Minimizing Auto Finish Work with Dentless Paint Repair

No one ever wants to get a dent or ding, especially in a new car or truck. However it occurs, many dents can now be removed without a trace leaving the original paint finish intact. Paintless Dent Removal (PDR) has evolved over the last decade with advanced tools and techniques, and in the hands of a skilled PDR technician, large dents, up to the size of a football can be removed from a body panel. The process does not involve sanding, body filler or repainting.

Paintless Dent Repair not only offers convenience and quality restoration, it can save time and money over traditional auto body repair. Whenever possible, it is better to maintain a vehicle’s original paint finish as this retains a higher value than a repainted vehicle.

PDR is extremely effective in fixing auto body damage caused by hail storms. In the last four to five years, Paintless Dent Repair has grown as a repair technology in large part to new capabilities for removing increased dent sizes, from the size of a tennis ball to the size of a football. With the current auto production using high strength steel and more resilient paint finishes, PDR is a viable alternative to traditional auto body repair.

Paintless dent repair is effective for the following circumstances:

• very small dings to large dents;
• newer model vehicles (1990 and later);
• the paint finish has not been broken or cracked;
• the dent location is not on the edge of a panel;
• the panel has not had previous body repair.

A number of advantages for paintless dent repair include:

• no body filler, sanding or repainting needed;
• less expensive than traditional body repair;
• same-day service in most cases;
• no risk of paint overspray on other vehicle areas;
• no risk of incorrect color matching;
• vehicle retains original paint.

How Is It Done?

Using fabrication tools, a technician pushes the metal back into its original shape from behind the dent. Depending on the location of the damage, the panel surface is accessed by removing trim pieces, through window openings or by removing inner panels. In a typical dent removal, the metal around the outside edge of the dent in slowly reshaped back into its original position making the dent progressively smaller as it is worked from the outside edge. eventually The dent becomes so small it blends with the texture of the paint and becomes invisible.