How Much Does Paintless Dent Repair Cost? [Full Guide]
No matter how careful you are, traffic accidents and dents are inevitable at some point in time simply because you have no control over others. Bikes, balls, falling tree branches, grocery store carts, you name it, all can dent your car. So, how much will it cost you to do paintless dent repair when this happens?
The average paintless dent repair is somewhere between $125 and $500. However, the cost of your dent repair will vary depending on the type of car you have and the number of dents, among other things. Minor dent repairs cost between $50 and $200. Major repairs, however, may well cost over $2000. The great thing about paintless repair is that it’s environmentally friendly, so the process is relatively simple.
Read on to learn more about the average costs of paintless dent repair and how to evaluate the damage to estimate the costs.
Paintless Dent Repair Cost
Paintless dent repair is a cost-effective and environmentally friendly way of repairing your car. The average cost is usually $125 to $500.
However, the size and depth of the dent will determine the actual cost. Small dents or scratches will cost roughly $125. Major repairs will cost anywhere between $2000 to $5000, while severe dent repairs can go well beyond $10,000.
Average Costs Based on the Severity of the Damage
Minor Repairs
Small objects hitting your car can cause minor dents that need minimal time and effort to repair. In most cases, you can do it yourself without the assistance of a technician. But, should you decide to go to an automobile body shop, expect the repair cost to be $125 or thereabouts.
Major Repairs
Even hailstones that are one to two inches in diameter can usually cause major damage to your car. The technician will need extra time here to find and access the dents properly. Expect it to cost you anywhere between $2,000 and $5,000.
Severe Repairs
Multi-car crashes or large items hitting your car can lead to severe dents on the exterior of your car. Depending on the dents and location, the paintless dent repair cost can range from $5,000 to $10,000. It’ll take a significant amount of time.
How to Evaluate the Dent Damage to Determine the Actual Cost
1. Severity
Dents can be classified into three different severity levels: Minor, major and severe.
Minor dents are small, around the size of a quarter, and you can usually repair them without the assistance of a qualified specialist.
Then, there are major dents. These are more noticeable, measuring up to two inches in-depth, and you will need a qualified specialist.
Finally, you have severe dents, and these are massive and deep. They require a lot of time and effort to repair.
2. Body Panel
Are the body panels made of sheet metal or aluminum? Because aluminum is more difficult to work with, getting the damaged area back to its original shape will take longer.
3. Location
While a dent on the vehicle’s exterior is easy to access, getting to the other side of the dent can be one hell of a job. Generally, the easier it is to get to the dent, the less expensive it is to repair it.
4. Number of Dents
The number of dents impacts the repair cost for two reasons. The first is obvious: more dents mean more time and effort to repair. The second reason, which is less visible, is that working on multiple dents in one area may lead them to affect one another.
If you remove one, you can make the other dent worse. As such, this will take a longer time and cost more.
5. Car Model
The car’s model can impact how much it costs to repair the dents. Repairing higher-end luxury cars would cost more than domestic and commercial vehicles.
Paintless vs. Traditional Dent Repair
Traditional
The traditional dent repair involves pounding the dent first out of the car’s external body before sanding the damaged area. Then, you try to reshape the damaged area and spray paint on it to match the rest of the body.
This traditional way is undoubtedly less expensive than buying new panels. If you try to patch the dent yourself, you risk jeopardizing your car’s warranty and lowering its value.
Paintless
Involves Reshaping the Body of a Dented Car with Specialized Tools
Paintless dent repair involves reshaping the body of a dented car with specialized tools to make it look as good as new. There is no need to repaint here. So, no need to worry about the dented area not matching the rest of your car paint.
Requires Less Time and Effort
Although this method needs less time and effort, it still requires the skills of a qualified specialist in most cases.
Evaluate the Damage and Examine the Dent
They will evaluate the damage first and examine the dent’s shape, size, and location on your car. Then, they map out the contours and angles of the dent. To have complete access to the dent, they may remove accessories, body panels, lighting, or interior panels from your car.
They apply pressure with special tools, delicately putting the metal back into place without damaging the paintwork.
Why You Should Choose Paintless Dent Repair Instead of Traditional Repair
When you have a rather expensive car and want to fix something, you would want the least abrasive measures possible. That is where paintless dent repair kicks in. It restores the original shape of your car without using body fillers and harming the original paint.
Here are three reasons why paintless dent repair is better than the traditional one:
1. Cost-Efficient
Every dent is different, and some may take a lot more time and work than others, but PDR techniques are usually faster than standard repairs because you do not have to repaint the damaged area.
Repairs are less expensive because there is less work and no material cost.
It can even be cheaper to pay for it yourself than file a claim with your insurance provider.
2. No Downtime
With paintless dent repair, you will have a technician come to you and get the whole thing repaired within the same day.
Whereas traditional procedures will take a long time, you will be without your car for at least two days. Minor paintless dent repairs will only take a few hours.
3. No Risk of Botched Blends
There’s no risk of poor blending or paint mismatch because you’re not repainting the damaged area.
Even if the paint starts to crack, skilled PDR technicians will inform you of this and refer you to a body shop to complete the necessary repairs rather than risk further damage to your vehicle.
Again, how much does paintless dent repair cost? On average, the paintless dent repair cost is $125 to $500. This cost varies depending on the dent size and location and the extent of the damage.
Paintless Dent Repair Procedure
1. Assess the Damage
There are a few things that the technician will think about before starting work. As mentioned earlier, the number of dents, the location, what type of car you have, etc., all come to play.
So, your technician will look for the easiest and quickest way to solve the problem once they assess the damage.
2. Access the Dents
Once the damage has been examined, a technician will start to access the dent, and they usually remove the trim and interior beforehand.
Experienced technicians will have the right equipment and tools, which will allow them to go as far as they want to get to the slightest dent there is. They may even use some adhesives or slide hammers to access hard-to-reach dents.
3. Perform the Repairs
This can take anything from minutes to hours, or even days, depending on the dent’s severity and the person’s experience doing the work.
Some dents may come out with little to no effort, while others might demand much more physical power, but still, paintless dent repairs will take significantly less time than the traditional way.
Keep in mind that years of expertise combined with the appropriate tools will always be a better choice than someone who possesses all of the necessary tools but lacks experience.
Can Paintless Dent Repair Fix All Types of Dents?
Unfortunately, you can’t use PDR to repair every dent. The following are a few examples:
1. Cracked Paint
If your paint is old and already peeling, it is doubtful that it will be flexible enough for you to push or pull it back without causing more damage to the car.
Any reliable technician would inform you of the hazards and ask if you want to proceed or move on without jeopardizing your car.
2. Stretched Metal
Most paintless dent repair technicians will only work on panels that have minor metal damage.
They won’t be able to do anything in cases when the metal is stretched to extremes. So they will turn down the job and direct you to a body shop specializing in panel beating and painting.
3. Rust, Holes, and Piercings
It’s common sense that paintless dent repair can’t fix any of these. In cases of rust, you will need to do some fabrication work, especially when all of the original metal is no longer visible.
FAQs
What Is PDR?
PDR stands for paintless dent repair, which is repairing car dents of all shapes and sizes without painting them, which is done by using specialized tools and equipment.
How Long Will It Take Me to Repair a Car Dent?
The severity of the dent is the most important consideration here. The average dent repair takes between one and three hours to complete.
You can repair small dents in 15 minutes, while a larger dent could take eight hours. Hail damage can take anywhere from two to four days to repair, depending on how severe the damage is.
Can I Fix Car Dents Myself, or Do I Have to Call on a Technician for Help?
Yes, you can try one of these five methods for small dents. But, we do not recommend that you do this unless you are sure you know what you’re doing.
Even if you have the necessary equipment and have watched a ton of YouTube videos or something, you could still end up causing more damage to your car if you don’t have the necessary experience that dent repair requires.
Will My Insurance Cover All Costs Related to Dent Repairs?
Yes. If the dent was caused by an accident or theft, insurance companies would usually reimburse the full repair cost. They may, however, only provide you with a partial refund if the actual dent repair cost surpasses the initial estimates they laid out in the insurance.
In general, paintless dent repair is under comprehensive insurance coverage.
What Tools Does a Qualified Technician Use in Paintless Dent Repairs?
A qualified technician uses specialized tools to precisely repair the damaged panel while avoiding cracking the paint. They first remove the interior trims that interfere with the dent.
Then, they use excessive heat to prevent chipping the damaged area. Finally, they apply hot glue to hard-to-reach spots.
Interestingly enough, many car owners love to do this on their own simply because many DIY kits allow you to do so. These kits include suction equipment to repair the damage.
Is Paintless Dent Repair the Ultimate Solution for Moderate Damage Caused by Car Collision?
Unfortunately, paintless dent repair cannot always accurately fix all damage. For instance, scrapes and abrasions that have destroyed the surface and color of the paint are not the ideal candidates for PDR.
Is Paintless Dent Repair Easier to Do and Faster than the Traditional One?
Yes, it is the easiest and quickest solution to fix all dents, and you won’t have to wait days for this to be done. You usually do so in a matter of hours rather than weeks. Paintless dent repair does not use any fillers or paint to fix your car, and hence the factory paint remains intact.
Is Paintless Dent Repair Cheap, and How Much Will It Cost Me on Average?
Yes. Paintless dent repair does not use tools like bonds, paint, or fillers, which sets it apart from other types of expensive repairs.
Depending on the severity and size of the dent, paintless dent repair might cost anywhere from $75 to $150, whereas traditional ones will cost much more. They will take much more time too.
Can Paintless Dent Repair Deal with All Aluminum and Metal Surfaces?
It all depends on how stretched the metal or aluminum is and where the damage is.
If the dent is deep, it may indicate too much strain, often resulting in a poor-quality repair.
Does Paintless Dent Repair Fix All Damage, or Will There Still Be Some Visible Dent Signs?
This depends on the efficiency of your dent repair service provider. A competent technician will ensure that the damage vanishes once their job is done.
Will Paintless Dent Repair be the Right Choice for my Car?
Absolutely and it is only you who knows how to determine the actual value of your car. Paintless dent repair is the perfect solution if you have a super expensive car that you would like to maintain for a long time without painting over the original factory color. But, if you have a car worth $3000 or something and the dent damage is severe, you are probably better off without PDR.
Think of the following questions to determine whether your car is actually worth the effort or not:
Is the repair something I can afford?
How important is it to me to have a car that looks perfect?
What Are the Steps Involved in Paintless Dent Repair?
Paintless dent repair is a technique that uses many specialized instruments to remove minor and large dents. PDR technicians use these instruments to repair the dents without having to paint over the original factory color of your car.
Furthermore, if the paint surface is intact, paintless dent repair is far more efficient and cost-effective than taking your car to an auto body shop.
Conclusion – Paintless Dent Repair Cost Estimates
Paintless dent repair is your best bet if you are somebody who wishes to maintain and preserve the original paint color of your car. The average cost is anywhere between $125 and $500.
The exact cost will, of course, depend on the technique used, the number of dents, and the type of car you have. Minor dent repairs cost anywhere from $50 to $200, while major ones may easily exceed $2000. Severe dent repairs can range from $5000 up to $10,000.
With that being said, it is still cheaper and more effective than traditional dent repair. Above all, the great thing about it is that it is an eco-friendly and non-invasive procedure that many insurance companies prefer over any other type of car repair.
So, you do not have to worry about whether or not your insurance will cover your paintless dent repair.
