Whether it’s hail from a thunderstorm or a neighbouring car door that someone opened a bit too hard, having dents in your car is never ideal. Not only does it ruin the overall aesthetic of your vehicle, but the time and monetary cost of repairs can be an inconvenience at the best of times.
While people often assume that getting a dent in your car requires extensive repair works, there is a way to fix dents quickly and at a less expensive price. Paintless dent removal allows trained experts to reshape dented sections of your car without repainting or a full panel replacement.
In this article, we’ll be taking you through all the intricacies of paintless dent removal, from how it works, its benefits over traditional repair methods, and why you should always get your paintless dent removal in Melbourne done by the experts.
What Is Paintless Dent Removal?
Paintless dent removal (PDR) is a method of repairing dents in a car’s body that preserves the original paint coating. Skilled technicians can manipulate the affected area and return it to its original shape using specialised tools, leaving no visible marks or fluctuations and restoring your car to a near showroom finish.
In short, paintless dent removal lets experts repair various dent sizes quickly and cheaply without the need to fill, repaint, or replace the exterior panel of the car. So long as the paint remains intact, your car’s damage can be resolved using PDR techniques.
How Does Paintless Dent Removal Work?
When performing paintless dent removal, technicians use various tools to reach the car’s interior and push the metal out to its original shape in a non-invasive manner, repairing the dent while leaving the paint completely intact.
While every specialist has their way of performing PDR, at Brighton Panel Works, our two main methods are:
Discs and Rods
Round discs are attached to various parts of the dented bodywork. Rods are attached to the discs, and the bodywork returns to its original position when the rods are pulled sharply forwards.
Magnetic Ball
A technician pushes the dent from behind with a magnetic ball attached to a long handle. Fluorescent lighting and tracers are used to determine where the roller ball is on the other side of the dented surface. The technician then uses the ball to carefully push against the surface while manipulating the dented area until a smooth surface is restored.
What Are The Advantages Of Paintless Dent Removal?
Cost-Effective
Cost is a substantial reason why car owners often don’t repair dents. As PDR requires less time, materials, and labour, it is a far more price-accessible dent repair method than its counterparts.
Shorter Process
PDR doesn’t require sanding, body fillers, or painting equipment, and is often faster than traditional dent repair or panel replacement. Even for extensive damage, PDR may have you leaving your car at the workshop for one to two days, whereas traditional repair methods can take over a week.
No Repainting Required
Not only do you maintain the more resilient original coating, you also don’t have to worry about overspray or a mismatched paint job ruining the aesthetics of your car.
Helps Maintain The Vehicle’s Original Value
Bodywork and repainting can cause the market resell value of your vehicle to fall significantly. With PDR, you can save an original part of your vehicle and thus retain its resale value.
Does Paintless Dent Removal Always Work?
While an invaluable repair technique for dents, PDR isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution for all your panel repair needs. It has limitations based on the severity and location of your vehicle damage.
In cases where the paint has been heavily scratched off, or if your vehicle has sustained more serious damage, you may have to rely on traditional bodywork repair methods used by panel beaters in Melbourne to restore your vehicle fully.
In addition, PDR is built on the assumption that the paint and metal used on your car are resistant to physical manipulation.
Due to less resilient paint and thicker body panels, older vehicles (around 20 years or more) may not respond as well to the treatment, although it can be worth a try!
Why You Shouldn’t Use DIY Paintless Dent Removal Techniques
The Internet has many homegrown methods for performing your own PDR, but it’s not as easy as it looks; our previous article here outlines why DIY methods usually achieve ineffective results.
If done incorrectly, you’re also just as likely to damage your vehicle (or yourself) and net a higher repair cost in the long run. So, don’t risk damaging your car with a haphazard self-repair technique; instead, get in touch with your local technicians to ensure a high-quality repair.
Paintless Dent Removal At Brighton Panel Works
Get your PDR in Melbourne done right by Brighton Panel Works’ team of highly trained and experienced technicians. We also provide high-quality smash repairs in Melbourne amongst other services, and you can always count on our excellent and personalised customer helpline. Contact our team today!