The Dent Artisan vs The Auto Body Repair Technician
If you own a vehicle, there is a good chance you’ve visited an auto body shop. If you live in tornado or hail alley, you have probably been to a paintless dent repair shop.
You might think both of these places are one in the same but you would be wrong.
If you call a body shop looking for hail damage repair, you will either be referred to a paintless dent repair shop or they might have a PDR technician on-staff. In the not-so-far-off past, an auto body shop was the only repair option you would have for any kind of auto body damage.
Auto Hail Repair at an Auto Body Shop
At an auto body shop, auto hail damage repair would be treated the same as major collision damage. If the hail damage was severe enough, holes would be drilled into the metal and the dents would be pulled out. After the dent was removed, some kind of filler would be used to patch up the hole. Then, the filler would be sanded down and finally repainted.
If the hail damage was deep and widespread, the entire panel would be replaced.
Auto Hail Repair with Paintless Dent Repair
If you have ever been to a paintless dent repair shop, the first thing you might notice (or not notice) is the quiet and possibly better coffee.
In a paintless dent repair shop, you will never hear the sound of drilling or pounding hammers. You won’t smell the noxious fumes of spray paint. In fact, you might think you walked into the wrong place.
Why? Because paintless dent repair is just that…paintless.
If the paint has been damaged in any way, PDR is not an option. The only good thing about auto hail damage is no paint damage. 99% of the time, a hailstone will NOT damage paint.
With paintless dent repair, technicians use a unique collection of tools that were designed just for auto dent repair and auto hail repair. They resemble metal rods with colorful handles and come in multiple lengths.
With these tools, a trained PDR technician will position him or herself behind the dent and artfully massage the dent back to its pre-damaged state. A good technician knows exactly just how hard to push and for how long. When the dent is coaxed back to its original state, the dent will not return and the paint is undisturbed.
So, in conclusion – you can see why paintless dent repair technicians refer to their craft as more of an art form rather than an auto body repair.
If you would like to learn more about paintless dent repair, stop by any of our shops and get a quick demo!