Storms damage cars in Applegate Chevy lot

FLINT (WJRT) (WJRT) -- (07/06/07)--Thursday's wild weather had many across Mid-Michigan cleaning up Friday. And perhaps no one more than the crew at Applegate Chevrolet.

The car dealership on south Saginaw just north of Atherton suffered big damage Thursday night. It has some taking action to make sure the storm doesn't hit this dealership's bottom line.

Dents. Dings.

"(There was) quite a bit of hail damage. It lasted about 15 minutes," said Applegate general sales manager Pete Wills.

And hours later, it brought a ton of headaches: a dealership dealing with a major mess.

"I've never seen anything like it," Wills said.

Thursday's wild weather meant a full Friday of cleanup and counting the damage at Flint's Applegate Chevrolet.

Of the nearly 400 cars on the lot, managers can't find one that came through unharmed. Cleaning up means rakes, car washes, a lot of work, a lot of money and phone calls to both insurance companies and General Motors Corp.

"We're going to take a little bit of a negative and turn it into a positive situation for not only us, but also for our customers," Wills said.

The dealership will replace most of the inventory and likely sell off slightly damaged cars in a "Hail Sale."

"You really have to get in the right light to see them," Wills said.

Though you can't see the damage too easily, you can see the force of the storm. That, and the dealership's plan to pick up.

"In this business, you never know," Wills said. "You're always dealing with adversity in some way, shape or form."

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