Would you buy a hymer with hail damage?

JP1889

JP1889

Joined
Jan 22, 2020
Posts
84
Likes collected
105
Location
East Mids
Funster No
68,254
MH
A class
Exp
2018
Being an over analytical sod, having read most hail threads here and researched to the upmteeth degree; I am wondered if this amount of damage would put you off from buying this van.
The overseas dealer has been very professional with an exemplary feedback record, they will do a full service, belts change and water pump.
As far as I can see these dents look purely cosmetic, but I wondered if this might adversely affect any future trade in years down the line.

Sometimes cant see the woods for the trees :), so looking for some kind funsters to help me out with their views.
Thanks in advance
 

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Why would you want to buy it, unless amazingly cheap?
 
I think it depends if you get a good deal buying ? I was going to suggest you could always put a few sheets of white GRP over it but I see there a few dents right on the edge that would not be covered. 😊
 
JP1889 said:
Being an over analytical sod, having read most hail threads here and researched to the upmteeth degree; I am wondered if this amount of damage would put you off from buying this van.
The overseas dealer has been very professional with an exemplary feedback record, they will do a full service, belts change and water pump.
As far as I can see these dents look purely cosmetic, but I wondered if this might adversely affect any future trade in years down the line.

Sometimes cant see the woods for the trees :), so looking for some kind funsters to help me out with their views.
Thanks in advance
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If you get the 'van cheaply then your buyer will get a similar bargain!
 
If it was the van I wanted at the right price it wouldn't worry me too much, they are not going to get any worse or cause any sort of problem in my view, I would wonder if there had been any damage to the sides panels that had been repaired bit if all is OK I would say why not?
 
Even if you buy one prestine, the first time you travel south you take the risk of hail damage, we can get some hellish hail here, the dents are on the roof out of sight, for me, if the price is right, why not
 
If it was only the roof I wouldn't worry too much. I looked at one here where the hail had done the whole passenger side on a left hand drive .Like you had put a billiard ball on a sock & beat it all over. Far worse than what is in your picture. Owner was selling privately online & also through a dealer. It wasn't cheap either. I'm sure Paul Badknee looked at it with me when we were in the dealers for something else?

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We traveled quite a distance in Germany to view a S680 last year, the roof and one side was indented with multiple hail strikes. There was no mention of the damage when we called them, surprisingly the price was about normal for a model of that year and mileage, we declined.
 
I know a guy in France (2005 A-class van) who had hail damage which also smashed the roof lights.

He claimed on his insurance but they wrote it off leaving him seriously out of pocket. He replaced it with a secondhand PVC as that was all he could afford.

He did investigate various options to repair the damage (before accepting the insurance offer) but concluded that a new roof was the only permanent solution which would have cost mega bucks.
 
as is the general consensus if the price is right and it is just cosmetic go for it if there are dots down the side again if it is just cosmetic get some vinyl and make a feature of it and cover the van in spots, splats or any pattern you like and be unique
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Hymer roof outer skin is aluminium sheeting. You probably won't find many secondhand ones without hailstone dents and, if you found one without hailstone dents, theres no guarantees that tomorrow it won't hail and put some in it. All thats happened to this roof is that the aluminium skin has been slightly re shaped by the hail. Its not made it any thinner or compromised the strength in any way. Its just a slightly different shape now. Those dents are purely cosmetic and in no way effect the roof strength or efficiency in any way. My Hymer has some hailstone dents as have probably every other Hymer in the UK. Its part of the design that this can happen. It won't undermine your purchase or the life of the van. They are bombproof. Personally id buy it in a heartbeat if it ticked all my boxes in every other way
 
I take it the van is an Exsis as the B Class have a GRP capping as standard.
If the price is right at least £5k below normal value I would go for it providing it is only roof damage.

The dents on the curved edge of the roof can easily be filled & sprayed.
When Hymer fit the optional GRP capping to the Exsis they glue 1m wide sheets of 2mm GRP across the roof leaving 3 mm gaps with sealant in them, easy to retrofit if wanted to.
 
Thanks everyone for your most constructive replies, I'm hugely grateful.
Lenny HB said:
I take it the van is an Exsis as the B Class have a GRP capping as standard.
If the price is right at least £5k below normal value I would go for it providing it is only roof damage.

The dents on the curved edge of the roof can easily be filled & sprayed.
When Hymer fit the optional GRP capping to the Exsis they glue 1m wide sheets of 2mm GRP across the roof leaving 3 mm gaps with sealant in them, easy to retrofit if wanted to.
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Good point it's actually a B class. I wonder if they changed after this was built.Built 2010 registered 2011. I'm awaiting the dealers clarification .
 
About 5 years ago we had hailstone damage on the roof and one side. It was overskinned with aluminum on both panels. Insurance cost was £ 9500 so for roof damage only i would expect a reduction of min £5 - 6 thousand .
 
JP1889 said:
Thanks everyone for your most constructive replies, I'm hugely grateful.

Good point it's actually a B class. I wonder if they changed after this was built.Built 2010 registered 2011. I'm awaiting the dealers clarification .
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Ours is a B class SL built 2012, no grp capping on the roof.
 
There was a hymer that suffered severe hail damage to the roof and one side. The insurance wrote it off as unrepairable and the owner bought it back for a song.he said it was the cheapest van he ever had and that each dent had been worth 50 or so euros each.the van was ok apart from the dents and he was very happy with it. (y)

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We had a 2015 Exsis I that had GRP roof from new😊
 
gus-lopez said:
If it was only the roof I wouldn't worry too much. I looked at one here where the hail had done the whole passenger side on a left hand drive .Like you had put a billiard ball on a sock & beat it all over. Far worse than what is in your picture. Owner was selling privately online & also through a dealer. It wasn't cheap either. I'm sure Paul Badknee looked at it with me when we were in the dealers for something else?
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I remember that one in Lorca, it was a hell of a mess 😳
 
Unless you are looking down from above it doesn’t matter. If it has damage to the side panels I would walk away.

Sudden hailstorms are frequent on the European mainland, especially in August or September. We had a caravan damaged some years ago and it has made us check our insurance policy to ensure that hail damage is covered. Not all policies do.

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