A powerful hailstorm last Thursday in central Ontario damaged the entire inventory of a dealership co-owned by Motor Vehicle Retailers of Ontario President Jim Williamson.
He told Canadian auto dealer the Lindsay Chrysler store he owns with his cousin sustained extensive damage to all the cars on the lot — plus customer vehicles, which collectively totaled more than 50. A few of the cars were new ones that were scheduled to be picked up the same day and the day after.
He said it could take months for all the insurance claims to be completed and the repairs done. In addition to his business, Williamson said there will also be claims for other businesses, homes, and cars in the town that sustained damage.
“In the situation with the customers with vehicles that were ready to roll, a couple of them came to look at them and decided they didn’t want them, and we were able to work with dealer partners and do a trade to get replacements,” said Williamson.
“We’re going to do what we can internally to keep moving forward. So far we’ve been able to manage the situation. We had a used vehicle that was supposed to be delivered, but the customer didn’t want to take it, so we let the person out of the deal. But uniquely enough, there was someone else who wanted to buy it right away,” he added.
Williamson drove from his Uxbridge dealership about 40 minutes away after the storm to see the damage.
“I’ve seen a little hail in my career, but I’ve never personally seen anything quite like what happened,” said Williamson, who has been in the automotive business for almost 25 years. “Most of the damage is dents the size of golf balls. Sometimes it’s just roofs and hoods, but I guess the way the wind was blowing the side of vehicles were damaged. We lost some windshields and rear windows and side mirrors. The hailstorm was so hard that paint actually broke from the dents. That’s how deep some of them are.”
He said once the go-ahead is given from the insurance process, the cars with dents will be repaired on the lot, while the ones that require paint repairs or more extensive work will be fixed at a body shop, replaced with a new part or resolved in a settlement. Williamson said there are also some new cars on display in the showroom and appointments booked. He added there are several new cars scheduled to be arriving.
“It’s not like our doors are locked, we’re kind of in limbo,” said Williamson. “We’re still operating as normal as we can under the conditions. I think what you’ll see is the town will help out and the dealers will bond together and get through things like this. I’m sure you’ll see a number of hail sales to help move some of these cars along. There always seems to be something somewhere and dealers seem to figure it out and bounce back.”
One dealership in the area was fortunate to avoid damage. Dave DeRusha, who co-owns Race Toyota with Brian Maunder, said the six vehicles on the lot were moved inside because one of the service advisors, who lives half an hour north of the dealership, was alerted by his wife about the hailstorm. “We looked at the sky and said we better put these cars in,” said DeRusha.
The hailstorm is the second one in less than a week to hit Ontario. On July 28, a storm hit the Ottawa/Gatineau region and at least one dealership suffered extensive damage.
