The ding, the dent, the impression, all of these conjure up horrible images of the collision while thinking of how much this is going to cost you, but, in reality, for the most part, these dings, dents and impressions all have one thing in common – they can be fixed without the expensive paint jobs.
Whether it’s the dips from hail, to dings from runaway shopping carts or opening car doors, small, cosmetic blemishes can be repaired in a matter of minutes, when done by a well-trained, skilled professional. Understanding the process will help you to know what to look for in these unfortunate circumstances.
Usually, collision shops don’t do these smaller repairs themselves they outsource them to a smaller mobile service or they will offer paintless dent removal as an additional service. Dents from the size of a dime to 2 to 3 inches in diameter and larger can be handled by a qualified professional in anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes.
In many cases the dent is so completely gone it will look like nothing was ever there, and in some other instances, all you would see to know that work had been done is a small black plug in the door end. Paintless dent removal is often the best way to retain the integrity of a custom paint job. In the hands of a qualified professional, 10 to 15 vehicles a day can be done with amazing results.
Not Always the Answer
The main concern in paintless dent removal is how much the metal was stressed (stretched) by the accident. The reason for this concern is that if the metal is stretched too much, then pushing it as it’s done in paintless dent removal can distort the metal and ruin the paint.
The other consideration in paintless dent removal is the nature of the coating. Its age can make the coating brittle, or simply its condition as it left the factory. The reason that this is a concern for paintless dent removal is that a heat gun needs to be applied, and the above conditions can be very susceptible to heat ruining the coating.
Light is also used to determine all of the intricacies of the dented surface, so that there are no flaws showing when the job is complete.
Training, Techniques, and Tools
It takes more time than you might think to train as a paintless dent removal technician, it takes about 12 months to train to be a good one, and that’s because you need to know all about access to the dent. Paintless dent removal technicians need to spend around $3,000 on tools because specialized tools are needed to access difficult areas in different makes and models.
So the next time you have a dent, ding, or crease, think about the paintless dent removal system, and ask if it can be done, if it can your pocketbook will thank you.