Paintless dent repair

[alfagtv58]

After some opinions.

My 'other' car was damaged in the hail storm a few weeks ago, we have just had it assesed and my insurer wants to repair using the paintless dent repair method.  Anyone have any experience with this?

I am worried that the repair wont be as good as it could be, which in the long term would affect resale value of my car.

[Victor Lee]

I reckon depends on: how many dents, the concentration of the dents (spread out or together), how deep are the dents, where on the car are they.

My "other car" has the same problems and paintless dent repair was not considered because they were on the roof (at eye level), were very numerous and shallow.  In certain light and angle, a dent was there, and then at another angle it wasn't!  It was suggested to do the entire roof.  There were smaller dents on the bonnet and boot which could be popped out but then those panels will need to be repainted. 

[Anthony Miller]

Phil, Victor ,you say "other" car like it was daddy's dirty little secret

[Simon Bidese]

Hi Phil,

In the same boat with both cars.
Paul Rankin plans to use the approach on mine, both cars have minor damage to some i have seen around.
Dad saw a 156 after that was done with nice results....another repair done by Paul.
I'm with Shannon's and he did my quotes, and both got approved for repair.
But he's a busy boy atm.

Cheers


Simon

[Victor Lee]

Phil, Victor ,you say "other" car like it was daddy's dirty little secret

Yeah, we're only listing our Alfas here, not our daily drives! 

[alfagtv58]

In the same boat with both cars.
Paul Rankin plans to use the approach on mine, both cars have minor damage to some i have seen around.
Dad saw a 156 after that was done with nice results....another repair done by Paul.
I'm with Shannon's and he did my quotes, and both got approved for repair.
But he's a busy boy atm.

Hey Simon, yeah I have spoken to Paul briefly....but he is talking about having the dents pulled and then painting too isnt he?  I assume the 156 was Jim's?  It did come up great huh, I love that colour.  I'm with RACV......and unlike their commercial, I am really not sure they do care as much as they would like you to think they do

[Bruce Fowler]

On two separate occasions now I've had success with paint less repairs. First occasion was on my sons WRX which was purchase with three round dents about an inch in diameter and a quarter of an inch deep on the bonnet and one on the driver's door. These were removed without a trace, and I challenge anyone to detect where they were. The procedures starts with the technician shining a light across the dented area, and rubbing the dent from behind, with one of his special shaped wands, he can see the position of his wand as he makes an impression on the panel. The secret is to start from the perimeter of the dent and working to the centre.

The other incident was on my 156 courtesy of Chadstone car park, this was right on the ridge of the passenger door, and I can only find it because I know where is was and by getting the light shinning across the panel.

As demonstrated by the guy doing the repairs push on any panel of any car and it will flex and the paint will not crack as automotive paint is very flexible

Both cars did not require painting

The only issue is if there is frame work behind the dent and they can't get proper access to it

[Simon Bidese]

Hey Simon, yeah I have spoken to Paul briefly....but he is talking about having the dents pulled and then painting too isnt he?  I assume the 156 was Jim's?  It did come up great huh, I love that colour.  I'm with RACV......and unlike their commercial, I am really not sure they do care as much as they would like you to think they do
[/quote]

sorry Phil not sure about the different pushing/pulling methods, pretty sure paint was gonna depend on the result.

The 156 was white.  Do you love white, or are we talking about another car?

Cheers Simon

[Anthony Sharp]

I had a paintless repair for hail damage to my other car about 7 years ago, cannot pick that any repair was ever done to the car. most of the damage was on large flat surfaces where if thay had of mucked it up it would show.
Cheers Anthony

[Gary Pearce]

Paintless dint repairs if they can be performed, are far superior and maintain the vehicles value much better than stripping paint, repairing dents and repainting.
Usually nobody can paint a car just quiet as good as the factory original.
I use this method a lot and in most cases it is impossible to see where the dent was. The draw backs are, it relies heavily on the skill of the opperator, not all dents can be removed especially if there has been stretching of the metal and some places are just plain impossible to get behind.

[Sportscar Nut]

Hi

Fully agree with Gary's comments above that pushing small dents out is far superior to any panel shop work. I have used a guy (Magic Dents - Zac) for 18 years and results are brilliant. Need someone who can feel how 'stretched' the metal is in a dent and be able to work with the  thickness of the metal. Zac learnt his trade working at Nissan in the early nineties from an old Euro bloke repairing brand new cars damaged by disgruntled workers before they left the factory!

All the best.
Paul

[Doug Gould]

The good paintless guys are extraordinary and I would say gives a better result than a traditional repair. The success of it depends on the location of the dent and its shape. They need to be able to get to the back of the panel. The good guys are bewilderingly good. The bad guys are disappointingly bad. I haven't been able to figure out how to tell them apart beforehand. Whoever Lance Dixon uses is excellent, but they won't tell me who it is. I asked the local dealer preparation guys and they gave me a wrong phone number. A guy I found (for a work car) after what I thought was careful selection in the yellow pages was a disaster and he caused more harm than good.

Doug

[alfagtv58]

Great feedback guys, much appreciated.  You have eased my fears!

It's booked in for end of next week, see how it goes.  The insurance guy said Victoria has currently got some of the best guys in the world here at the moment, when they are done here they will be heading to WA after their hailstorm.  Apparently some of these guys spend most of their life just chasing storms around 

I have a couple of small dents in the panel between the roof and the doors.....not sure how they will tackle that one given you cant get behind it.

[1750GT]

Guys I guess your talking about Rankin Panels in Bayswater? Any feedback anyone can give me on how good these guys are would be appreciated. Do they do just smash repairs or do they also do resto's including body and engine? I have also seen mentioned before a mob in Dandenong (is it extreme panels?).

I am starting to consider a resto on my Alfa and would appreciate any feedback or companies?

1750Gt

[As the day goes]

Bump

Had Ross at www.ipdr.com.au come and do the missus car today.  It was a dent on a crease line and he took it out in quick time.

I asked him about a dent in the bonnet of the 159 that had appeared magically in the garage over the last week (I am looking at the missus) and he took it out in minutes.  I said what about the dent that was above the door handle that a previous PDR guy using a puller had managed to "almost" fix but was noticeable still with high spots.  Well Ross spend about an hour going in from behind the panel with the window down. He did a fantastic job that I swear you would never have known a dent was there.