After months of deliberating between makes and models, weeks of surfing the Internet for reviews on your options, and days spent test-driving your narrowed-down picks, you finally bought a brand new vehicle. You drive it off the lot sparkling clean, and drive toward home with pride. On your way, you decide to stop and have dinner with your friends at a local restaurant to celebrate finally making a purchase. After a fun-filled evening, you walk back to your new car and see a big, ugly dent on its side. Someone door dinged your brand new car! What should you do now?
This might not necessarily be the scenario that led to your vehicle getting door-dinged. You may have an old truck, or your car might have been dinged by your son’s bike handle while he biked around your driveway. No matter what circumstances led to the door ding though, the fact remains that it is there and it needs to be fixed. So what are your options?
Paintless Dent Repair
Paintless dent repair, also known as PDR, is one of the most ideal ways to heal a small dent or multiple dents on your vehicle. A local auto professional will use a tool to gently massage out the dent from the inside, repairing the dent and making the car like new. If you only have one dent and it isn’t too severe, the repair can take as little as 15 minutes and can be relatively inexpensive. Larger dents will take longer and will cost more, but the results will be worth it.
DIY Repair
If taking your vehicle to the local shop is not the route you want to go, there are several DIY tricks that you can try your hand at. One option is to hold dry ice (with gloves, of course) in the center of the dent for several seconds and then take it off. If this method works, the dent should pop out within the next minute.
For this second option, you need a hot summer day to do the trick. If your vehicle has been sitting in the hot sun all day, place a cold, wet washcloth over the top of the door ding. If the temperature change is severe enough, the dent should pop right out.
If neither of these methods works for you, but you still want to try to fix the dings yourself, consult DIY auto blogs for some tips. There is a plethora of unique ways to attempt to remove door dings from your vehicle on your own.
Panel Replacement
If your ding is more like a long line dent, then you may have to fork over some substantial money to repair your vehicle back to its original state. Various auto repair shops have different ways of attempting to remove the dent, but if PDR isn’t an option, the costs are most likely going to be higher. However, there will always be a price to pay to keep your vehicle in tiptop shape.
No matter what area you choose for your door ding repair, your vehicle should be looking shiny and new again in no time. With a little help from an auto professional, whether in a shop or on a blog, your vehicle has a pretty good chance and looking great again.
Written by Marc Laferierre, owner of Dents Unlimited in Columbia, MO. Dents Unlimited offers the best dent repair Columbia MO has to offer, where their expert staff can get your car back on the road in no time.
