When your car gets damaged by hail, seek hail damage repair right away – learn about modern restoration methods by searching for “paintless dent repair near me.” Paintless dent repair (PDR) is a non-invasive and methodical process that can restore your vehicle’s worth and appearance when completed by an experienced PDR technician. In most cases, PDR is the best solution for auto hail damage repair, saving many drivers considerable time, money and hassle when compared to traditional repair processes. Due to the cost and reduction in value that occurs from using traditional hail repair methods, many individuals have made the following common mistakes, which should be avoided whenever possible.
Here’s what not to do when your car is damaged by hail.
1. Attempting DIY Dent Removal
The dents from hail on your vehicle may seem small, but certainly pack a punch in terms of how much they reduce the value of your vehicle. When there’s not much visible damage, you may be tempted to repair them on your own. You may wonder, why pay for dent removal costs when you could easily watch a YouTube repair video or buy a PDR kit and repair the dents yourself? Here’s why that’s detrimental.
For starters, there’s no guarantee that the DIY methods you’ve seen on the internet will prove successful. Testing out videos using dry ice, plunger, hair dryer or more could possibly do more harm than good. Similarly, if you’re not a PDR expert, you may end up doing more harm to your car by using the wrong technique, or the wrong PDR tools. For instance, you may not know which size and shape of PDR tabs to use, or which reflector board and dent lifter to use.
Worst case, you may chip, scratch or dislodge the original factory paint on the car. When this happens, PDR may be no longer applicable, and without repairs, rust will form and spread on your vehicle. This means you’ll have to replace the car panels or resort to expensive traditional repairs which use Bondo filler and require repainting. All these methods will interfere with the factory finish of your car, which is the best protection against rust and is guaranteed by warranty to last – invalidating that warranty significantly reduces the value of your vehicle. That’s why it’s important to protect the condition of your vehicle’s paint at all costs.
2. Waiting Until the Hail Season Is Over to Seek Dent Repair or Claim Insurance
PDR experts advise car owners to seek paintless dent repair as soon as their cars get hail damage. When hail damage occurs, be it on the roof, hood, or trunk, you should start searching for paintless dent repair near me. If you wait for the hail season to end, another round of hailstorms will worsen the existing dents and increase your costs. If the second round of damage results in cracked paint, rust will begin time form and spread, eating into the metal panels.
Additionally, you may miss the window to file an insurance claim or invalidate a claim for your dent removal costs if you delay hail damage repair. Instead, you should take clear pictures of hail damage and send them to your auto insurance company to begin the claim process right away. You may also search for paintless dent repair near me and share the pictures with your preferred PDR shop to get a cost estimate. The top PDR technicians in your area will coordinate with your insurance to facilitate the claim process and fix the hail dents quickly.
3. Neglecting to Get an Estimate for PDR Hail Damage Removal
The biggest mistake people make is not getting their vehicle evaluated for PDR repairs after hail damage happens and instead taking their vehicle straight to an auto body shop for traditional repairs. When the hail dents are repaired by a top PDR technician, your car will not be left with incomplete seals, imperfect color matches, over-spray, or damage to adjacent painted panels that comes from traditional repair methods. PDR preserves your vehicle’s factory finish to ensure that your car keeps its value while getting its appearance restored. It’s faster, more cost-effective, preferred by insurance companies and more beneficial for your investment in your vehicle. It takes years of practice and experience for a technician to become a PDR expert capable of repairing hail damage – your vehicle is in good hands with certified PDR technicians. The top PDR technicians in Rapid City have over 30 years of experience and they can fix all car models.
Paintless dent repair is the ultimate hail damage repair method. When your car sustains hail damage, you can trust an experienced PDR technician to repair the dents quickly and expertly, and also coordinate with your insurance to assist with the claims process. Contact Dent Shop today for a free estimate and to learn more about the benefits of PDR for hail dent removal.