Paintless dent removal is among the highly ranked auto detailing solutions by professionals as well enthusiasts in the industry. It efficiently removes dents and dings from vehicles. Additionally, it does so in a shorter time frame. To top it off, it also costs less, much less.
In the past, if you wanted to repair dents caused by hail, rock pellets, or by chance encounters with our four-legged friends like deer, you would have to fork out a few hundred dollars per dent, no less. Paintless dent removal markedly decreased that expense.
What Is Paintless Dent Removal?
Paintless dent removal received its official introduction in the mid-1980’s. An American car cosmetic reconditioning company developed it. The process uses specialty tools to “massage” and remove dents from the exterior panel of vehicles without impacting their factory finish.
This paintless dent removal technique works on cars manufactured in the last 20 years. The reason behind this is the fact that they are made with high strength metal and resilient paint, which facilitate the use of progressive auto detailing solutions.
When you take your vehicle to a paintless dent removal specialist, he or she will first assess the vehicle’s condition. Then the expert will determine if the dent is fixable and how to do it best. Paintless dent removal technicians slowly and gradually massage out the wavy dent depression from inside out without affecting the paint finish.
Other Paintless Auto Detailing Solutions
Two other paintless auto detailing solutions that you have probably heard about are dry ice dent removal and the hair dryer technique. With the dry ice method, one has to use a heavy duty glove to wrap a piece of dry ice in a clean wash cloth. Then hold it over the dent until it becomes smaller. The concept of using intense cold or intense heat seems logical.
Unfortunately, these are not as effective as the official paintless dent repair technique, which requires trained technicians and specialized tools.
Paintless Dent Removal – The Advantages
There are numerous advantages to this dent removal process. It does away with the old school way of repairing dents. The old school way involved grinding down the dent, filling it and re-painting it. In fact, this intrusive approach increased the chances of damage to the body and paint work. Paintless dent removal involves none of the grinding, filling and repainting processes. Therefore, it does not impact your paint finish at all. Moreover, it is environmentally friendly and can be performed faster than conventional techniques. Thus, it costs much less to the customer.
Buyer, Beware
There are limitations that you, as a buyer, need to be well aware of. No matter the size of the dent, if it runs deep and where the
paint is cracked, it this technique cannot fix it. The same applies if the panel has had body work done on it previously. Or in case the dent is at a place where the tools cannot have proper access. As with any cosmetic conditioning you wish to get done – be it oxidation, swirl marks or paint scratches removal – it is best to first get an assessment as to what can or cannot be fixed before you give the green light to the specialists to proceed.
Speaking of specialists, there is no licensing or industry standards to date. Therefore, proceed with caution and ensure you do the background research beforehand. The last thing you want is a dent in your pocket that is much bigger than those on your vehicle.
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