Removing dents in cars
It is annoying, and not often do you take your pride and joy to the shops and when you do, that 50p-sized dent has completely ruined your day.
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To most appreciating car owners out there, to witness your car receive a fresh new dent in the door panel or even worse not realising where it came from until a few days later is a little bit like getting a speeding ticket on the way to work.
You didn’t expect it, but somehow it just happened.
The truth is, even the smallest of dents are as damaging as the bigger ones, whether your car is a rare classic or a 3 month old BMW, the time and cost to put them right can sometimes work out the same.
It’s not just the immediate cost of putting it right, we also have to consider the cost of the devaluation. Despite how prestigious a car may be, if the bodywork is bearing a few car park scars then it’s likely to put you off if you are in the market to buy one.
So this problem persists on the other side of the fence when you have to consider selling your car too.
Who can fix dents in cars near me?
Is this worth my time or shall I be asking who can fix this dent in the car door?
There are quite a few specialists out there now who solely deal in paintless dent repair, which involves fixing the smaller to medium-sized dents without damaging the paint in the process. But like most skilled jobs they have spent a considerable amount of time learning their craft, practising and honing their skills day in and day out.
You will also find various mobile franchises set up around the country, Chips away, Dent devils and the Dent Men are a few you will find searching the internet.
There are also accredited body shops that deal with a lot of insurance companies, they will handle walk in customers too, but it’s best to enquire for a quote as they can be busy
Can I do this myself?
What jobs can I tackle myself, or shall I ask for help?
It has been known to use a variety of methods to remove dents by use including plungers, hot water, hairdryers, and compressed air.
Removing small dents from car door on a flat panel is one of the easier areas to tackle. There is a small rule of thumb here, the more rounded the edges of the dent, the easier is it to put right, why? Because the sharper the crease or bend in the metal work means the panel has gone beyond its flexible limits and reformed, this will require a few more sets of skills, tools and patience to put right again.
There are a few things to keep in mind. Let us consider the paintwork repairs.
For most modern vehicles, their paintwork can be elastic, which by design allows the surface to flex and deform without creating any cracks or splits. Plastic panels like front and rear bumpers will have a higher elasticity content in the paintwork, as it’s common for these panels to have a very minor impact and completely flex back to its original state without a blemish.
Working on any painted panels, whether aluminium plastic or steel, it’s highly recommended to preheat the panel up first, as paint can be very brittle when cold.
It doesn’t have to be too hot, we don’t want to melt anything here, just warm enough to allow the paint to bend with the panel you are about to work on.
For those tackling removing small dents from car tasks, DIY methods can offer a cost-effective solution. However, for more significant damage, like removing dents from car door, professional services might be needed to restore your car’s pristine condition.
Anything other than the smaller non-complex dents should be left to the professionals, as you could be risking stretching the skin of the panel, or worse taking paint off.
How are dents fixed?
Inside or outside? Generally, it is much easier to try and push a dent out from
behind as you have more options available. This means sometimes you
will have to remove a variety of components to allow access. To gain
access to the other side of the door panel, will require the door
card off and quite possibly a whole host of other parts such as
window guides and door locks all of which add to the time and cost
for the repair.
In
some circumstances depending on where the damage is, it may not even
be possible to get behind a dented panel.
So
when pulling is the only option, there is, fortunately, a huge range
of tools out there to help restore the original shape.
This
may consist of:
- Hot Water
- Plunger
- Suction cups
- Glue Pullers
- Lever bars
- Hammers
- Dolly’s
- Nylon Punches
For those interested in exploring the various tools available for dent removal, websites like Kecotabs offer a wide selection of high-quality tools including glue pullers, lever bars, hammers, and dolly’s.
How much to fix dents in a car door
As a
rough guide, this can give you an idea of what it would cost to
repair a dent.
Small dents | Medium dents | Large and complex dents |
Described as an area typically smaller than 140mm in diameter and not over sharp body lines. An example would be a dent in a flat door panel. | This is taking anything into account which could be larger than your hand. This is where more skill is required to remove sharp creases, or across body lines. | This is often quoted as large areas, deep, and sharp creases. Also multiple areas in one panel. A complex dent could be something like a bonnet with multiple hailstone dents For the highly skilled and patient only. Also requires specialist tooling. |
£60-£200 | £70 – £350 | £300 – £2500 |
Although this is only rough guidance, there is an industry-standard when it comes to pricing dents up. This is normally done by a specialist coming out to measure the size of the dent and assess the area.
No two dents are the same so the complex ones over body moulds and complex areas need a specialist to have a look.
One common question car owners have is ‘how much to remove dents from car’? The answer varies depending on the dent’s size and location. For example, how much to fix dents in car door can differ from the cost to remove a small dent on the car’s bonnet.
These are the factors they would take into account:
Diameter of the dented area
The age of the car/paint.
Colour of the paint
Depth of the Dent
Location
Accessibility
Make and model of the vehicle
Material of the body panel.
Maintaining the value of your car
The likely hood is if you are already considering the option to remove the dents from the bodywork, it’s because you care about your motor, which is great.
But without this sounding like a lady hair product advert, is your car worth it? After you have done the research and worked out it will cost a quarter of the car’s underlying value, perhaps not.
If that is the case regardless of cost, if the car has sentimental value because it has been in the family for 3 generations, then by all means go ahead and start enquiring.
Originality is priceless, sometimes it’s worth spending that few hundred quid to get that back again.
Conclusion
Removing dents from car bodywork can be hugely frustrating, but it’s not the end of the world. There is such an array of specialist tooling on the market purely designed for this purpose, and the results can be pretty spectacular. So don’t be put off straight away, at the very least ask a professional if they think it’s worth doing.
It’s quite often they look worse than they are, not an easy job, but its worth remembering the underlying value of your car.
If in doubt, ask yourself, if this car was for sale today, would this dent put me off?
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