I have a 2008 XJ. We had a hale storm and I have some dents on the top of the trunk near the back. The car was parked under a covered space, so luckily the damage is just confined to a small area on the rear of the trunk. I want to have it fixed using PDR (paintless dent removal) process, but a couple of places told me that a few of the dents are too deep to repair properly. I may end up having to replace my trunk lid, which I don't want to do if at all possible as then it would need to be painted, and I'm trying to avoid any painting if at all possible. My biggest concern is the paint not matching, or as one guy told me, it's not the paint that is the problem, but the clear coat that would maybe be a problem. Two questions that hopefully someone can answer. Where would be a good place to get a trunk lid if I end up having to go that route. And as far as painting is concerned, are there shops that maybe specialize in painting Jags that could match the color better, or is most any body shop able to match the paint correctly? The color is Indigo Blue and also has a metallic in it.I hope that I don't sound stupid, but I have never had any body work and painting done ever, so this is new to me.

 

A trick I've seen work, and it sure can't hurt to try it. Take a blow dryer, and heat the dent. Then quickly take dry ice and place it over the dent, this should cool the metal very quickly, and shrink it causing the metal to pop, and remove the dent. First problem is where to get dry ice? Second be sure to use the hair dryer on high. It shouldn't be hot enough to scorch the paint, but be careful ! If it doesn't pop it on the first try, just repeat the process until the dents are removed. It's not 100% fool proof, but I've seen some nasty dents come out using the dry ice. Hope it helps.

Jack

 

No comprehensive insurance?

Colour matching isn't an issue using a reputable body shop..

 

No comprehensive insurance?

Colour matching isn't an issue with a reputable body shop..

 

If a PDR shop says some dents are too deep then they are ! It is now a toss-up between labour costs to ease out the dents, then fill and smooth off with some filler, then paint, OR find another trunk lid and fit and paint that. I suspect that fitting an undamaged lid will be cheaper. Places that part-out written-off cars are probably the best place to look.
Here's a UK one: -
https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/26332014607...iABEgLEwPD_BwE

 

I know this works on steel...does it work on aluminum?

 

HHHHMMMMM?????? I'm not sure. I've never seen it done on aluminum. The process should still work in theory, as heating the metal makes it more malleable, and the cooling it very quickly causes it to shrink rapidly popping, the dent out. We had a Huge hail storm back a long time ago 1978, and the local Buick dealer had just opened his "New" dealership, and had 300+ cars sitting out. So every Body Shop in town was overwhelmed, with hundreds of cars, covered with hail damage. This is when paintless dent repair became a big thing. People started a bunch of small businesses removing dents, some used hammer and dolly, some used dry ice. Both ways were pretty effective. But back then all the cars were steel. So all I can say is it's worth a try. The worst that could happen, is it doesn't completely remove the dent. Hope it helps.

Jack

 

There are a couple reasons a dent would be to deep to be correctly repaired, #1 is that the metal has stretched to much, which usually cracks the paint. Which is the # 2 reason, the paint has cracked. If the paint is not cracked, or flaking. Then the dry Ice should have a good chance of removing the dent. As it will shrink the metal. And if it doesn't work, you're no worse off then when you started. Some people give up to easily. And you sure can't succeed if you don't try.

Jack

 

Hmmm...the max temp recorded in Arizona is 125degF (49degC). How the H did you manage to get hail damage?
(OK OK. The min recorded temp is -40(F and C) and apparently there are ski resorts as well.)

For a moment I got excited by Fraser's EBAY reference, the best bet being to find an X35(?) Indigo Blue written off in the front. Oh well...

I would balk at a repaint. It's not the colour match, which will be perfect. It's just that a repaint can always be detected by professionals, by the finish I guess. (e.g. if someone gets it professionally appraised when you come to sell).

I'd be wondering how much/many dents are left after PDR. I mean, every car has some dents or scratches here & there. I fret over my new scratches every day including..., nearly forgot I'm not going to tell anyone where they are.

These XJ's have a certain amount of "Orange Peel" in the reflections, a good standard vehicle finish but not exactly an RR.
Actually, my car does have a slightly different texture in the gold metallic paint somewhere, or I think it does, but I also think it's the quality of the paint job when new and not a repaint. (because it's a section of a panel, extremely slight, and whereas any panelbeater would repaint an entire panel) Just don't upset me more than I am :-)
If it makes you feel better: (NOT)
https://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-heral...-damage-claims
https://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-heral...maged-vehicles

 

Maybe if DC could post a couple of photos we'll have a better idea of how recoverable the bootlid is. A few years ago I was in Germany on holiday and touring the Mosel valley. We were in a shop in Bernkastel-Kues and what sounded like an air raid siren went off. I asked the shop manager what this was, and she told me it was a storm warning. Well, some storm !! As we drove along the valley we could see vine terraces smashed up, and several cars damaged. My car was a 2003 XJ6 so the same model as DC's. The storms here in summer apparently can generate huge hail storms with hail the size of golf *****. We saw a house in a small village with all the tiles smashed up, and a rather excited German shouting "alles kaput, alles kaput". He opened his hand to show us a golf-ball sized hail stone !! This stuff can seriously damage a car especially the aluminium skin of the X350s. I decide to get the hell out and we immediately set course back to our holiday flat in Bacharach on the Rhine !!

My money would be on getting a replacement boot lid.

 

No, the paint is not cracked, or flaking. And I thought the same thing, I'd be no worse off if it doesn't work as then I could just have it done conventionally and have the paint touched up and hope it looks right. A few people on here have suggested the dry ice method, I had never heard of that. I found a guy that has been doing PDR since the 1990s and is supposed to be really good, and he is going to try out a few of the dents to see how it goes. It's funny, I've talked to a few PDR guy's about this, and none of them mentioned the dry ice procedure. I'm thinking, or hoping that it will be fixable. The two places that said it can't be done were body shops that have a guy that comes in to do PDR on request, and I don't know, but, I just thought they were saying that as it is a much more expensive job to do it the way they want and to repaint it, and insurance is paying for it, so they are able to make a lot more money.
Later today I will take a picture and post it.

 

Here are some pictures that I just took of the damage. In the second picture it appears to have scratches, or something. It doesn't, I don't know what that is. I just washed the car and I think that is lint from the cloth, or something, but I didn't see that when I took the picture, weird! Also, in the third picture you can see that a couple of the dents are a little deeper than most of the rest, but there are only a couple of those.

 

Looking at the photo, I think you might get away with a PDR, but you won't know until a PDR man has had a go at them. It must have been some hail storm to make dents like that !!

 

I'm sorry about the damage from the storm. The one problem I see from the photos is that a few of the dens may be near a support brace under the lid. If that is the case neither method will likely work. I grew up in northeastern Colorado and hail was very common. The damage could very from what you have to very, very, bad.. We used to have dents like you have on our light trucks and in the hot summer at harvest we would let them set in the bright sun then hit them with cold well water. Some would pop out some wouldn't. Dry ice would have probably worked better but we never tried that. (You should be able to get dry ice from a grocery store, I can here in northern California.) The main problem with the repaint is you will have new paint and old paint on the car and both will "age" differently. The match will probably look very good at first but you may begin to see a difference over time. A good body shop can minimize the appearance difference better than a cheaper shop. Since the entire lid will be repainted you may not be as bad as you fear. Check with local body shop supply.places and see if they can recommend a good shop.

 

Well, https://dentdoc.co.nz/dent-removal-gallery/
especially the wheel arch with a restored crease.
I'd say forget DIY dry ice. A lot of practice would be necessary.
https://dentmagician.co.nz/hail-damage.html for hail hope.
(sorry just examples from my own country. "National Hail Team" I love it!)

And all you X350 owners who think the X358 spoiler is just bling - it protects 2% of the trunk!!! <sticks chest out>

 

As to experts being able to detect repaint jobs, any good detailer/paint correction person can spot them, after working the paint. I feel terrible seeing that damage. We had a pretty good hail storm last year, but my car survived it without a hit, even if our Polycarbonate roof on the new gazebo looks like it took multiple shotgun blasts.

Note: You need to confirm that any PDR shop has significant work time and experience with aluminum. And no, heat-cool jobs using heat guns and dry ice do not work well or at all with aluminum. Its much softer than steel (Jaguar used thicker panels to overcome and there are 5 different aluminum types used on the X350. They continue to refine the process, in which they are truly unique among manufacturers in doing aluminum monocoque structures. Audi A8 used a space frame technique that i understand adds as much as 800 lbs to a finished car. Unfortunately with current models the weight savings is shrinking probably due to other content.

You are really smart to "know what you don't know" and research the hell out of this before committing. Standard body shop methods will ruin that car, period. There is stock on brand new deck lids at not insane prices - well, that's debatable. Best bet is probably still a perfect, and I mean perfect Deck lid from a breaker. If you didn't know, the back panel where the license plate mounts separates from the top section (it's plastic) and the spoiler can be removed as well. That means repainting just the top panel. You want the best paint shop you can find, and I don't mean the one that you brother in-laws neighbors nephews landscaper recommends. This is where you need to do research. Its worth getting right. These are beautiful cars of a period that won't come again, except at classic car meets. Sure they aren't 1950's or 60's Jags but its amazing how much appreciation they are starting to get, now that the XJ will live on only as a fully electric vehicle starting next year.

Best of luck, take your time. You will be glad you did.

 

I would give what Blairware said some considerable thought. I had not realized your deck lid is aluminum. Is the entire car aluminum? Or just various panels? I know when Ford redid the bed for their truck in aluminum. It created differences in the way bodyshops had to work on them. So there may definitely something to it. As Blairware said, Research the He Double Hockey sticks out of it. A replacement is looking better, and better. Maybe you will get lucky, and find one the same color, and won't even have to repaint it. Look up LKQ on the internet, as they are a nation wide collection of salvage yards, and they can locate one in any of their yards, and have it shipped right to you. I've bought several things from them . Good Luck.

Jack

 

The whole car body shell, doors, boot and bonnet is aluminium. Aerospace glue and rivets are used instead of spot welds. Apart from the E-Pace, all Jaguars are aluminium, although Jaguar are now using some steel in the XE and XF saloons and also the F-Pace. The last of the XJ saloons is also aluminium. The F-type is all aluminium. Working with, and painting of, aluminium needs different techniques to those for steel. For instance carborundum flatting paper should not be used on aluminium.

 

It's interesting how many Jaguar owners are unaware of one of Jaguars unique approach to car building. An expensive investment and one that other makes can't simply "switch to". Whatever you think of Ford's ownership years, they invested billions into Jaguar in the 90's and early 2000's to create, refine and develop aluminum (aluminium to the Brits and the Aussies, because they HAVE to have a different word for, um... everything?) Ford gave Jaguar the chance to modernize factory floors that looked 500 years out of date (because they were) and hearken back to the glory days of the E-Type Lightweights of the 1960's, though those were hand built.

When these cars started arriving here in 04 - a year after the UK release, Jaguar set up associations with specific body shops, created training programs with extensive written and video in techniques to work on the unique at the time structures. The cars have sacrificial front sections meant to absorb and deflect collision forces, preventing damage to the monocoque. As Fraser said, there are 3700+ rivets, and a hundred or more feet aerospace adhesives in use. It had some growing pains and some issues to resolve. If you look at the doors, hood (bonnet) trunk (boot) seams, you will see all are filled with wind deflecting weatherstripping. Because its is very much like an aluminum riveted fuselage of an airplane they had to silence some sonic issues. The addition of acoustic laminated glass and strategic insulation is the key to get the quiet interior of a luxury car without adding back all the weight save with aluminum! And they ARE quiet. When you get in and just close the door, notice how dead silent the car is in a noisy world!

I'm reprinting the Wikipedia section on Jaguar's aluminum bodywork - the lack of "Springback" - an ability to revert to original shape due to aluminum's softer properties - incredible engineering that was never recouped during the X350's lifespan. What naysayers don't cover is that Jaguar is STILL reaping the rewards of this development - across the entire line and the keep improving on it. Reprint is from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar_XJ_(X350)The stressed aluminum unibody used 15 aluminum castings, 35 extrusions and 284 stampings[11] bonded using 120 yards of robotically-applied, heat-cured, aerospace-grade epoxy adhesives and approximately 3,200 self-piercing zinc-coated, boron steel rivets[12] — Jaguar's first use of self-piercing rivets.[13] In addition to the rivets, which do not require a predrilled or punched hole, each rivet making its own hole on insertion,[14] the process also uses a small number of nuts, bolts, and spot welds.[15] Castings and extrusions accounted for about 11 percent of the XJ bodyshell.[16]

To ensure manufacturing feasibility, numerous styling elements required redesign to accommodate forming in aluminum rather than steel, including the hood/bonnet profiles, especially around the headlamps; the radii in the fender-to-bumper gaps and the rear fender/door shut pressing; the side light configuration and the bodyside ‘haunch’.[2] Chief Program engineer Russ Varney said the XJ also taught Jaguar "about the springback of stamped parts, where the pieces won't keep their exact shape."[16]

To reduce front-end collision repair cost and ameliorate increased insurance rates associated with aluminum construction, the body was designed to withstand an impact of 10 mph without structural damage and used a bolt-on front-end module (BOFE).[8][3] A hydroformed aluminum extrusion with an energy absorbing foam cover formed a bumper beam cross-member, to provide strength and crushability in the event of a minor collision. Sacrificial extruded aluminum "crash cans" were designed to protect the body structure and front-end componentry.[3]

Steel is used for front and rear subframes and magnesium (as strong as aluminum while 30 percent lighter) is used for seat frames and lateral instrument panel beam.[3]If your not sound asleep from boredom, there are a few interesting articles on the development story of our cars. Here is one I enjoy:

Jaguar - the Jag-lovers X350 Launch Page

 

I saved my car from the crusher a few years ago. The only thing "I" can see is slightly larger metal flakes in the Indigo Blue paint. Had to have them buff out the orange peel twice to match the surrounding paint areas. They first told me that the orange peel level was the factory standard level. Then I told them to show me that same level of factory orange peel ANYWHERE else on the car. Then they started cutting.the paint Maybe an orange peel level on a buick, but not on these Jags. I saved the car from the crusher, repair looks great to everyone else, and have no intention on telling the next owner about the respray, as I'm the last owner of this car. And I get to drive it every day with a smile on my face.
A GOOD PDR should be able to get those dents out I've seen worse pulled out of aluminum bodys. As stated prior, the braces might be in the way, but many times a good PDR can get around most of them. When I had PDR done on my car right after purchase, I was worried the aluminum wouldn't hold the repair like steel. But 8 yrs later none of them came back.