Paintless dent removal
 

Tried my hand at some PDR. It went well for a first timer. :cool:
I've just received a kit from Amazon to try some more delicate work. I've posted my home-style setup in the DIY section. I'll make it prettier this winter during P-car down time. ;)

When I bought my 2001 S in June, it had 9 small dents and one protruding up from the front trunk lid. I called a painless dent removal guy that I've used before and he took all the dents out, including the one on the front trunk lid for $175.00. Well worth the investment especially if the paint hasn't been damaged. Previous to this, my friend who didn't know about painless dent removal spent $700.00 to have one dent removed at a body shop. (that included a re-spray) which he didn't need if the painless dent removal technique had been done. My guy started this business about 10 years ago and to learn the various techniques, he contacted a local wrecking yard and they let him remove dents in crashed cars. (it was worth it to them as he made dented fenders, hoods, trunk lids saleable)

Great deal for $175! Good idea for him to practice on wrecked cars.
Technically, my dent removal wasn't PDR since the paint was already damaged and I had to use some glazing putty to smooth it out and I had to paint it. The glue technique was the same though.

I had approx 100 hail dents removed by a pro for about $2200 (insured) and not a pinch of evidence that he ever touched the car outside or under the metal. Fantastic. Go pro for this.

I watched a guy take a big, deep, creased dent out of a door on my old Benz, it was amazing. I was shocked to see him hitting the paint with an unprotected hammer. Result was perfect, I couldn't tell where the dent had been.

PDR is a great way to take care of hail and door dings. Some of those technicians can get out dents you would never think possible without filler and paint.

I had a dumbass teenager put a palm dent (very 'soft' dent) just above the front fender lip. I was wondering if I could remove the front wheel liner, and gently push it out ... or does that usually require special tools?

A PDF guy can rectify that in a jiffy. Shouldn't cost much.

Thanks for this post. I need to have this done, when I bought the car it had or has a lot of parking lot dings. There's a crease in the side and it looks like hail dents of the front hood. It seems the original owner didn't care where he parked by evidence from all the dings. I'm somewhat anal about where I park. I'll have to get an estimate, I know some companies are mobile.