Repairing dings in trunk
 

After putting some wine bottles in the boot, I wound up with a couple of dings. I just got an estimate to repair - $570!!! They say they have to repair the dings, paint, replace the emblems, etc. Is this realistic or are there alternatives (I tried the hair dryer/keyboard cleaner trick to no avail).

I've tried uploading photos but get the message, "File system directory is not writable."

have you looked into paintless dnet repair...

dent wizard or something similar

Wasn’t there a product on TV that was advertised it would take care of dings and the cost was relatively inexpensive? I just can't think of it.
I'm sure someone on this forum will have some info

As long as the paint didnt chip or crack, you can use a paintless dent removal company. Car dealerships use them all the time, and the results are good.

Search for paintless dent repair on Craigslist or call the used car manager of a high-end dealership and ask who they use to recondition their trade ins.

The previous owner closed the trunk (front) on something and created a convex "dent" in it. It's not very noticeable at all, but someday I may have it repaired. I am not certain if paintless dent removal will work, since typically the PDR tech is working from the back (unpainted side) forcing the dent outwards, not the other way around.

If the bracing on the underside is in the way, PDR won't work.

Good recommendation to go to whom the Dealers use - there's PDR and then there's pdr. Not all of them do good work or are skilled enough to do the hard ones (bad location, behind other panels, etc.)

You might try using a piece of Dry Ice instead of the Hairdryer/solvent method. Just rub it around the spot to get it good and cold (underside too). The trunk is aluminum, so it'll cool down and contract quickly.

Dry Ice is an old dealers trick to remove hail damage on the lot. It works maybe 50% of the time. Any local Ice supplier can sell it to you.

I think not on the 986. Or I must have purchased some sort of special aluminum magnet to hold my Boxster emblem on....

2 thoughts
 

lots of Boxsters crash front end first leaving lots of trunk lids at salvage yrds. List of them on my web site.

To prevent in the future, both for the front and back trunk there are clip in user installable Das Schild of plastic that prevent dents from closing the lid on something inside the trunk.

Some expensive bottles of wine hunh....

Sarcasm, I recognize that.

Rooted in ancient Greek meaning to tear flesh.

"Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit..." - Oscar Wilde

People using it think they're a Wit, but they're only half right... ;)

My mistake, you are indeed correct, the 986 trunk is made of steel, not aluminum. Thanks for pointing that out! :cheers:

I had the same kind of dent, and it was right above where the bracing is. It was a subtle outward 5-6 inch long dent and really noticeable - at least to me - under artificial light.

I had it in the shop for a day for some other work and they had someone like Dent Wizard work on it. I wasn't there to see what they did but whatever it was, it worked. I've looked under all kinds of light and from all angles and I can't detect it at all anymore. It cost about $150 to fix.

I used PDR on some minor dents on my door,worked great and was only $150.

Just keep an eye out on eBay. Rear deck lids are sold on there often and black is a common color.

Actually, the braces underneath are the reason that PDR works so well. They usually heat a putty knife to release the adhesive between the brace and the lid or other panel, allowing the panel to spring back or be easily popped back into shape. Check for a gap after the repair ; I filled mine in with silicone and then painted the goop.

In the last car club I was involved with we had a "paintless dent removal" person come to our tech sessions. I had a 2 inch dent removed from right behind the PAX door of my Miata for $50. That area is all compound curves and has no access whatsoever. He had to drill a small hole in the door jamb, which he sealed and then plugged, and no one including me (more than 30 people saw before and after 45 minutes later) could find where the dent was. If you get the right person it is almost worth the $ to watch them work - the word "wizard" is fitting.
Through a couple of years the dry-ice trick as well as the tri-angular suction cup thingy were tried by various members, and neither worked well. The dry-ice made them better, but didn't get rid of it, although I don't know whether the people that tried it were on aluminum or steel. Time after time the paintless dent repair person got the dents out.
I would suggest to you that you may want to try to set up something similar with a local club if they don't already have it, it worked GREAT for me, and saved big dollars.
Good luck.
Kevin

Interesting. I had a small dent in the hood of our Jag which was right behind the bracing. The PDR guy used by the Dealership looked it over and said it couldn't be removed via PDR, but that he'd have to drill and pull it, then fill it and paint it.

This wizard was very skilled and did some truly invisible work on another car of mine, so I trust he knew what he was talking about.

I found a perfect hood, same color, on CL for $200, so I went witrh that as opposed to pulling, filling and painting which was quoted at $500.

So, I guess it all depends on the dent, location, skill of the wizard, etc.

< hijack mode on > - hey, I'm a newbie 'n I'll shut it off!

QUOTE: snip ... of our Jag... snip Originally posted by Lil bastard

A Jaguar and a Porsche? I'm doing something wrong here... :(

< hijack mode off>

I had three pyramids on my rear trunk. My pdr guy took all three out for 65 and you would never, even in the best lighting, see it.

I have about 4-5 dings in various places on my fenders and one on the rear lid. Not noticeable for the most part but I see em. For those that have had PDR work done on their car for dings what would you expect to pay to have them removed? If you had to guess.

I would guess well under $200 for what you describe. I have seen some fantastic PDR results, great value usually.

I used Dent Wizard In Tampa, Florida. He removed 3 dings, one in the trunk, all for about $110. Great work. Can't see any evidence of dings. I think Dent Wizard is a chain.
Eric