Dealers assessing damage after hail wreaks havoc

Automotive businesses are counting the cost of repairs needed to fix hundreds of cars after a freak hailstorm battered Timaru.

The severe weather on November 20, which brought hail stones the size of golf balls, left the bodywork of many vehicles covered in dents and also smashed windscreens and lights. Some car dealers have also been left needing to fix up buildings.

David Hunt, branch manager of Holland’s Suzuki Cars Timaru, says the giant hail stones that swept through just after noon had affected all 30 cars parked at his business.

“The hail has damaged every car on the yard and done an incredible amount of damage around the town,” he says. “I’d estimate we’ve had about $30,000 to $40,000 of damage. 

“The sky started to blacken over and then it started belting down. We had two people standing in a building and we couldn’t hear each other. I have never seen anything like it in this country. 

“We’ve got a head office in Christchurch and can pull stock from there and carry on, so really it is just the inconvenience of getting the stock here assessed and repaired that is going to affect us. We will put in insurance claims and just go through the process, but most importantly no one was hurt.”

Hyundai South Canterbury was another business pelted by the storm and marketing co-ordinator Sophie Conroy says all its cars were damaged.

“It was pretty hectic and loud and we have had damaged cars and some wet carpet in our offices as well, so we have seen better days,” she says.

“It was pretty much a few dents in roofs and bonnets. Our area of town got hit quite hard by the hail and we took a decent hammering.

“Afterwards we had to get a few desks out of offices and dry carpets out a bit. We also had a leaky roof in a couple of places and will need to replace a couple of ceiling tiles.” 

Other Timaru dealerships to suffer included South Canterbury Toyota where about 100 cars need repairs, Norfolk Motors Ltd had about 25 cars affected, and Caroline Mitsubishi copped damage to about 30 cars as well as flooding and roof damage to its building.