As some of you know my car was pelted by a major hail storm in the Phoenix area in early October, it was at my mechanic's shop at the time. After he took it to a friend's body shop they were certain it would need new bonnet and boot panels.

Well the initial claim settlement of $2,100.00 was to fix it with paintless dent repair. H20 Boy, to his credit, said it could be done but I was still very skeptical. The body shop called up the insurer and the claim was revised to a total of 124 quarter size dents and a shattered windshield. After the 2nd adjuster went out the claim was augmented with another $2,200.00. So after a month and $3,500.00 of paintless repair (and a new $800.00 windshield) she's back. Looks great, just need to take it back to get a few rattles addressed in the windshield header.

Unfortunately I still have a couple of scrapes and stone chips up front, the estimate for respray is $3,600.00! Ugh, the hail was unlucky but unfortunately (or fortunately) it didn't do enough damage to warrant new panels and a respray - happy and bummed at the same time.

 

I am a previous owner of a body shop. I would not have anything to do with paintless dent repair. Since I retired I decided to have some dents fixed in my truck. There was no paint damage, just dents. As the guy worked on my truck I watched and asked questions. I was totally impressed. Now maybe he worked harder for me because he new of my bodyshop experiance. I don't know. I'm sure it's all a matter of talent. This guy was good. Oh....also you might find it intersting to now that me guys would not work hail damage. They said you could never get it right. I know we couldn't make any money doing it.

 

I've heard that the paintless dent repair sometimes works, and other times the dent will reappear over time. With dozens of dents on a hood and trunk lid I'd think that eventually a few of them would come back.

 

Supposedly all the repairs are guaranteed for as long as I own the car so we'll see.

 

What causes the dent to reappear?

 

Most metals "remember" the shape that they were in when they were pressed by the factory. It has to do with the very high temperatures experienced when tons of force press it into a template. Once a spot is weakened by a dent it can be a little softer and more malleable.

I've never heard of painless dent repairs popping in again; but I recently learned that you cannot do it to stainless. It is too soft a metal and while you straighten one spot, it will curve around it.

 

Our two month old 2002 Town and Country was caught in a hail storm and had beaucoup dents. We didn't want the standard repair with a complete repaint so we chose paintless dent repair. The result was 99.9% perfect and no worries as to whether the paint job would be any good.

We still have the van and it's looking great. I would absolutely go again with paintless dent repair if it were an option.

 

Guys, see this website-- http://www.dentexperttraining.com/ --for info on paintless dent repair from one of the leading experts in the business. He also has lots of really eye-opening videos posted to YouTube that will help you kill a few hours on a Saturday.

I managed to "massage" a very small ding on my drivers door just using finger pressure on the door exterior. I would not hesitate calling on a paintless expert, providing he does not use the "sharp" tool techniques.

 

I have nad more than a dozen dings repaired using paintless process over the last 8 years and never has one "returned".

 

A few years ago there used to be a lot of guys advertising mobile ding repair where they would come to you house or place of business and take car of dings (or even bigger dents). I recall that these guys also worked with the various car dealerships. I and a few friends of mine have used these services in the past and were very pleased with the results. Sadly, these mobile type guys are not as available anymore (at least in my area)--the one I used was called DentWizard.

If you google "ding fix" or similar, you will come across some do-it-yourself techniques for addressing dings or small dents. These all typically involve the use of dry ice or liquid oxygen to first cool the area and then a heat gun or blow dryer to heat the area. This reportedly causes the ding/dent to pop out. I tried this with some dings on my wife's car but did not have much luck. I am not sure what the DentWizard-type guys use.

Doug

 

Doug--

I think Dent Wizard is one of those franchise outfits that trains and sells dent removal tools. It's apparently pretty tough to make a living doing this, so it's not surprising that there are a not as many working this trade in today's market. Apparently most end up working for used car dealers doing piece work. See my link above for the lowdown on someone who does it right and has made a very successful move to retail business. I was impressed with his skill and acumen. I have some dents on my Acura MDX that need fixing, but I will seek out someone who uses "soft" tools rather than the more commonly used "sharp" tools that most paintless pros use.

 

When the damage permits, and done right, this technique is way better than filler and paint, IMO. I had a friggin' crab apple of all things land on the hood of my previous car. It was a pretty good ding ... size of a quarter maybe. But I never could find that spot again after it was repaired.

Every dealership will have one of these guys they know and trust. If you can get someone to tell you who they use, he'll probably come to your home and make things right.

 

Definitely right about stainless...however dry ice is your best friend for stainless steal dent removal. Used it on my delorean with perfect results. DON'T use it on painted finishes.

The bonnet of the xk8 is a trick because it is aluminum.

 

I was surprized to hear this, so I just tested my '97's bonnet with a magnet. It stuck like crazy, so it is definetly NOT aluminum.

John