Going in for Paintless Dent Repair...

[zerowkul98]

Hi guys.

Im taking our 03' 4Runner to Dent Wizard tomorrow.

We had a terrible hail storm, lotsa damage. The 03 got the least, and of course it got the leat $$ from insurance. There's a couple dings on the hood, one on the rear quarter, but the roof + the area above the doors got the worst of it.

Has anyone had this done before? Im a little wary to have them take the ceiling liner off, and possibly the sunroof too.

 

[FireTruckGuy]

Take this for what it is worth. My brother got to hang out with a couple of guys from American Family. He asked them about hail repair. Their answer was, its the best thing that has happened to car repair in a long time. My feeling is that if it is repaired once, the second time it happens the panel is done.

 

[zerowkul98]

Ive heard good things....and i'll take PDR vs. the body shop cutting the roof off and putting on a new one!

Ive just heard that once a headliner is taken out, its never the same again.

 

[RickC]

The process works great. I have used that method many times. Just had a dent taken out of my GTO in the A pillar and a small spot in the hood. I have had two door dings taken out of my Camry as well. I believe in it and have never had any issues with having it done. My Camry was done over two years ago and it still looks great.

 

[djj1973]

I had a 2000 Tundra a fews years back and got caught in a nasty hail storm. The roof and hood were damaged pretty good. PDR fixed it up and it looked perfect again afterward. They also didn't have to remove the headliner to do the roof. They actually used hot glue and some super strong suction cups.

DJJ :bluejump:

 

[zerowkul98]

Yeah, but the PDR guy told m he'd def. need to have the headliner taken out. Sucks.

However, i went to Dent Wizard today with the wife's 4runner...had 8 dings on the hood, 1 bad one on the rear quarter. I didnt take "before" pictures, mostly because every time i looked at it, i got pissed off at my kinda luck.

But here's the hood AFTER the PDR:

 

[Veritas]

PDR is definitely an art, if you get the right repair person they can fix most anything. PDR has really gotten good.:bash:

 

[MATTALLICA]

It works well but take a look at the panel after they are done, they scratch the **** out of it, put some bearing grease on it or white lithium.

 

[RickC]

Scratched, really? I have never had that issue and I also have never heard of putting lithium grease on the paint.

 

[zerowkul98]

Just looked underneath the hood to look for scratches from the PDR.

There was nothing but a "cleaned off" area, where it looks like he prepped the underside area for work.

No scratches though.

The only thing they did have to do was drill a small hole to get to the rear quarter panel dings that i had. There were 3 small ones in a cluster, about in the middle of the rear window area and 3" down...where there's a slight bend in the sheet metal.

In order to get to this area, they open the passenger-side rear door and drill a hole about 3/16"dia. to send the tool through and fix the dents. Afterwards, they use a thick rubber plug w/ silicone paste to ensure there wont be any decay or rust from their hole. You can see the plug just about the door latch hardware.

All in all, im happy. My old 2003 4Runner Sport Edition V8 looks great. I washed n waxed it when i got home from the PDR place. Looks nice i think!

 

[RickC]

Looks good. I would like to have one of those factory push bars.

 

[zerowkul98]

Ive seen them for sale on some dealer's sites, and def. a few on ebay or craigsist.

Sucks I cant put one on my 2008. They were only for 03-05's i guess.

 

[Uneek]

PDR is definitely an art, if you get the right repair person they can fix most anything. PDR has really gotten good.:bash:

:iagree: Dent Expert by SAL - Paintless Dent Removal in S.F. Bay Area

The only thing they did have to do was drill a small hole to get to the rear quarter panel dings that i had. There were 3 small ones in a cluster, about in the middle of the rear window area and 3" down...where there's a slight bend in the sheet metal.

I've seen some PDR guys drill holes for access, but I think that 4R's rear quarter panel should be accessible by removing the interior cargo area panels. Personally, I rather live with the dent than have a new hole put in. As long as you're happy that's all that matters.

 

[zerowkul98]

I've seen some PDR guys drill holes for access, but I think that 4R's rear quarter panel should be accessible by removing the interior cargo area panels. Personally, I rather live with the dent than have a new hole put in. As long as you're happy that's all that matters.

Well, i somewhat agree with you, but there are some underlying circumstances that pushed my decision to just go with the hole-idea.

When they first told me about the "drill a hole" technique, i asked if that might open a whole can of financial worms. Currently we are saving for building our own house, so I cant dig into my pocket for this fix. I was given so much $ from insurance, and it covered it all.

They had done the same hole-technique on a black porche carrera that was ahead of me. I watched them do it, it looked minimally invasive, i like the results.