We had a rather large hailstorm here the other night, and unfortunately, my truck was parked outside in it. It suffered damage to the hood, roof, and driver's door. The dents are not deep, but there are several of them on both the roof and the hood, and only one on the driver's door. My insurance agent told me I only needed to get one estimate, that being from a paintless dent removal business here in town. My question is, has anyone here had any experience with this kind of repair? The local body shops are telling me that there is a problem with the paint cracking and peeling over the repair, as it stretches when the panel is dented, but doesn't shrink when the dent is pounded out, and this breaks the adhesion of the paint to the metal, causing the cracking and peeling. I kind of trust these guys, yet, they ARE in the business of repairing damage. I talked to the local Ford Service Manager, who is a friend of mine, and I trust. He told me that the dealership uses the shop that my insurance agent wants me to get an estimate from. He said that they do excellent work in removing the dents, and although he's also heard the stories about the paint cracking and peeling, they haven't seen it happen in all the cars they've had repaired. I need to talk to someone that has had experience with this kind of repair, and find out how satisfied you are with the repair, how the paint is holding out, etc. Thanks in advance!

 

I fortunetely have never been in this situation. I would agree that the possibility the paint could crack and peel is a serious problem and should be ivestigated. There is talk in this message board about a dry ice method (I never tried or seen it done before). The reason I reply to this post is your explanation of your insurance agent's procedure for obtaining a repair estimate. You have the right to obtain multiple repair estimates from anywhere you choose. If your agent refuses, take the cash, repair it, then dump the truck and change to another insurance provider. If you are going to get that kind of service from a local agent you might as well get cheap insurance from an internet or nationwide company. Check your policy thoughoughly so you can speak with your agent on their level because you should always know the fine print that they may not always tell you up front.

 

I live in Tulsa, OK where hail is pretty routine. In 1994, I had a new Mercury that got pretty well peppered with hail. Like you, I wasn't sure about the paintless dent repair. By the way -- I happen to be in the insurance business (over 30 yrs). I talked with several body shops and talked with a couple of the paintless dent repair shops. Bottom line, is that I decided to use the paintless dent repair. I was extremely pleased. Could never tell where the dents had been. My vehicle was a dark metallic jade green color, and I was concerned about discoloration over time, etc. I traded the vehicle last year and never had a problem with any cracking, chipping or other paint related issue. I had damage on roof, hood, trunk, sides of quarter panels and sides of doors and 6 yrs after the work was done, the paint showed no signs of stress or imperfection. The car got lots of washes & waxes in the mean time. I would do it again in a minute.

I do know there are some real crooks in the paintless dent repair business also. The ones to stay away from are ones that think they have to drill a lot of holes to do the work. All of them will drill some holes in perhaps a door jamb or under the hood or trunk so they can massage the sheet metal from underneath. The guys that are good at it really minimize their drilling -- just talk to them about whether they think they will have to do any drilling and if so, how much. The particular shop I used was a franchise that operates under the name of Dent Doctor.
Good luck.

 

I likewise have used paintless dent removal several times over the past few years. No problems whatsoever. I had it done most recently on my 2000 F-150 when my tailgate was dented. I also had a nasty parking lot ding removed from the drivers door. I used a company called Integrity Auto and they didn't drill any holes. You can't tell there was ever a dent. Good luck.

 

I just had a nice quater sized ding in the crease line of my hood removed by a paintless dent removal company. (Dents unlimited)
No holes, quick and no tell tale signs. Highly recommend the procedure as a cheaper alternative.

 

Approximately how much would a paintless dent removal shop charge to remove a quarter-sized dent? Also, if there were hail damage (say about 12 dents covering the roof, hood, etc.) about how much would that cost to repair?

 

I'm not sure how these shops base their estimates or charges. All I know is that the lowest estimate I got from any body shop was over $1900 for my hail damage, and the paintless dent repair work came to just under $700. Quite a difference.

 

The DAY after I brought my brand-new 2000 XLT home, we had the first hailstorm New Orleans has seen in over 15 years... State Farm had their people do the estimate, cut me a check, and then told me I could take it wherever I wanted. Went to a paintless dent removal place and everything was just fine. I had quite a few dents in the roof and hood and my total was around 800.00. Turns out I made a few hundred bucks off the whole thing, and I was only out of a truck for one day. I would recommend it to anyone as a very viable alternative to traditional damage repair.

 

Thanks for all of the replies to my question. It helps a lot...unfortunately for me, my insurance company's adjusters are cutting their checks based upon Paintless Dent Repair, so I have no choice in the matter. I've talked to the owner of a body shop here, and he assures me that the guy that is going to do it does excellent work. I've also gotten a glowing recommendation from the Service Manager at the local Ford dealer, who happens to be a friend from way back. He told me that the dealership sends all of their cars that need dings fixed to this guy. Funny thing is...the insurance company sent me to this guy to get an estimate, and then has me go see their adjuster, who bids it for less than the guy they sent me to in the first place. When I confronted the adjuster about it, he told me to ask the guy if he'd do it for that amount....if not, then have him call the insurance company, and they'd work it out. When asked, the Paintless Dent guy said he would, and even dropped his original bid so that I don't have nearly as much to pay on my deductible. They said it would only take a day, and they have me scheduled in about the middle of next month, so I'll let you all know how it turns out. At least, the insurance company is standing behind the paint for 5 years...so if it DOES crack or peel, they'll fix it.

 

I had three dents removed from my passenger door last month by a paintless dent removal company. The work is unbelievable. You can't even tell they were there. The website is www.dentwiz.com. They will give a you a number of a local rep, and they will come to your place of residence. They charged me $50.00 to remove them. The guy said if the dents are close to one another, the price is cheaper than if the dents are everywhere.
Hope this helps.
Damon

 

Thanks again to all that replied. Well, I had the PDR work done on my truck...and all I can say is "WOW". I'm extremely pleased with the work. You cannot see any trace of the dents. No drilling done, either...all the dents were accessible from underneath. My insurance company is guaranteeing the paint for 5 years, so we'll see what happens there. But I can tell you...I was VERY skeptical going in...and coming out, I'm convinced....these guys know what they're doing. Not only that, but they had me drop it off at the shop at 8 AM, and it was done by 3:30 in the afternoon the same day. You can bet that the next time I have any hail damage, or door dings, they're going to get my business!

 

A certain shopping cart found its' way behind the F-150 and I of course never saw it. Left a nice dent in the tailgate. There was no paint damage, just a dent. Took it to a place called DentBusters. Sat in their waiting area and watched Jenny Jones and then Jerry Springer and by the time they brought out the second imbred guest on Jerry Springer my tailgate looked showroom new. It cost $85 but it was worth it!

 

It really is unbelievable isn't it?
Damon