PRESTON, MD -- The Preston Automotive Group's Autoplex in Preston was in the line of fire for Friday night's hailstorm, according to company leaders. Officials told WBOC they estimate roughly 1500 cars were damaged in the storm.
Preston Ford General Manager Ryan McCracken said the hail caused various dents and damage to their outdoor vehicles.
"We went and took vehicles and put as many as we could into our showroom, but that's not a lot of space," McCracken said. "We didn't think it was going to be as bad as it actually was, but it ended up being one of the worst storms I've seen in the 15 years that I've been in the car business."
McCracken said the company will now start assessing each of the cars for damage.
"We have insurance teams taking a look at all the vehicles, writing estimates," McCracken said. "Then the team in the tent behind us that are going to be fixing everything. These guys, they come from all over the country, so we're told you won't even know the damage was there."
McCracken said the team tasked with fixing the cars estimates they can repair roughly 50 to 100 cars a day.
Preston Automotive Group Chief Operating Officer Chris Marks said they do not know the full extent of the financial damage yet. However, Marks said they are looking to turn a negative situation into a positive one.
According to Marks, all of the damaged cars will be repaired and then sold at a discounted price to their customers, in what company leaders are coining as a 'Hail Sale'.
"Well, what can you do about it? You can't do anything, we don't have any control over it," Marks said. "We hear all of these negative things on the news, the tariffs are happening, COVID happened, and you've got to take it for what it is."
Marks said they estimate the repairs and assessments to take roughly three to five weeks.