In the past, if your car had several minor dents in the sheet metal, the body shop would have to pull the dents out and then sand and paint the affected area. Fast forward a few years, and paintless dent removal service is becoming a better option that eliminates the need to paint the car after the repairs are made. 

Dent Removal

The most common way to remove a dent from a panel on your car is to use a tool that pulls the dent out using a nail spot welded to the panel or by drilling a hole through the panel and pulling the dent with a dent puller. These methods have been used for years and often involve welding, grinding, and the application of body filler to the panel. 

The paint is often damaged during the repair, so the dent removal service repaints the area to restore it to its original condition. For cars with many small dents, that can mean repainting the entire vehicle, significantly adding to the repair costs.

There is, however, an emerging technology called paintless dent removal that does less damage during the repair, eliminating the need to repaint while still leaving the car looking great.

Paintless Dent Removal

To remove dents without destroying your car's paint job, a tech uses bright lighting and a series of special tools to get in behind the dented panels and slowly push the dents out of the sheet metal by using tiny movements that reduce the chance of the sheet metal stretching. These small movements are extremely precise, and the intense lighting allows the technician to see the changes as they work. This repair method requires some experience and training to master, but a good tech can remove small dents from the sheet metal so precisely that it becomes impossible to tell where they were.

When to Use Paintless Dent Removal

Paintless dent repair services are an excellent option for a car with minor dents but no scratches or damage to the paint on the vehicle.  If the paint is already damaged or scratched, the damage to the surface makes it very difficult for the technician making the repairs because the light used to see the changes in the panel's surface will likely be deflected by the paint damage. In addition, while no additional paint damage should occur during the dent removal, repairing the existing paint damage will still be necessary.

If your car has a significant amount of damage to a section including contoured style lines, traditional dent repair will be necessary to reshape the body line and make the panel look right. Likewise, creases in the sheet metal are not easily pushed out. But for hail damage, small dents, and dings on the flat panels of most cars, a paintless dent repair service may be right for your vehicle.