Hail brings car bargains
It lacked the oomph of 2010 but Perth's second big hail deluge in four years could yield another bargain bonanza for car buyers.
Affected car yards, mostly on Wanneroo Road from Balcatta to Wangara, are expected to cut prices on new and used vehicles dimpled in Saturday's hailstorm.
Australia's biggest car retailer, AHG, was among the worst hit with almost 1800 cars at nine sites having varying levels of damage.
AHG West Coast Automotive chief operating officer Tony Salerno said the public could expect "good discounts" on affected vehicles. An insurance assessment would determine prices.
He said most vehicles were lightly damaged with small dents on the roof, bonnet and boot.
DVG Wanneroo service manager Stephen Hincks said about 300 cars at their Mitsubishi and Isuzu UTE dealerships on Lancaster Road got "peppered".
"There's a good chance there will be discounts," he said.
Motor Trade Association chief executive Stephen Moir was relieved the hail was confined to a small corridor in Perth's northern suburbs compared with the widespread system of 2010, when 40,000 cars were written off.
Mr Moir said independent dealerships around Wangara would be doing it tough in coming months because they simply could not afford hail insurance.
He said smaller dealers were prepared to forgo the "six-figure premiums" because WA hailstorms were so infrequent.
The RAC said yesterday it had 1000 claims from customers affected by the weekend's wild weather and SGIO fielded more than 450.
