When dealing with vehicle damage from inclement weather, whether from hail damage or due to storms causing tree limbs or debris to hit your car, it can be frustrating to find skilled professionals capable of fixing these issues. Hailstones especially can cause extensive cosmetic and structural damage. The good news is, paintless dent repair (PDR) can remove dents of many different sizes and depths resulting from a hailstorm. Here’s how paintless dent repair can fix hail damage and restore your car to its original condition.
What exactly is paintless dent repair?
Paintless dent repair, as the name suggests, is a process that repairs dents and dings (without paint damage present) caused by hail and other sources. It is a delicate process that requires intensive training and experience from the technician performing the repairs. Professionals who can properly apply this repair method are able to fix dents of varying depths, circumferences and locations on a vehicle.
The process of paintless dent repair relies on a strategic approach. First and foremost, technicians will assess the damage done to the car. Because this repair method requires intense attention to detail, technicians sometimes require extra time to prepare the vehicle. Much of the preparatory work involves assessing the damaged panels of the vehicle under specific lighting and coming up with a plan for the repairs. Technicians use specialized tools to slowly and precisely push any dents out from the bottom side of the car’s panels.
How can paintless dent repair contribute to hail damage repair?
Experts say that between 80% to 90% of hail dents can be repaired using paintless dent repair (PDR) techniques. Because the possible damage caused by hail can vary so widely, using paintless techniques is one of the best ways to restore your car’s panels to the original condition. Minor dings can be easily handled using paintless repair techniques.
At an auto body shop, dents are either sanded, filled in and repainted over or the panel with damage is replaced altogether. With hail damage, the labor-intensive process of sanding and grinding away paint, applying bondo filler to the dent cavity then using multiple coats of paint is time consuming and expensive. Often, a professional may suggest replacing the entire panel instead of using a traditional method for hail damage. Rather than pay a larger sum to replace an entire panel with mere dimples or minor dents in the metal from hailstones, a PDR technician can massage those dents out for a fraction of the cost.
Who can I trust to repair hail damage with PDR?
Because the dent-repair techniques used in the paintless dent repair process are so specific and specialized, it’s important to have repairs completed at a local, reputable PDR shop. Storm chasers that immediately move on to the next hail site are difficult to hold accountable if the repairs are not up to par. Whereas a local, established company with a physical location has their PDR technicians and specialists always on-site, meaning they can be relied upon to deliver quality work every time.
You definitely don’t want to take your vehicle to just anyone once you notice hail damage. As you probably know, hail damage can be quite severe depending on the situation. Neglecting to have that hail damage fixed can significantly reduce the value of your vehicle. For these reasons, it’s crucial to take the time to research and locate a repair shop that specializes in paintless dent repair for hail damage.
Many regular auto body repair shops, unfortunately, do not have the proper equipment or trained specialists to perform accurate and reliable paintless dent repair. In this case, you may need to consult with other experts in the field to find a shop that can perform the type of work that you need. This may mean foregoing your usual mechanic or auto body repair shop in order to get your vehicle hail damage fixed thoroughly, efficiently and cost-effectively with PDR.
If your vehicle has hail damage or minor dents and dings, please get in touch to request a repair estimate today. At Dent Shop, our team of experienced specialists has the training and tools needed to help get your vehicle repaired and back out on the roads after hail damage.