Towards the topic title, I was really amazed when ChatGPT was able to look at a car ad - and all the scrollable pictures. And one dent (it was a Jaguar) that I claimed I might be able to rubber-mallet out from inside the hood, or perhaps use suction cups, or if nothing else, drill, insert an expander, pull hard. fill and paint (the paint job overall wasn’t that great - something like sandblasting on the hood).
I didn’t really care about the looks - I wanted a stopgap car for a month or so, to be able to travel for test drives. This was a Jaguar listed at £900 ($1216)
The ad: (heh, I assume visible from the USA)
Third picture scrolling to the right…
The superbly concise reply to my thoughts: (removed spaces for brevity)
What the photos show (and what it implies)
1) The dent is not a “tap it out” dent.
It’s a sharp, creased dent right on the swage/character line of the offside front wing (by the wheel arch).
Those are the hardest dents to “bang out nicely” because the metal has stretched and the crease sits on a stiffened line. Paintless dent repair might reduce it, but it’s unlikely to disappear cleanly. Drilling/pulling is bodyshop territory and risks rust + a worse finish.
2) The bonnet looks tired (your “sandblasted” call is fair).
From the front-on photo, the bonnet finish looks patchy/hazy — could be lacquer failure/oxidation/stone rash.
Not fatal on a £900 stopgap, but it’s a signal of “kept running, not cosmetically cherished.”
3) Most important: that wing hit raises a mechanical question.
A whack that creases a wing near the arch can also mean:
the wheel took a knock
alignment could be off
suspension bushes/arms could be stressed
So the right follow-up isn’t “can I fix the dent cheap?” — it’s:
“Does it drive dead straight and vibration-free, and are the tyres wearing evenly?”Your “cheap stopgap” lens: is this worth pursuing?
Maybe — but only as a local, quick viewing (because £900 + long MOT is tempting), and only if you can quickly rule out “hit damaged geometry”.