Dent Repair is Becoming Less Expensive

If you have a major car accident a full-service body shop is likely your best bet for repair or replacement parts and expert labor to get your car back on the road and looking good. But perhaps you just experience a minor fender bender, or you accidentally bump into a post at the gas station and you simply need some minor dent repair. Over the last ten years there has been a surge in businesses that offer minor dent repair in place of a full-service body shop.

Paintless dent repair is a very viable alternative to the body shop. Technicians specializing in dent removal have a multitude of tools at their disposal. They remove small trim pieces or inner panels from your vehicle to access the dent from behind. These tools are specially formed so the technician can work from the edges of the dent inward, allowing him to caress and manipulate the metal back to its original form.

When paintless dent removal first came on the scene technicians were only able to perform ding or dent repairs the size of a tennis ball. Today, with more specialized tools and techniques having been developed, dents a little larger than a football can be repaired. Some techniques even use an air bladder system in which an empty nylon bladder is placed between panels and then gradually inflated to work out the dent.

Cars made after about 1995 are best-suited for dent removal. The metal in body panels is stronger and the paint is more pliant and flexible. And retaining the original paint is crucial. A vehicle has much greater resale value if the integrity of the finish remains and the vehicle is not patched up with body filler.

A few things to keep in mind: The urban legend of using a hair dryer or dry ice to pop out a ding or dent can be tricky. First, the dent may come back when the temperature of the metal cools. Also, the heat could potentially damage the paint. Technicians use dozens of differently shaped tools to massage and coax the metal back to its original shape, and they are experienced to know how much heat to apply without causing damage.

Auto body and dent repair using paintless techniques is almost always cheaper than a dealership or body shop, and the work is usually done within a couple hours versus a few days.