Minor Dent Removal

[foris2]

What are you guys using to pull out minor dents (quarter size) on vehicles. Any help or recommendations would be appreciated.

[Tim Lingor]

Hey,

I recommend to people to go to a Paintless Dent Repair (PDR). They have the special tools necessary to actually push out the dents from the inside in such a way that it is hard to tell where the dent actually was! Just IMHO!

Tim

[Tom Weed]

Okay, don't laugh...
I got a Ding King to try out on my OWN vehicles and a friend wanted me to try it out on his truck. I was surprised to see it worked okay on his truck and my two vehicles. The dings are BETTER, but not completely gone. Has to be a flat surface also, but for what I paid for it, I think it was worth it. the couple I had on my Grand Prix are barely noticeable now.

Tom

[Jbirk]

How about visiting a body shop?


I have found that the dealer is often the best shop to go to for some things.

A friend got his door hit with a shopping cart. The dealer simply replaced the entire door pannel with a new section. Quite simply they had a new already painted and baked pannel.

You might be surprized, but they did a fine job.

Not only that it was pre baked, painted with the exact same paint, full clear coat... identicall to the rest of the car and ready to be washed and waxed immediatly.

[foris2]

Thanks for the response. Is the Ding King similar to the Pops-a-Dent? I have the latter, but haven't had the opportunity to use it thus far.

[Jbirk]

I don't think a dent is just magically going to pop back to being perfect.

Sure it will look better, but just bending the metal damages the paint and you will never bend it back exactly.

[Tom Weed]

Well, I have never used a Pop's a dent, just the Ding King. For the few times I have used it, I noticed it may take a few attempts to get the ding out to an acceptable look. It didn't damage the paint and made the ding look much improved, but as I mentioned before, not perfect.

It's all in what your expecting, as Jbirk mentioned, taking it to a dealer or better yet, a PDR specialist can give you better results. It's all about what's acceptable to you and how much are you willing to spend to have it repaired. I am sure a dealer would be pretty expensive where is the Ding King was 19.99, so to me it was worth what I paid for it.

Just my 2 cents,
Tom

[davisinla]

And I'll add my two cents for 1-800-dent-doc.

Had a few little dents (and one pretty decent one) on several of my vehicles. They are all TOTALLY gone.

If the paint isn't damaged, it's pretty amazing what the right person can do.

My advice is NOT to use one of the kits with suction cups. I've never heard one to work well.

YMMV

[piloto117]

Re: Minor Dent Removal

I've got the pops a dent...tried it on my sister's honda civic. Worked OK but not perfect. Most dents still present although less noticeable. If you leave the glue too long it's tough to remove it later on, specially if the surface isn't clean. May want to look into the "dry-ice method" or the "hot-blowdrier-with-the-air-can cleaner method", though I'm not sure how safe it's on the car's paint.

[SHYNEMAN123]

Re: Minor Dent Removal

Pdr in south central pa runs about $ 65.00 per panel and includes up to 3 dents.

Body shop to repair your attempt depending on location of dent could run as much as $ 1,000 depending on vehicle.

Pdr is a touch and feel and sight skill it's very easy to go to far and then your done. Tech's who do it everyday have the touch and are your best bang for the buck imho.

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Minor Dent Removal

A few years ago, My car was caught in a hail storm. The pdr guys did a fabulous job. I would highly recommend them.

[TXShine]

Re: Minor Dent Removal

I'd go with the PDR method. Just do some homework, find the right guy/place and you'll be pleased.