I have discovered more and more door dings on my HHR. I should never buy a used car at night...

So my question to the group is this?

Has anyone ever used one of the paintless dent removal services to get rid of door dings??

I also saw this and wondered it it is true or bogus:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/820799...asy_and_cheap/

 

Yes I have and was very happy. used a shop that did work at the dealer that I worked for. ask around and I think you can find a good one where you live. Ask at used car lots and body shops.

 

I used them after a Hail Storm on my Explorer's hood. It's like anything. You get a GOOD artist doing this work and you will never find them.

I have a few but I m not going to deal with them because they will only return. I'll wait until I m ready to sell and offer a reduction to the buyer of have them removed.

 

doeppel: I am a 07 Summit White 2LT HHR owner and fortunate enough to have a son that owns his own PDR company. FYI: there is more to a dent than what you can see. Attached is a link to his company website which explains what PDR is and how it works. Be careful attempting a "do it yourself" repair. http://dentsanddingsllc.com/

 

The dry ice does not work. It etches the paint and usually just craters the dent. The same for magnetic induction. Dingking does not work.Todd Sudek (owner of Ding KING) has one of if not the worst reputation in PDR. Dent guys have a variation of a glue puller that they will use 5-10% of the time. It is slower and less accurate and if you don't know what you are doing will remove paint. Real Pdr guys don't use try ice or cans of freezing stuff or other gimmicks found on you tube. Find a good PDR guy in your area. Ask around ( not necessarily at the dealership they use whose ever cheapest with no concern to quality.) Ask if the Technician is a member of the NAPDRT (NAPDRT.ORG) or is Vale certified (valenational.com) (I think). Dents will start around $75 in most parts of the country, if it's lower run the tech probably is a hack! I just come back from an expo in Clearwater Fl. this weekend. The largest gathering of pdr guys in the world. I was a judge at the international dent Olympics. I also gave seminars on PDR topics and received the PDR mentor of the year award. I have been a PDR tech for 16 years. When the technician is done with your car only in very rare cases should he have drill a hole in the door jamb and in extremely rare cases will have to wet sand the repair. You should not be able to see the repair when the tech is done. Repairs should be 100%. The tech should be able to alert you if the repair will not be 100% before he starts! PDR is both a manufacturer approved (despite what some body men will tell you) (Toyota used to not approve although they do now. It's funny while they were saying they didn't approve they were using it on the lines, in the dealers and ports) and insurance approved. I personally have seen the insurance studies and reports therein. PDR is not a do it your self project unless you want to screw something up badly and get charged double to fix it. Check out doording.com (the worlds largest online gathering place of techs). I you go on there you can post to find out someone is in you area. The guys will be really helpful unless you start talking about DIY. If you have any questions please let me know.

 

I had some dings repaired from a ding doctor on my Buick, years ago. It worked out fairly well, although in the cold NY winter one of the dings reappeared. My HHR has a few from "door" corners opening and hitting the side of the HHR. The metal is so thin anymore, just looking at the side there will be a ding.

 

There is nothing like traditional PRD dent repair using the tools and the lights.
I watched my guy do it on my Explorer's hood after a hail storm. It was amazing.

Could not tell where they were, I wonder how good it would look on a black car?

Today's metal is so thin compared to the 80's. It's more malleable. Soon we all will be able to remove a dent with a Popsicle stick from the inside .......Still a good PRD guy is worth it.

 

Back in December I had a MORON jogger with a prothstecic device slap his metal grabber on my hood as he passed by me. I yelled and I screamed and even chased him for a 1/2 mile but he wouldn't stop and take resposibility for the dent he left in my hood. I have probably never been so pissed off. It was a funny story for almost everyone but me!

It was a quarter size dent that most people wouldn't notice unless the light hit it just right. Of course I could see it in my sleep, it bothered me so much. If my hood was stock color it would be no biggie to have it fixed. However when you have a custom paint job with painted pinstripes it's not so simple.

Today I called up Xpress Dent Repair and Carlos came over to my work and 45 minutes later it was gone! I am very happy with the results and would recommend Carlos to anyone who needs a dent removed. I have seen lot's of before and after pic's of dent removal, but to see the results on my hood was awesome.

http://XpressDentRepair.com