won't even know there was ever a dent

until next autumn and more acorns !

Malc

[rich1068]

9 hours ago, Ala Larj said:

I'd more worried about the quality of the metalwork if an acorn can cause a dent. Hope you don't get hailstones where you live!

My first thought too. An acorn? Really?

[wynants]

According to the repair guy this is not unusual, especially the american acorns are bigger and if they fall from high up the tree they can cause considerable damage. Anyway i'm booked in for october 10 for repair. 

[i-s]

19 hours ago, Ala Larj said:

I'd more worried about the quality of the metalwork if an acorn can cause a dent. Hope you don't get hailstones where you live!

The sheetmetal of the roof of a car is basically just there to keep the rain out and hold the paint. You will notice when you wash a car with a large roof that it pops and flexes under your hand - it has no structural value and is kept as thin as possible to save weight that would cause an adverse shift in the car's centre of gravity (this is why high-performance cars such as the M3 CSL put a lot of cost into a carbon roof that although it only saves 2-3kg it moves the CoG disproportionately). 

Interestingly, and counter-intuitively, a car with a fixed bonded glass roof has a much stiffer and stronger structure than one with a metal roof. 

[Ala Larj]

I agree. As you say it flexes and pops back. It should not show a dent with something as small as an acorn falling from 30-50 metres! A hailstorm would destroy most modern cars!

[i-s]

2 hours ago, Ala Larj said:

 A hailstorm would destroy most modern cars!

My husband's nephew lives in Colorado Springs. It's not unusual there to see cars like this:

 

[Ala Larj]

Let's hope he doesn't buy an ES then.!