Almost all vehicles are subject to dings and dents from road debris, shopping carts and even hail. Though none of these battle scars is all that serious by itself, enough of them can make your car or truck look as if it passed through a meteor shower. And that can cost you when it’s time to trade in your vehicle or return it at the end of your lease term.
Up to now, your only alternative was to have a body shop strip the damaged panels to bare metal, pound out the pockmarks and then sand and repaint. Depending on the extent of the damage, however, you might be able to get the damage repaired without all that sanding, pounding and repainting. Paintless dent repairs can cost a lot less than the conventional method.
The Automotive Aftermarket Warehouse Club (AAWC) in Springfield, Missouri, is one of the foremost designers and marketers of paintless-repair tools. The AAWC also teaches the technique to both amateurs and bodyshop pros. According to Todd Mathews, president of AAWC, having just two or three door dings repaired using traditional body-shop methods could cost hundreds of dollars. “I can do the same job with paintless repair tools for $65 to $75,” he says.
Unfortunately, the process is limited to certain types of dents. We’ll tell you how paintless dent repair is done, and how to tell if your car’s damage qualifies.
