PHOTOS: Heavy losses and damage to cars in Al Ain after rain and hailstorm

Rashid Al Nuaimi, Staff Reporter

The sales sector of new and used vehicles in Al Ain city suffered major losses and serious damage because of large hailstones that fell on vehicles. It smashed glass of a large number of cars and caused other damages to their bodies, in addition to damaging various parts in conjunction with the rainstorm that hit the region on Monday morning.

Gulf Today monitored a large number of vehicles without glass on the roads of Al Ain, as their owners had to use plastic instead of rear glass, which was the most affected by hailstones. The windshield on many cars was smashed due to the same reason, but remained fixed. Car glass shops could not meet the demand, as their stock finished fast due to the sudden demand.

Many owners of damaged cars reported that the cost of repairs is not covered by their third-party insurance policy, which does not include coverage for natural disasters, so many of them had to cover the rear glass, which was the most damaged, with nylon so as to be able to use the car until a replacement is available.

A number of owners of new and used car showrooms in Al Ain unanimously affirmed that they were incurred great losses estimated at millions because of the hailstones, which never occurred like that before. It caused great damage to new vehicles that have not yet been registered and others imported with customs papers ranging in value of Dhs50,000-500,000 and more.

Saeed Al Zaidi pointed out that 12 vehicles were damaged in the showroom that he owns and that the cost of repairing them amounts to more than Dhs250,000. He explained that there is no insurance coverage for these vehicles, because they have not been registered yet and carry no number plates.

For his part, Sher Nawaz Khan said that the losses he was incurred are great and it is currently difficult to estimate the value of repairing the 23 cars that were parked outside the showroom.  They usually park the cars in the parking lots with little protection from such unexpected weather phenomena.

While, Wali Khan, who had 14 vehicles in his showroom heavily damaged, said that the repair is very difficult, as it requires a large cost.

No inch of any of them was spared from blows and dents that can be dealt with in some workshops that repairing them without repainting, but this is very expensive because the number of blows is large and may need to (plumbing).

He explained that all solutions available are costly in any case, as they include not only the cost of repair, but also the decrease in the value of repaired or repainted vehicle.