Nothing sounds more frustrating than spotting a new scratch or a dent on your vehicle. These dents might not necessarily affect your car’s function. However, they have a negative impact on your car’s aesthetics. Taking your vehicle to the automobile shop might not be viable for a car owner, especially if you need your car daily for the commute.
Paintless Dent Repair can fix minor scratches on your vehicle, given that the paint is still intact and the issue is not too complex to require mechanical expertise. To determine whether the hollow can be repaired with PDR, you need to check if there’s any creasing in the dent, impact scratching, or damage to the paint. If you want the damage fixed without taking your car to a repair shop, PDR tools can help.
Are PDR Tools Effective?
Some people simply ignore minor dents assuming that repair would be costly and it’d take a lot of time to fix small issues. However, dents are mostly visible. It’s not just the aesthetics, but leaving these hollows unaddressed can expose your car to corrosion. The exteriors might get damaged over time, affecting your car’s value. You don’t want your vehicle to look outdated and damaged just because of a scratch from the swinging car door or other hard objects.
Fortunately, not every dent needs a professional. PDR is less time-consuming and is comparatively more effective than automobile repair stores. There’s no need for body filler and repainting with PDR tools. It can be done in less than a day and will require just the right tool, and you are good to go. The biggest advantage of PDR tools is that they preserve your car’s original paint. Repainting is unnecessary, as the dent can be fixed without ruining the paint.
Which Dents Can the PDR Tools Fix?
Attempting dent repair on your own is not advisable if overcorrection is needed. Only technicians with experience stretching the metal from both sides to correct the car panel’s shape can correctly execute the repair. You can attempt DIY dent fixing if it’s a minor scratch that doesn’t require overcorrection. The technique requires a considerable amount of force, which might affect the quality of the metal. It’s an irreversible process, so it’s best to get it done by a professional.
While Paintless dent removal is an effective way to fix the dent without causing any damage to the factory paint, it’s only applicable to some types of dents. Whether or not the issue qualifies for PDR depends on its complexity. For instance, door dings or hail damage are minor damages that can be fixed with PDR tools. Here’s what else it’s suitable for.
Damage from Sports Equipment
This happens quite frequently. A kid can cause a deep hollow on your car’s exterior surface with a basketball, tennis ball, or leather ball when playing around the parking lot. These sports tools will cause a round hollow, putting immense pressure on the vehicle. Luckily, most of these dents caused by sports equipment are minor and qualify for Paintless Dent Removal.
When your car gets hit by a soccer ball or basketball, it develops a slight round hollow without affecting the pain or causing an impact scratch. In rare cases, sports equipment coming in contact with the vehicle’s surface can leave a serious dent that may require professional assistance.
Hail Damage
Most small dents occur from storms. These hail damages can chip and scratch the paint or create a hollow on your car’s horizontal panels, leaving the paint intact. Severe hail damage can also crack the mirror and the car lights. These damages can be on the trunk, roof, door, and the surface of your car. The sides are mostly affected.
PDR tools might not fix all types of car dents. If the hail has created a deep round hollow on the panel and has scratched the original paint, PDR might not work. To know if the damage is fixable with this technique, check the size and the shape of the dent. Sometimes, the dents can be too big or complex to be fixed by Paintless Dent Repair.
Door Dings
You may have faced this at some point. Parking your vehicle too close to another can put it at risk of a door ding. Some cars have side trims that create a barrier between the car’s panel and another car’s door. But, if your vehicle doesn’t have any protection, there’s a chance somebody might bump your car’s door.
It’s usually an egg-shaped dent that doesn’t scratch the paint or causes severe creases that require professional treatment. Door dings are treated like dents occurring from a collision. If they are mild, the PDR tools will most likely fix them.
Car Collision
A car bumping into other cars can cause a dent in your vehicle’s fender, trunk, or side panels. Check the car’s surface closely to identify the severity of the dent. By examining the scratch closely, you will also know whether the dent is caused by another car bumping into yours. If you notice another paint on the surface, it’s most likely caused by a car collision. That’s not a cause for concern, though. The car paint will be corrected automatically, given that the paint has not been cracked. Paintless dent repair will most likely fix the issue.
A deep dent with impact scratching on your vehicle’s surface is usually hard to repair. While Paintless Dent Repair is the easiest and most effective way to get the scratch fixed quickly, it doesn’t work on all dents. You may have to take your car to a professional automotive repair specialist to check if the dent can be fixed with PDR tools. As mentioned earlier, DIY fixes with PDR tools are possible for minor issues. If it’s serious, your best bet is to send your car for repair.