We do our best to take care of our cars, but sometimes accidents happen. Door dings, parking lot mishaps, or damage from an accident can all result in your car looking less than it’s best and leave your wallet crying out in pain.
Luckily, 80-90% of dents and dings can be repaired using an easy and affordable process known as paintless dent repair.
Paintless dent repair is the process of removing a dent from the inside of the damaged panel of your car while preserving the car’s paint.
Most minor dents can be repaired using this technique as long as the paint is still intact and the dent isn’t too complex.
How Does Paintless Dent Repair Work?
Paintless dent repair is a method of repairing a dent by reshaping the panel of a car back to its original form. This is accomplished by utilizing a variety of tools that “massage” the underside of the panel, essentially working out the dent from behind.
Everything is done on the underside of the panel, meaning that the exterior paint will not be scratched or damaged during the process.
The Steps to Paintless Dent Repair
Once you notice a dent in your car, you can either try to fix it yourself with an at-home dent repair kit or you can bring your car into our shop to let the professionals take care of it.
If you choose to let the professionals handle it, your car’s repair should ideally be done within the same day depending on the severity of the damage.
Paintless dent repair involves four steps…
1. Assess Damage
The first step is to identify whether or not the dent is suitable for paintless dent repair.
If your dent falls into the categories of sharp, crease, or bodyline dents and was caused by harsh weather, shopping carts, or small fender benders, there is a good chance it will be repairable.
Our expert technicians will examine the dent to assess its size and degree of damage. If they determine that it is a good candidate for paintless dent repair, then we move forward to the next step in the process.
Our expert technicians will examine the dent to assess its size and degree of damage. If they determine that it is a good candidate for paintless dent repair, then we move forward to the next step in the process.
2. Get Access to the Dent
To perform paintless dent repair, you first need to gain access to the underside of the damaged panel.
For most dents, this involves removing the surrounding panels and lights in order to have a clearer view of the whole dent. This is not necessary in some easily accessible locations.
3. Take a Thorough Look at the Dent
Now that there is a clear view of the underside of the dented panel, another evaluation of the dent is necessary before moving on to the repair.
This intermediary step allows our team to develop a better understanding of how deep and wide the dent really is. Doing so allows us to create a plan on how to go about the repairing process to ensure that the repair goes smoothly.
4. Work the Dent Out
The final step in paintless dent repair requires the most patience.
Our team of experts use high-quality tools and machinery to carefully massage out the dent from the underside of the panel.
Our goal is to prevent the body from undergoing further damage, so this is the slowest part of the entire process. Precision and patience are key to receiving the best results possible.
Once the dent has been repaired, we simply return the surrounding panels and lights then your car is good to go!
Can Every Dent be Fixed?
Some dents that are as small as a dime but very deep will not be able to be fixed using paintless dent repair because the metal is too stretched out. However, dents that are the size of a dinner plate or larger but very shallow can be fixed successfully.
As stated above, access to the dent is crucial. In order to perform paintless dent repair, we need to be able to get behind the dent. If we can get in there, we can massage the dent out.
Places like some quarter panel opening lips, some forward areas of heavily braced hoods, or the very edges of some panels may be considered bad locations.
Common Dent Causes
Auto accidents are not the only cause of damaged car panels. There are numerous ways a car can become dented. Runaway shopping carts, backing up into a garbage can, bad weather, and aimless soccer balls are just some of the culprits behind the toughest and deepest dents.
At McDowells, our dent repair experts are trained to take care of these dents in an economical, convenient, and environmentally friendly way.
We specialize in hail damage, crease dents, sharp/ deep dents, large dents, and bodyline dents. In general, as long as the paint is not too severely damaged, you can have peace of mind that we’ll be able to fix it!
Benefits to Paintless Dent Repair
Paintless dent repair allows you to erase dents without the need to perform in-depth bodywork. It takes skill and precision, so it’s extremely important to choose a reputable and experienced repair shop for the job.
McDowells’ dent technicians are the best in the Treasure Valley and will handle even the toughest and deepest dents.
At McDowells, we do paintless dent repair the right way, resulting in you receiving some impressive benefits.
Significant Cost Savings
Paintless dent repair doesn’t require grinding, fillers, primers, repainting, or Bondo because the original factory paint is not disturbed.
Because of this, paintless dent repairs are typically between one-quarter to one-third the cost of conventional dent repair.
Greater Convenience
Paintless dent repair can save you time!
The same repair that may take weeks at a traditional body shop will only take a few hours to a day with paintless dent repair.
Vehicle Value Retention
Dents repaired with paintless dent repair have no need to be sanded or repainted, meaning that your car can keep its original paint job.
This typically helps your car retain its value, meaning it’s worth more should you someday want to sell it.
No Color-Matching Concerns
No matter the color of your car, color-matching is never perfect. Even if you know the exact paint used on your car, the formula may not turn out the exact same way every time it is recreated. It will be close, but there may be slight imperfections in the shade or hue of the color.
Environmentally Friendly
Traditional body shop dent repairs involve paint, chemicals, and other toxins being used extensively.
Paintless dent repair keeps the original factory paint on your vehicle, meaning that none of these toxins are released into the atmosphere.
Our experienced and highly trained technicians are experts in paintless dent repairs. Save your time and money and allow us to repair your car correctly. If you are interested in a paintless dent repair, contact https://mcdowellsrepair.com/ for a free quote today!