Is an unsightly dent or door ding marring the appearance of your otherwise pristine vehicle? Thanks to paintless dent repair, you can get your car back to looking like it did the day you drove it off the dealership lot, without having to spend a lot of time and money to restore it to its original condition. Paintless dent repair, or PDR, is the practice of smoothing small dents, door dings, hail damage, and other imperfections out of a car’s surface without the need for replacement parts, paint, or other complicated and time-consuming bodywork. PDR can help your car get back to its original glory in as little as an hour, all for an affordable price! Here’s what you need to know about paintless dent repair so you can decide if it’s right for you.

 

How Does Paintless Dent Repair Work?

Paintless dent repair can be used to visibly smooth out the surface of a vehicle that has sustained minor dents, door dings, and hail damage, among other cosmetic imperfections. A skilled technician uses metal rods, small hammers, and body picks to push the dent back out from the underside of the body panel. Sometimes, technicians also use special tabs and glue to pull the dent out from the outside of the panel. By pushing or pulling the dent, a PDR specialist can restore a car’s body panel to its original smooth surface. As its name implies, PDR requires no touch-up paint, meaning that the car is normally ready to return to the road within an hour or two.

 

How Good Are PDR Results?

The results you can expect from paintless dent repair largely depend on several factors: the size of the dent, the flexibility of your car’s paint, the part of the car where the damage is located, and the extent to which the metal has been stretched by the body damage. Small, shallow dents on broad surface areas are likely to be the easiest to smooth using PDR, while damage that has been sustained at greater impact or is located in a hard-to-reach part of the car may not yield the same results. Your technician will be able to tell you right away whether PDR is a viable repair option for your car’s body damage.

 

Is PDR Safe for My Car?

Yes- provided you allow a certified, skilled technician to do the job. Your technician will be able to let you know whether PDR can be used in your situation or whether you will need to come up with a different body repair plan. By using heat, your technician can ensure that your car’s paint won’t crack on impact and that the surface and your car will once again be smooth and damage-free.

 

What If Paintless Dent Repair Isn’t the Best Option?

Under certain circumstances, PDR is not able to be used. For example, the dented area may also include gouges or deep scratches that can’t be pushed out from the underside. However, a reputable auto body shop can provide you with a number of alternative methods to restore your car to its original condition. Your technician may need to replace the body panel where the damage is located, or it may be necessary to retouch the paint on the affected area of the car by using paint matching techniques.

 

For expert paintless dent repair services in South Birmingham, Alabama, Sherrill Paint & Body is the name you can trust. With 90 years of experience under our belts, we’ve been in business almost as long as cars have been on the road! Since 1929, the team at Sherrill Paint & Body has been dedicated to providing our customers with the utmost courtesy, care, and respect, not to mention high-quality auto body repair with outstanding results. Call us today at (205)322-5684 to schedule your paintless dent repair consultation.