Hailstones

Archives of Posts to the NZ MX5 List back in 2005
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Mark O'Sullivan

Hailstones

Post by Mark O'Sullivan » Sat Nov 26, 2005 4:08 pm

Hi all

Is anyone on the list in the region North of Auckland which was pelted with
heavy hail earlier today? I heard many of the hailstones were larger than
golf balls and that some cars were dented and the windscreens shattered.

You'd definitely wouldn't want the roof down in the MX5 with a dose of
hailstones that large while trundling along...

Cheers
Mark

chrissy

Hailstones

Post by chrissy » Sat Nov 26, 2005 5:05 pm

I hadn't heard about that, but I have experienced it just recently whilst in
the Gold Coast. It was the most frightning thing I've ever seen. It wiped
out all of the windscreens in the cars parked at wet n wild including ours.
It also dented nearly every panel on our car and the bloody rental car
company charged us $3500 excess. Dont hire a car from Avis, they really
decieve you with there so called rental quotes. I think a soft top would've
been better than a solid top. Saw a convertable that had all of the panels
damaged and roof was fine.

Mark O'Sullivan

Hailstones

Post by Mark O'Sullivan » Sat Nov 26, 2005 6:25 pm

Hi Chrissy

I've just seen a TV3 report on the hailstone incident - up in Kaiwaka - but
the report was far short of the detail I heard from an RNZ report earlier
today. I heard that there were heavy falls in the Warkworth and Wellsford
areas too.

Good grief, that's incredible that you should have hit with that excess the
way you were by Avis on The Gold Coast. You'd have expected that their
insurance would cover damage of that kind - I mean - you didn't
intentionally look for a hail storm and go park the car underneath it. Or is
it one of those clauses the insurance companies have where they can wriggle
out - i.e. one those Acts of God exclusion clauses?

Whatever the case - $3,500 out of pocket - ouch! You have my sympathy over
that one Chrissy!

Cheers
Mark

Michael & Kate Cooper

Hailstones

Post by Michael & Kate Cooper » Sat Nov 26, 2005 9:44 pm

We just rented a camper-van in Brisbane and the excess was $5000 - whether
or not the damage was our fault. There was a "buy a lower excess" option,
which we didn't take. But we were made well aware that we would have to pay
up to $5000 if anything went wrong.

We only saw about 10 Mx5s in our 10 day trip - and none had the top down. I
think it's a bit too hot and sunny there ...? NZ probably has the best MX5
weather in the world!

Ciao

Kate

Mark O'Sullivan

Hailstones

Post by Mark O'Sullivan » Sat Nov 26, 2005 10:22 pm

Many thanks for that valuable info regarding the lower excess option Kate -
I'll keep it firmly in mind when I visit Aussie next year when I'll be
needing a hire car.

Cheers and Thanks again
Mark

Vince
See my 5 and raise you.
See my 5 and raise you.
Posts: 99
Joined: Mon May 22, 2006 6:57 pm

Hailstones

Post by Vince » Sun Nov 27, 2005 10:03 am

We rented a 4 berth camper in Germany recently and travelled with it through
5 countries and we had to pay a 1000 Euro [about $1800] refundable bond
which was also the excess if we had to make a claim, but that is also the
maximum we would be paying even if the van was written off. Vince.

EricW
See my 5 and raise you.
See my 5 and raise you.
Posts: 95
Joined: Wed May 24, 2006 7:07 pm
Location: Whangaparaoa

Hailstones

Post by EricW » Sun Nov 27, 2005 10:28 am

We rent MX5s in Rarotonga fairly frequently, (in fact I just booked one for
Xmas today), and their excess is $2000, which reduces to, I think, about
$500 if you pay a $4.00 per day waiver. I always pay the waiver, no matter
where I rent. They take two Credit Card impressions, one for the rental and
one for the excess, the second of which they return when you bring the car
back undamaged.

The problem with high excesses is that they can use even a small piece of
damage to claim your excess, and if you are oversesas and about to board a
plane, you are not in a strong position to argue, (as in Chrissy's situation
I certainly would have, because the attitude displayed by Avis was plainly
unreasonable).You can finish up paying a big price for a small scratch.

The higher the excess, the more suspicious you should be, because Rental
companies actually enjoy very favourable rates of insurance because of their
negotiating power and the size of their business. Many of the big ones
actually self-insure.

Since the advent of digital cameras, it is cheap and easy to photograph,
(preferably in front of the rental clerk), any pre-existing damage to the
car.This at least gives you a basis for argument.

Eric

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