Has anyone ever used the services of any of the paintless dent repair companies? If so, how was the experience?
My car got beat up in a hail storm and I need to get it fixed.
From what I understand of the practice, the dent is banged back from the inside.
A hammer and a dolly (a little anvil which sits in the palm of your hand) are both covered with Tyvek or some other non-scratch fabric to prevent scuffing of the paint, and the ding is hammered flat.
Easy to do if the dent is on the hood or trunk lid (the bonnet and boot for you chaps on the other side of the pond). For doors it gets a little tricky…a long metal probe is fished down the glass or a hole is drilled behind the lens of a head or tail light. the tip is pressed against the ding and rubbed flat from the inside.
You came to the right place. My dad does this professionally. Basically he uses a metal rod with a hook on the end. You drill a hole in lets say the door put the rod through and push the dent out from the inside. Later you just cap the hole with a plug. The plugs are specially made to look like they’re supposed to be there. If you have hail damage I would suggest using the normal dent removal. It is really hard to get to dents on hoods and on some parts of the car so you may be better off just spending the extra few hundred on a body shop. Paintless is cheaper but not all places are accesable with the tools used. Plus removing hail damage is a long aggrevating job. For the occasional ding paintless is great, but for hail damage and larger dents you should go to a body shop.
Just thought I’d give an update on my experience. I took my car to a local Dent Wizard office. Picked it up the next day, and I can’t even tell there was ever a dent in it. All the little hail dings and a couple of bigger dents from things being blown into the car during the storm are gone without a trace. Cheaper than the body shop and a whole lot faster.
cstamets, how much did you pay? Was their estimate the same?
The estimate was the same as the final price. Total cost was about $1000. Estimate from the body shop was about $3500. That included replacing both fenders and the trunk lid and repainting the entire car. The car had hail damage to both fenders, both doors, both quarter panels and the trunk.