Please tell me someone's had a good experience with paintless dent removal??!!!

[Warrenk]

A couple of years ago my 2 year old Pathfinder got caught in a hailstorm which caused $16000 dollars worth of damage. The repairs involved replacing most of the panels including the roof. Although the roof was available there was a process to seal the joint on the roof which hadn't been done in Australia before. In the end the insurance company decided to sent it to a paintless dent remover. The roof with the hail dents made a golf ball look smooth. When it was returned the job was impressive, I could not see one dent or ripple at all. Even the panel beater was impressed. They also remove the dents in the doors. But the important part of the the job was all the repair panels where painted along with the new ones which I was happy about. The reasons the panel beater told me for painting the repaired panels was for colour catching and like in previous posting, to ensure any micro cracking of the paint was sealed.

[LTDHO]

Originally Posted by schmidty

They basically said it's paintless or bad luck. I had it out with the assessment manager at the center where my car was looked at. He said that if i was talking about the local paintless blokes in the phone book he'd agree. But reckons that they have brought these guys out from America, and that all they do is travel the world fixing hail damage and they're in a different league. They've got my ute booked in to be worked on for 5 days.

I use my ute for work, but it's immaculate and i plan on keeping it that way. I've never seen a "perfect" paintless dent repair. SGIO have said that they have to warrant the repairs for life, and if I'm not satisfied that i have every right to demand it to be re-repaired and done to my standard. Obviously they must have some sort of standard that they call "good enough" and i'll just have to lump it?

If it was a few dings, i'd consider it, but 100? And some are right on panel folds and edges.

Anyway, i've never seen a paintless dent repair that i'd rate higher than 95%. Just wanted to know the opinions of those who've had more exposure to this method of repair.

I'll put some pics up of the damage tomorrow.

Cheers

Schmidty

I don't know why you are having a sook.

Firstly would you rather they replaced the panels so you have a ute with low klms and non-matching numbers? Or would you rather have non original paint?

Some people are never happy.

[Sorted]

Originally Posted by schmidty

I dont want bog, or blending, or any of that crap. What i want is a new bonnet, new guards and then the standard paint process is i'd have the whole front end and roof painted, and a blend into the doors. I'd pay the difference in cash to the panel beater to paint the doors and back flanks too.

Unfortunatley if the PDR can repair your car to its pre-accident/incident conditon the above wont happen.

Have you asked SGIO what the repair cost is from the PDR - had a look at the written quote - its in your right too - find out what the total repair costs is.

If its in the high region you may be able to do a deal with a panel beater and request the above work as required by you to be done on your car as long as they do it at a cheaper price than what PDR have quoted.

Or maybe take the money for the PDR and use that as part payment to get the car repaired the way you want it to be repaired.

If you dont use the recommended PDR then SGIO may want to assess the vehicle after the repairs have been completed to make sure that the car has been repaired to their satisfaction to keep your current insurance policy current

[geckoGT]

Originally Posted by Sorted

Unfortunatley if the PDR can repair your car to its pre-accident/incident conditon the above wont happen.

Have you asked SGIO what the repair cost is from the PDR - had a look at the written quote - its in your right too - find out what the total repair costs is.

If its in the high region you may be able to do a deal with a panel beater and request the above work as required by you to be done on your car as long as they do it at a cheaper price than what PDR have quoted.

Or maybe take the money for the PDR and use that as part payment to get the car repaired the way you want it to be repaired.

If you dont use the recommended PDR then SGIO may want to assess the vehicle after the repairs have been completed to make sure that the car has been repaired to their satisfaction to keep your current insurance policy current

They are also highly unlikely to offer their lifetime warranty on repairs and you will have whatever warranty the repairer offers (often 1 year) if you use a repairer they do not recommend.

[Smoke Pursuit]

This is bad news!!! I would be telling them to replace the bonnt and guards atleast, then do Paintless on the roof...

Damn hail!!

[Nikked]

The options are:

-Its gets a excellent PDR job, with warranty a full buff'n'polish, no bog, no colours mismatched etc

-You have a sook, they replace the panel's with aftermarket or second hand panel's, risk getting bog in the car and then have to blend the paint in the doors to match the gaurds.


Personaly, seeing how good PDR is i don't know why people complain. Even the GTHO4 got some PDR's done on it!

[ralphy]

my girlfriends cousin had hail damage on his new holden cruze (yes i know who would bother repairing a holden lol) but from what i can see it looks like they did a bloody good job, like a new one

[The G6ET Spot]

I have used PDR a few times and have had excellent results each time.
Have even had 3 dents taken out of the bonnet on my G6ET with no sign of them after.

Have always used the same person though and he has a great reputation.

As has been said, your insurance co is giving a lifetime warranty on repairs, so I don't know what you are worrying about. Try having this done to a ^ month old car and have the insurance co say that they are going to repair the tub and not replace it.


IT DID get replaced though. The benefits of having friends in the trade.

[schmidty]

Originally Posted by LTDHO

I don't know why you are having a sook.

Firstly would you rather they replaced the panels so you have a ute with low klms and non-matching numbers? Or would you rather have non original paint?

Some people are never happy.

Thanks for your informative post on your personal experiences with PDR. Really helpful. :

Basically i started out asking for any information from people who've had a good experience with pdr! And you'll note that I stated that I've never seen a PDR job that was 100% perfect and restored to a state where you could see no evidence of the repaired dent. It seems that the PDR industry has had some innovations over the years and they're achieving some great results.
The reason for starting the thread was to get some opinions and experiences of people who know better than I on this topic. To which I've had plenty of great responses and food for thought. I didn't come here to bash the PDR method or industry. Based on what's been said, I'm a lot more comfortable letting the repair go through the PDR process and see how it turns out. I've got panel beaters in the family and they were the first people to say to steer clear of PDR if i could have it done properly, as they've ofter fixed PDR's that never ended up quite right.
From the research I've done, it seems that the biggest thing that is changing the way repairs can be performed and the overall result is the new metal and paint tech these days. Thin high strength metals and flexible resilient paint.

[bingoTE50]

Only one thought I have ,and not too constructive for you,with a heavily hail damaged vehicle with substantial depth to the dents,can the guarantee they will not pop back in if pressure is applied by polishing,washing etc,mainly because the metal is stretched.
The old technique was to shrink the metal by heating the dent ,knocking out the other way and then shrink it down with a hammer and dolly. Several times if needed to reduce the flex.If done properley spray putty used ,then a respray,no bog...
Probably why your families panel beaters are scepticle on badly damaged vehicles.

[schmidty]

Originally Posted by bingoTE50

Only one thought I have ,and not too constructive for you,with a heavily hail damaged vehicle with substantial depth to the dents,can the guarantee they will not pop back in if pressure is applied by polishing,washing etc,mainly because the metal is stretched.
The old technique was to shrink the metal by heating the dent ,knocking out the other way and then shrink it down with a hammer and dolly. Several times if needed to reduce the flex.If done properley spray putty used ,then a respray,no bog...
Probably why your families panel beaters are scepticle on badly damaged vehicles.

Yeah, that's exactly why they were skeptical. And I asked here because i know sometimes when you work in a certain trade/profession and have passion for what you do it's often going to lead to a biased reply.

Cheers

[Nikked]

Originally Posted by bingoTE50

Only one thought I have ,and not too constructive for you,with a heavily hail damaged vehicle with substantial depth to the dents,can the guarantee they will not pop back in if pressure is applied by polishing,washing etc,mainly because the metal is stretched.
The old technique was to shrink the metal by heating the dent ,knocking out the other way and then shrink it down with a hammer and dolly. Several times if needed to reduce the flex.If done properley spray putty used ,then a respray,no bog...
Probably why your families panel beaters are scepticle on badly damaged vehicles.

On roof's the dents were heated until they popped up and then the metal was filed over to hold it inplace. In most other places it was a case of simply pulling the easy-beat out.

...And the old technique has given way to PDR's in the end its quicker. Most hail dents can be removed, and not by pushing alone. They use glue on dent pullers, and carefully tap down highs. The paint is slightly heated up so that it can flex (no cracks).

Most PDR blokes are more talented then your average panelbeater (it pains me to say), they are very skilled.

[sly_ba]

Can anyone vouch for the work of someone in Melbourne??

I have a family members car who was caught up in the Melbourne hail storms and has about 20 or so small dents (about the size of 10 cent pieces and not very deep) in the roof.

[LTDHO]

Originally Posted by schmidty

Thanks for your informative post on your personal experiences with PDR. Really helpful. :

Not a problem, we're all here to help.

Originally Posted by schmidty

Basically i started out asking for any information from people who've had a good experience with pdr! And you'll note that I stated that I've never seen a PDR job that was 100% perfect and restored to a state where you could see no evidence of the repaired dent.

Your first post you are 'livid' and where given no option but to use PDR. My reply adresses this. If you ask more than one question, expect more than one answer.

Originally Posted by schmidty

I didn't come here to bash the PDR method or industry.

Sure sounded like it.

Originally Posted by schmidty

Based on what's been said, I'm a lot more comfortable letting the repair go through the PDR process and see how it turns out. I've got panel beaters in the family and they were the first people to say to steer clear of PDR if i could have it done properly, as they've ofter fixed PDR's that never ended up quite right. From the research I've done, it seems that the biggest thing that is changing the way repairs can be performed and the overall result is the new metal and paint tech these days. Thin high strength metals and flexible resilient paint.

. So you are no longer livid now you have the facts?

[Decadentia]

I suppose it depends on the policy, and I have no experience with it, But when does new for old replacement come into effect ?

[arm79]

Originally Posted by sly_ba

Can anyone vouch for the work of someone in Melbourne??

I have a family members car who was caught up in the Melbourne hail storms and has about 20 or so small dents (about the size of 10 cent pieces and not very deep) in the roof.

http://www.theautodentist.com.au/

I've had Tony do work on my EL and seen his other work, and its always perfect. Background is in panel beating and spray painting from memory.

Wouldn't hesitate to recommend him. Plus hes in Caroline Springs.

Very honest and fair. He wont attempt any work for the hell of it if its going to come out bad or cause a problem in the future.

[Quicksand]

I see you are located in Perth (the Op)

If you are determined to go down paintless dent removal, then try:

-The Ding King 0403 006611 Brian

-Dent wizard 0425 866 721 Steve Morrison

Good luck!

[HLC]

ive had PDR done twice on my car.

once when i bought it... it had hail damange.

then the 2nd time thru insurance as i got caught in another hailstorm.

and the results were flawless. i wanted traditional reparis. but they did an awesome job i have to say.

[TZENU]

I have had PDR done to my XY just before the nats... Let go of the jack stand and left a nice little impression on my rear quarter.. Its fixed and looks like a fresh rear quarter!

[GlenW]

A month after getting my GTP some bugger dropped something on my bonnet while the car was parked in town one night, right on the hump too which stuck out like dogs balls. PDR got rid of the small dent - completely. I can only see a small imperfection in the paint from whatever hit it.
Completely stoked I didnt have to get my bonnet resprayed :

[Pinkbits]

I had it done last night on the T2.
7 dents with the worst being a "sharp" dent in the bonnet & a 2" crease near the fuel filler.
We watched as they were done and could not believe how they were removed without a trace. I dare anyone to find where the others were.
Well worth it in my opinion.

[XESP351]

When my EL was hail damaged (two weeks after i bought it), it was assessed in one of GIO's 'mass assessment' centres and i was given the choice between PDR or writing the car off as it would have cost too much to repair/replace then respray. So as i wasn't sure how the PDR would turn out i chose writing it off, after reading this thread i am thinking maybe i should've given PDR a shot. Oh well, there is always next time.