Our 4 Best Ways To Protect Your Car From Hail

Tony Mers • August 7, 2025

The front of a car with hail falling around it. The car is sitting in a parking lot with trees behind it.

Chicago drivers know that hail can be a serious problem for their vehicles. One minute, it’s a peaceful day, and then hail starts pummeling your car and doing damage. If you’ve ever had to watch the hail hit your vehicle, follow the six best ways to protect your car from hail and reduce the damage it can do.

Stay Alert With Weather Monitoring

Follow the weather each day so you can stay up to date on any possible hail activity. Set up location-based alerts for both your home and workplace.

When severe weather is approaching, you'll get a warning to relocate your vehicle before the storm hits. Hailstorms often develop quickly, so staying connected with weather updates is essential to protecting your car.

Find Covered Parking Solutions

Protecting your car is easiest when you can move it under a cover. This could be your garage, or if you don’t have one, then a covered parking alternative in your neighborhood. Many shopping centers, parking garages, and even gas stations with large overhangs can provide temporary shelter during storms.

If hailstorms are a frequent occurrence, then consider investing in parking passes for a covered facility near your home or workplace. While it might seem like an extra expense, compare that cost to potential hail damage repairs, which can run into thousands of dollars for severe dents and paint damage.

Invest in a Quality Car Cover

Heavy-duty car covers can be a game-changer for vehicle protection. These covers are usually designed to be hail-resistant and provide multiple layers of padding to absorb the impact of each piece of hail.

Choose a cover that is easy to deploy and can be put on quickly. Practice putting it on a few times until you feel confident you can do it when storm clouds gather. Store the cover in your trunk or backseat so it's always available when you need it most.

Use Blankets and Towels as Emergency Protection

Things happen, so getting caught off guard without a proper car cover can occur. This is why thick blankets and towels can be used in an emergency to provide temporary protection. While not as effective as purpose-built covers, they're better than leaving your paint and windshield completely exposed.

Secure the blankets with bungee cords or rope to prevent them from blowing away during the storm. Focus on protecting your windshield, hood, and roof—the areas most susceptible to visible damage.

Take Action Before the Next Storm

Protecting your car from hail doesn't require expensive equipment or major lifestyle changes—it just takes planning and quick action. Keep emergency materials in your vehicle to help protect it in the case of an unexpected hailstorm. Following these steps can help you prevent hail from damaging your car and invest in easy protection methods.

Changes in the weather can catch you off guard, so if your car is caught in the hail, take action quickly. Dents in your vehicle can be worrisome, but with River North Collision Repair, they can get fixed promptly. Visit our body shop in Chicago for quality repairs when you need them the most.

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Why Ignoring Small Dents Can Lead to Bigger Problems

January 30, 2026

It is an awful feeling when you walk out to your car after a long day and see a small dent on your passenger door. While it may appear to be just a cosmetic issue, you should still get it fixed, because ignoring small dents can lead to bigger problems for your vehicle. Don’t let small dents on your car go untreated; let's talk about why you need to tackle these issues ASAP. Rust Loves Chicago Winters We all know the drill here in the Windy City. We have beautiful summers, sure, but we also pay the price with brutal winters. And what comes with winter? Salt. Tons of it. Your car’s paint job acts as a suit of armor protecting the metal body underneath. Even a minor dent often comes with microscopic cracks in the paint—sometimes too small to see with the naked eye. Once that seal is broken, moisture and road salt sneak in. They settle against the bare metal and start a chemical party you definitely don’t want to host. Oxidation begins immediately. By the time you notice bubbling paint or that tell-tale orange stain a few months later, the rust has already been eating away at your door panel from the inside out. Resale Value Takes a Nosedive For many people, maintaining their car is a valuable part of purchasing a new vehicle. When that day comes, curb appeal is everything. Used car buyers (and dealership appraisers) will judge your car by its exterior appearance. If they see a vehicle riddled with door dings, bumper scrapes, and ignored scratches, they see a car that wasn't cared for. They assume that if you didn't care enough to fix the outside, you probably didn't care about the rest of it either. It lowers the perceived value instantly. Maintaining your car’s body and its paint is an investment in your future trade-in value. Paint Damage Spreads Like a Virus When a dent or scrape compromises the integrity of the paint, the surrounding paint loses its grip. High-pressure car washes, wind, and temperature fluctuations cause the paint to flake away from the initial injury site. A scratch the size of a quarter can grow into a patch the size of a softball over a couple of seasons. It’s Easier (and Cheaper) Than You Think Here is the good news: fixing these things early is surprisingly affordable. Modern body shop technology is amazing. For many small dings where the paint isn't cracked, we can use techniques that massage the metal back into place without spraying a drop of paint. River North Collision Repair offers paintless dent repair in Chicago to fix minor dents. Regardless of what nicked your door, we can help remove the dents and maintain a seamless look for your vehicle. Don’t Wait for Problems Don't let minor dents turn into a big nightmare. Save your future self the headache (and the cash). Swing by River North Collision Repair for your quick and easy repairs. Because driving a car you’re proud of? That’s a feeling you can’t put a price on.