What types of dents are repairable with PDR?

Wally Inskeep • Jan 03, 2021

Door Dings

Door dings, the most common type of dents we repair using the paintless dent removal method. These dents are usually on the smaller side, around 3” or less, and are the most cost effective to repair with pdr. A great number of door dings can be repaired over the life of the vehicle, without concern for paint buildup, caused by being repainted repeatedly. The paintless repair method uses no paint or filler, instead, using specialized tooling to return the metal back to its original undamaged position, without affecting the superior factory paint.

Door dings usually happen when a car parked next to you opens a door into your car, leaving a dent. Sometimes these can leave a scratch, which may need touch up paint, or worse, repainted using traditional body and paint methods. Other times, there’s just a scuff mark, or paint transfer left on your car, along with the dent. These marks can most likely be removed using a buffer and some buffing compound.

Door dings can happen on any of the side panels of your vehicle. Most commonly being the doors, however the front fenders, and rear quarter panels, can also get these unsightly dings. Most often these dents are in a flat area on the panel, and incur the lowest cost of repair. Other times, the damage is located on a body line, or style line of the vehicle. These can be on the doors, or around wheel wells on your vehicle, and are more difficult to repair, thus causing the pricing to be higher.

The repair methods can vary greatly, depending on the size, depth, and location of the dent, on the panel. Most often, we can use the window channel to gain access to most areas of the doors. Other times, we may have to remove parts to gain access, like a door panel, or a taillight, for example. In other extreme cases, like an extremely deep dent on a hard body line, or a dent in the front lower part of the front door, it may be necessary to remove the whole door from the vehicle, for a proper repair. Other factors to consider, include, bracing, sound deadener, type of metal, or laminated glass.

Other times, the dent may be located in an area, that is inaccessible with tooling we may use on other parts of the car. In the case of side panel damage, these areas are generally on the quarter panels, between the gas filler and the door; or the thin area between the rear wheel and rear door, or "dogleg". As well as a few other areas, as determined by the pdr technician. In these cases we may employ a method of repair, called glue pull repair. This process uses hot glue and specialized tabs, that adhere to the surface of the panel to pull the dent out from the top. There are limitations to this method, for instance, the paint must be completely intact, no chips, or scratches that go through the clear. Second, the panel should have the factory paint. A repainted panel, can tend to run a risk of pulling the paint off, although this isn't always the case.

If you happen to have a door ding in or around Columbia Missouri, call Columbia Dent Company for a full, and complete evaluation, and repair of your door ding dent.

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