Why Is Dent Repair So Expensive?

No matter how safely you drive or how well you treat your car, at some point you will need to have a dent repaired. It could be from road debris bouncing up onto your hood, Collision Repair, hail, or Auto Body repair due to an unforeseen accident but there is no way around it. There is, however, a way around paying too much for the repair work and getting a substandard result. It is a process called is called Paintless Dent Removal.

The standard way to repair a dent is to first remove the paint from the target area. Then the technician will make a small hole in the center of the dent and pull the metal outward. After that you have to fill in the hole and repaint the area. There are two problems with this system:

1. It takes a long time. The dent can be pulled out relatively quickly but the paint job takes time. In many cases the customer will want the entire car to be repainted because the new paint job will not match the manufacturers paint job so the repair will stand out. The manufacturers paint job is always of a much higher quality so local shops cannot match it exactly. Over time, the paint on your car has a tendency to fade.
2. The cars new paint job will not look as good as it originally did. Have you ever noticed how nice and glossy new cars look? The manufacturers have access to paint and machinery that local shops cannot match so if you have to repaint your car in order to fix a dent then you are taking a big step down in aesthetics. The only chance that the paint will come close to matching is if the auto stayed waxed really good and garage kept.

Paintless Dent Repair has quickly become the most popular alternative to use in Auto Body Repair. There are a few situations in which you cannot use Paintless Dent Repair though. As long as the paint has not been damaged and the metal is still flexible, Paintless Dent Removal can be used. In a lot of ways it is the opposite of traditional dent removal because tools are used to push the metal back into place from the inside of the car body. Then a small hammer is used to gently tap the outside of the metal and smooth out any wrinkles or inconsistencies in the metal body. Since it doesn't require a repaint you save a lot of time and money but the best part of Paintless Dent Removal is that you can retain your manufacturers finish. Be careful when choosing a Collision Repair tech to do Paintless Dent Removal. If they do not really know their craft then they can accidentally split the metal while trying to beat it back into shape. Check with your local body shop to see if this service is offered. It is a great way to go.