Hail Damage Repair Wausau & Fox Cities — What to Do in the Next 7 Days

Wisconsin just took a beating. The April storm outbreak that started on April 13th tore through the state in multiple waves, and the damage wasn't just downstate. Iola, Manawa, and the Wausau area were in the path — and that puts this storm squarely in Got Dents Get Fixed territory.

If you're in the Fox Cities, the Waupaca County area, or anywhere between New London and Wausau, there's a real chance your vehicle caught hail you haven't fully inspected yet.

That's the thing about hail damage. The storm comes through fast, you stay inside, and by the time it's over you're just relieved it passed. Checking your car feels like a problem for tomorrow.

Tomorrow needs to be today.

Here's why the next seven days matter more than most people realize — and exactly what to do with them.

Step 1: Get Outside and Actually Look at Your Car

Don't wait for a body shop appointment to find out what you've got. Walk around your vehicle in good natural light — overcast daylight works best. Look at the hood, roof, trunk lid, and the tops of your fenders. These flat, horizontal panels catch hail directly.

What you're looking for: small, shallow depressions — sometimes the size of a dime, sometimes a golf ball. Crouch down and look across the surface at a low angle. If the light catches dozens of little shadows rippling across your hood, that's hail damage.

It doesn't need to crack your paint or cave in your door to be real. Shallow hail damage is still damage — and it still affects your car's value.

Step 2: Photograph Everything Before You Drive It More

Take photos of every panel. Get close-ups and wide shots in daylight — flash tends to wash out shallow dents. Every photo has a timestamp, and that timestamp matters.

Insurance companies will ask when the damage occurred. Document it now, while the April storm is on record, and your claim is clean. Wait two weeks and you give the adjuster room to question whether the damage happened in this storm or a previous one. Fifteen minutes of photography protects you.

Step 3: Call Your Insurance Company — This Week

You don't need a repair shop lined up before you open a claim. Call your agent, tell them you had potential hail damage in the April storms, and get the process started. Most comprehensive auto policies cover hail with no fault assigned to you and no rate increase.

One thing to know: after a major storm event, insurance companies bring in outside adjusters to process claims fast. Speed is their goal — not catching every dent on your car. Having documentation and working with a certified shop early helps ensure the payout reflects the actual damage, not a rushed estimate.

Step 4: Know Why the Repair Window Closes

Paintless dent repair — the correct method for hail damage — works by carefully massaging dented metal back to its original shape from behind the panel. No filler. No repainting. No entry on your Carfax report.

But it works best on intact paint. Leave hail dents through a Wisconsin summer and the paint around those dents can begin to chip or crack, especially on deeper impacts. Once the paint is compromised, you've moved from a clean PDR repair to a body shop paint job — and your Carfax now shows paint work.

Act now and you get the better repair at the better price. Wait and your options get more expensive.

Step 5: Get an Assessment from a Certified Hail Tech

Not every dent shop handles hail the same way. Hail repair across an entire vehicle is a specialty — it requires specific training, proper technique, and experience reading damage patterns that vary by panel and dent depth.

At Got Dents Get Fixed, we've been repairing hail-damaged vehicles in the Fox Cities and Northeast Wisconsin since 2007. We hold ARC Master Certification in Hail Repair — the highest certification level in the industry. We work directly with insurance companies and we'll walk you through every damaged panel so you understand exactly what your vehicle needs before anything is touched.

Hail repair is performed in our shop in New London. If you're in Iola, Manawa, Wausau, Waupaca, Appleton, Oshkosh, or anywhere in the region — we're worth the drive, and the repair is worth doing right.

The Bottom Line

This wasn't a distant storm. It hit your neighbors, your county, and vehicles parked in driveways just like yours. Your car is one of the bigger investments you own — this storm is worth taking seriously.

Inspect today. Photograph the damage. Call your insurance. Get a professional assessment before the shops fill up.

Got Dents Get Fixed | New London, WI | 920-858-5019 | gotdentsgetfixed.com

ARC Master Certified — Hail Damage Repair | Serving Appleton, Oshkosh, Waupaca, Wausau, New London, Clintonville, and the Fox Cities region.