Paintless Dent Removal vs. Body Shop
The Decision And Factors
Do you want to know about an easy way to fix dents and dings that your usual collision shop isn’t going to talk to you about? Do you have a nasty ding or ugly dent tarnishing your otherwise shiny and pristine car? Worse yet, do you have lots of issues from hail damage?
If so, you’re far from alone. From crowded parking lots to severe and unpredictable weather, most areas of the country are magnets in terms of hail damage, dents, and dings. Do you want your car looking new once more? There’s two choices in front of you. You can either go to an auto body shop for the damage to get filled and refinished, or you can have someone do PDR also know as paintless dent removal. Our certified paintless dent removal technician can work their magic at Paintless Dent Removal San Diego.
So, what should you pick? It honestly depends on the extent of the damage. Body or collision shops might be your only option for substantial damage, especially if the paint itself is broken. Then again, if you have a door ding, a dent the size of a basketball, or hail damage, than paintless dent removal can often fix it, and usually faster than the multiple days or even weeks that a body shop might need to do their work.
Body Shop Repairs Work In The Following Process:
First, the original paint around the area needing repair is removed by a body shop technician. Then, someone applies a putty-like filler over the damaged spot, which then has to dry and also harden overnight. They then sand the filler and apply a coat of primer, followed by more drying. Hopefully, the coat of paint they finally apply matches the original paint of the rest of the car, after which a clear coat goes on over everything. In the last step, they clean and polish your car before returning it to you. The main issue here is that this process is expensive and time-consuming.
Paintless Dent Repair Does Things Differently:
This is another way to fix dings, dents, and even some hail damage. This process removes dents of many different sizes using a set of precision tools in the capable hands of a paintless dent removal technician who is talented and trained. These technicians are able to approach dents from the inside, reaching magically behind fenders, between body panels, and inside doors to push the dent away gently, returning metals to their original shapes. This keeps the paint perfect, and refinishing isn’t necessary. Also, repairs are often undetectable. This process can usually happen in a fraction of the total time that a collision body repair shop would need.
Having said all this, paintless dent removal is not ideal in every dent situation. If you’re having to choose between possibilities and paintless dent removal is one of them, then there’s multiple reasons you should at least consider it.
Good Reasons To Use Paintless Dent Removal:
1) Maintain original factory paint: Your car’s never going to have higher-quality paint than what it originally got in the factory. Regardless of how effective a body shop painter is, he’s never going to match the high-tech factory painting system originally used.
2) Saves time: Paintless dent removal only takes a fraction of the overall time that a body shop would need.
3) Preserves potential resale value: Paint repairs are often detected easily by buyers or appraisers when you look to either sell your car or trade it in. Many buyers are going to make the assumption that any damage is worse that what really happened and haggle you down hard.
4) Avoid negative reports on your CARFAX history: Body shop repairs often show up on the CARFAX report for a vehicle.
5) Save your money: You might only need to rent a car for a few days instead of several weeks.
6) Higher-quality repair work: Paintless dent removal means you don’t have to worry about overspray or paint mismatching.
7) Environmentally sound: Paintless dent removal does not involve solvents, chemicals, or dust that could hurt the environment.
8) Approved by those who matter: That includes vehicle manufacturers and insurance companies.
After reading all that, paintless dent removal might sound like it’s just perfect. However, it does not work in all situations. Here’s a good way to determine if your car and its dent or dents are ideal candidates for paintless dent removal:
Is the paint in question chipped or cracked?
This is quite often the only thing that holds back something like paintless dent removal. However, if you have a particular dent that looks like a softball hit your hood without breaking the paint, or even a smaller dent like the contact point from a car door opening or a grocery cart strike, then you might be in good position for paintless dent removal.
Most damage from hail can actually be fixed using a method like paintless dent removal, and since hail damage is almost always listed as an act of nature, car and vehicle insurance plans cover a full 100 percent of the paintless dent removal cost, minus your deductible of course.
Before you just assume that you need to visit a repair shop or dealership, swing by our location to let us look things over. We might be able to make your care regain its once-new look without you paying a dime out of your pocket.
