Neighbors across Washington County will recall that brief hail storm that pushed through the area Monday, April 25.
It was quick and in a narrow alley that hit parts of Hartford, Slinger, and West Bend but then left some parts of the community untouched.
One area that sustained quite a bit of damage was Uptown Chrysler Jeep, 1111 E. Commerce Blvd. in Slinger.
“We all just stared out the windows and our hearts just sank,” said new car sales manager Josh Schumacher. “My quote on my video was ‘This is not good.’ It’s a feeling I never want to feel again I’ll tell you that.”
Schumacher said they watched the storm come in around 4 p.m. and the next thing they knew the pea-sized hail turned to golf-ball sized hail
“Watching your inventory get damaged and there’s nothing you can do – that’s a horrible feeling,” he said.
About 350 vehicles, new and used were damaged. “Customers who were in for service had their vehicles damaged and vehicles belonging to staff were also damaged,” he said.
Uptown has been in business 70 years and this is only the second time the dealership has had to handle something like this.
There were meetings last week and on Monday as the management devised a plan on how to handle the situation.
“Uptown’s image has always been to be straight forward and we just figured it would be better to get them fixed and give hail discounts,” Schumacher said. “It’ll save people money and they’re going to get a car as close to new as we can make it.”
Within the next 30 – 45 days all the vehicles are expected to be fixed. “If someone wants a certain vehicle as is, we’ll work with them on the price,” he said.
Because all vehicles sustained a different amount of damage, Schumacher was unable to put a dollar figure on the amount of savings other than to say the damaged vehicles will be “deeply discounted.”
Watch for details on Uptowns “Hail Sale” to be posted in the coming weeks at http://www.washingtoncountyinsider.com
Photo ‘monster hail in Slinger’ courtesy Jaime Gibson Wescher