Paintless Dent Repair

Get the facts on paintless dent repair

Did you know that about one in three vehicles need dent repair? With that many vehicles banged-up, it's no wonder that people are curious about paintless dent repair. It just seems to good to be true, so does it actually work?

How it Works

Paintless dent repair was invented to save you time and money when repairing minor nicks and dings, and even damage from hail. Instead of leaving your car at a body shop for days at time and spending a lot of money to remove a small dent, paintless dent repair claims to be able to complete the same repair in 20 minutes at a fraction of the cost.

Paintless dent repair has been referred to as a craft. To perform the repair, the technician uses metal picks and rods to massage out minor dents from the inside of the body panel. Depending on the location of the dent, the body panel may need to be removed to allow the technician access to the dent. The entire repair should take about 10 to 20 minutes.

Is it Effective?

Whether or not a dent is repairable without repainting will depend on the skill level of the technician. About 80 to 90 percent of minor dents and dings are eligible for paintless dent removal. It's the depth of a dent, rather than its size, that will determine if it's repairable. Often you can fix very large, shallow dents using paintless dent repair. However, there are also common problems among small dents that prevent them from being fully repaired - they can only be made to look better. These are some of the most common problem dents:

• Deep dents - With deep dents, the metal is usually pushed in too far for a complete repair.
• Dents with deep creases - Creased dents can only be repaired by skilled technicians. Depending on the severity of the crease, these types of dents are usually not repairable without repainting.
• Dents near the end of panels - Dents near the edge of body panels or along seams make it impossible to access the dents from the inside of the panel, making them unfixable.

So it seems that paintless dent repair can be effective but only on small, shallow, problem-free dents - and most don't fall into this category.

It used to be we could depend on the reputation and reliability of North American cars to meet our standards - but could it be the times are changing? Here in the U.S., overseas models are continuing to rise in popularity. Find out why!

If you love your car, you’ve got treat it right – stock will never do for your hot wheels! Whether it’s for performance or just for the look, aftermarket parts can turn that car you just brought home into your own pimp ride.