Body work and Paintless Dent Repair (PDR) (insurance, vehicle, 2009)

[HAILPUSHER]

I just read an older post about a guy who had hail damage on his car and I was amazed that in the year 2009 people still feel the way they do about (PDR) Paintless Dent Repair! I am not here to promo MY business, but to help explain the different ways of repairing dents.

***First, about me, Automotive body and PDR business owner since 1996, worked in the automotive body shop industry since 1985. ***

What can (PDR) Paintless Dent Repair/removal repair? It's most common use is for repairing door dings, shopping cart dents, and hail damage. All of these dents have limits. Size of the dent, how deep, location, etc. All this come into play with PDR. There are some VERY talented PDR techs in this industry who can repair very large, very deep dents to very high standards. Is that "normal" for a PDR tech, NO, and I would be a lier if I said that every PDR tech can do that level of work.

Just because someone is a PDR tech, does NOT mean they can repair hail or very large / specialized dents! This is VERY IMPORTANT to remember when looking for a repair shop. It's like going to see a doctor, just because someone is a "doctor" does not mean they are the right person you want to see. If you have a door ding, find the local dealer, got hail damage, find a hail tech THROUGH A LOCAL BODYSHOP!!! Tents are for the circus!!!! And you do get what you pay for in this industry!!! Goes for customers and BodyShop owners.

Just like everything else in life, there are "good" examples and "bad" examples of art, cars, music, etc. PDR and Bodywork is no different. Bad news travels a lot faster then good news. How many post on this forum are about the great bodywork they got done? But God help the body shop that does one bad paint job!

Food for thought - what if the first car anyone saw was something like a Yugo? Would you think that every other car / vehicle was just as bad? Why is one bad PDR repair / tech / Company any different?

I would like to say to all the people who don't fully understand PDR and to the people who have had a bad experience, take a little time and do a web search for Paintless Dent Repair / Removal and you will see that there is a VERY WIDE range of companies and techs out there. Knowledge is the key, if you have the basic understanding to how something is done and what it cost, you are less likely to have someone take advantage of you.

NOTE TO BODY SHOP OWNERS AND DEALERSHIPS: This is very important to remember, PDR techs specializing in "hail repair" are not trying to push out your local door-ding tech. Hail techs are there to HELP make money! They specialize in hail repair for a reason, it takes a higher level tech to give you a high level repair. Most shop owners learn this the hard way.Just remember a good tech does not work cheap, cheap pay equals cheap quality!

Final words, (sorry for the long post), Insurance companies would not be writing most hail damage using PDR if it could not repair dents and save money / make money for both shop and the Ins. Companies! And NO, PDR does NOT use "dry ice" or "suction cups", do a search for PDR tools and you'll see!

Thank you!

[ferretkona]

Ten years or so my van was hit in the front end. Collision shop did a great job, but there were little pings on the hood. The shop said they were sending a PDR guy to my house to fix it. They said if I did not accept it they would replace the hood and repaint the front end again.

It worked great.

[rosecitywanderer]

I had a huge door dent in the passenger side door of my Santa Fe back in 2005. In early '06, I was working at the local Hyundai dealer and had the PDR girl fix that warp. You can't even tell it was there.

[Mr & Mrs C]

I am a body man with 10+ years exp. and have been looking into the PDR side. Is it a good living? What kind of exp. do you need? I am in Md and we dont really get any hail but I have talked to a few PDR guys over the years. Sorry to take things off track.

[HAILPUSHER]

Originally Posted by Mr & Mrs C

I am a body man with 10+ years exp. and have been looking into the PDR side. Is it a good living? What kind of exp. do you need? I am in Md and we dont really get any hail but I have talked to a few PDR guys over the years. Sorry to take things off track.

Mr & Mrs C, I can say a few things about the pay and/or learning PDR. 1) Do some research for training, there are a number of companies that offer training and tools. If you can, I would try to visit with them first, you'll get a better understanding if you'll be able to learn from their teaching style. 2) Don't beleive the hype when the sales person at the school says to you "You can charge $50/ repair, and it'll take you 15-20 minutes to repair the damage, so you can do a $100+ per hour times 8 hours in a day, times 365 days a year you'll make $300,000 a year working your local dealerships!" BS!!!! That is one of the oldest sales crap I have heard time and time again. It's no where near the truth. If you know a number of your local dealers and can get five good accounts, you'll be able to make a $50,k a year. Hail pays more, but comes with a lot more expenses, hotels, gas, driving all over the US trying to find work, you might gross 100,k, but after 30% taxes, and the hotels, etc, you'll be back down to the 50-55,k.

I'm guessing you are married, (family?) then I would try to stay local. I'm like most hail chasers, I'm getting a divorce this year. My wife is a great person, but like most wifes of traveling workers, they get sick of being home alone. On the other hand, if you and Mrs C, don't have kids, and like RV's, traveling for hail isn't a bad way to see the country. Find a storm, work hard for a couple of weeks, then take some time to see the sites and then move onto a different storm.

Anyway you slice it, you will need a couple of years of pushing dents before you'll be able to repair hail. So you'll either have to set up some kind of local route, or get your name out to local people to do retail work, and then you'll be able to do hail.

Something to think about, besides visiting the trainers, I would contact a tool company that sells a training video, buy that with one or two basic bars, watch it, and get yourself a junk hood from the body shop and practice over and over, DON'T try to fix a dent on the wife's, friends, etc car for a long time. Try used car lots first, for cheap, then move to the dealers you want for a route.

Good luck!

[dsh1127]

I used a PDR person a little over a year ago. Believe it or not, I had just bought a car and had it for three days when a crow flew over me on the road and dropped a big nut that it had in it's beak.......... RIGHT ON TOP OF MY CAR!!!!!! Well, it hit in one spot and then bounced twice, and left me with three dents in my hood! The guy did a great job and it was very reasonable. I told all kinds of people about it, and gave out a bunch of his cards!

[M3 Mitch]

Originally Posted by dsh1127

I used a PDR person a little over a year ago. Believe it or not, I had just bought a car and had it for three days when a crow flew over me on the road and dropped a big nut that it had in it's beak.......... RIGHT ON TOP OF MY CAR!!!!!! Well, it hit in one spot and then bounced twice, and left me with three dents in my hood! The guy did a great job and it was very reasonable. I told all kinds of people about it, and gave out a bunch of his cards!

That's Hailpusher's trained crow at work...

[dsh1127]

Originally Posted by M3 Mitch

That's Hailpusher's trained crow at work...

LOL !! My husband had a hard time believing that one! He said that could only happen to me! What do you think he could mean by that?!!