After Portland’s massive hailstorm, repair shops are flooded with damaged cars, forcing some repairs to spill over into Corpus Christi.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Auto repair crews in Portland have been working non-stop, dealing with damaged vehicles from last weekend’s hailstorm. In fact, by necessity, some of that business is now spilling over into Corpus Christi.
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From a distance, the dents look like lines and squiggles — but up close, they tell a clear story of just how much damage Saturday’s hailstorm left behind in Portland.
Chris Escobar with Al Willeford Collision Center says he’s never seen anything like it.
“Somewhere between 60 and 70 cars in the lot right now, which in two days is just unbelievable,” he said.
The storm may be over, but Escobar says its impact is still here.
“Portland police chief was right behind me, I was opening up at 7 o’clock and it started from there and it has never stopped,” he said.
Business has been steady since he opened the shop Monday morning.
“People keep coming and coming. They don’t have anywhere to go,” he said.
The work is not only time-consuming, but it also varies from car to car — with some repairs costing tens of thousands of dollars.
“First estimate I wrote, the one that was behind me earlier Monday morning, $24,000. There’s an awful lot of vehicles with that damage on them,” he said.
The damage is also keeping Tito Xayasene, co-owner of Major League Dents in Corpus Christi, busy. He warns that ignoring hail damage now could end up costing you much more later.
“Depending on if they own their vehicle or if it’s a leased vehicle, or if they’re paying on it, there are things called lien holders. Those lien holders are going to hold you responsible for that car because in reality it is their car until you pay it off,” he said.
The repairs are sending his team into maximum overdrive.