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Paintless dent repair is the method of removing dents and dings from the exterior of your vehicle utilizing a manual method by a professional. It is a myth that this process takes a lot of time and costs a lot – in fact, PDR is one of the most affordable methods of dent removal, and can guarantee results in a short amount of time. Even still, many people try to take matters into their own hands and try out DIY PDR – oftentimes with not-stellar results!

Is It Really That Hard to Do DIY PDR?

In short – yes. It takes years of training and practice to perfect the art of dent repair. This is because you can’t get away with simply an “okay” result; it has to be perfect. Achieving factory-new conditions is imperative for not only customer satisfaction, but maintaining the vehicle’s valuation as well. 

Here are some well-known methods of DIY PDR that you should avoid at all costs:

The Hot Water and Plunger Method

Many of you have seen the viral videos of people pouring boiling water on their vehicles and then using a toilet plunger to remove dents from vehicles. This method can potentially work, but only on certain-sized dents. Additionally, the probability of making the damage even worse is very high with this method. Hot water softens the material of the vehicle, so with too much pressure, you could potentially pop the dent too far out. 

The Boiling Water Method

Utilizing boiling water on your vehicle has the potential to fix your dents, but also to cause you more issues than you started with. Boiling water will make the metal and plastic more pliable on your vehicle, but without the expertise, you could inadvertently cause the materials to warp too much. 

Similarly, if your car’s paint is not in tip-top condition, hasn’t been waxed, or is unprotected, the boiling water does have the potential to damage and/or strip the paint.

The Hot Glue Method

Some DIY PDR methods cite using hot glue as a method of affixing a makeshift handle to your dent, allowing you to manually pull it out. This can end in disaster for a number of reasons: 

  1. Simply pulling on a dent will certainly not fix it 100%, and you are sure to still see evidence of the dent after the fact
  2. Removing the glue has to be done in a certain way in order to avoid stripping the paint off the exterior. 

Using A Specialty PDR Toolkit

This is definitely the most reliable of dent-removal methods, simply because it’s what the professionals use. However, just because seasoned PDR technicians can remove dents with ease utilizing these kits doesn’t mean anyone can (or should)! If you are not trained on how to use these tools, you can end up doing more damage to your vehicle, including scrapes or holes. Paintless dent removal is a tedious and meticulous process, involving carefully massaging out the dents until there is virtually no sign of the prior damage.

Don’t Mess with DIY PDR – Leave It To Us!

DIY PDR videos online certainly make it look like an easy and cheap fix, but that’s ultimately what you’ll be left with; a cheap fix. The professionals at 618 Dent Guy ensure factory-new condition with every dent repair job we do, whether it’s one dent or one hundred. Give us a call today to see how we can make dent repair a breeze for you. 

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