Someone hit my car

[ike84]

Fwiw, you can buy those kits on Amazon for under $50. You may wanna order one and try it out. Send it back if it doesn't, but it may save you quite a bit of $ if it does.

I've used them before and while not perfect, theyre the best $50 spent on body work imaginable. I'm getting ready to do it on my truck's c pillar. I can post pics if you want.

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[husker boxster]

Those kits are fine for novices when you have a small dent. But this would require some knowledge where to pull first and how hard. You don't want a field of lumps with a bunch of stretched metal. By nature, metal wants to go back to its original shape. But if you start in the center and pull hard (a novice's 1st inclenation), you'll get a big dome and low spots around it. You've lost the ability to get it to bounce back to its natural shape after that and are left with more work with all the high and low areas you've created than if you'd left it totally alone. A knowledgable person would know to start on an edge and do a small pull, then jump to the other side for another small pull, etc until the the dent wants to pop back into its original shape.

If this was a small dent, I'd say knock yourself out trying it yourself. But no need to make more work for the body shop when you make a mess out of this one.

[Starter986]

Originally Posted by husker boxster

Those kits are fine for novices when you have a small dent. But this would require some knowledge where to pull first and how hard. You don't want a field of lumps with a bunch of stretched metal. By nature, metal wants to go back to its original shape. But if you start in the center and pull hard (a novice's 1st inclenation), you'll get a big dome and low spots around it. You've lost the ability to get it to bounce back to its natural shape after that and are left with more work with all the high and low areas you've created than if you'd left it totally alone. A knowledgable person would know to start on an edge and do a small pull, then jump to the other side for another small pull, etc until the the dent wants to pop back into its original shape.

If this was a small dent, I'd say knock yourself out trying it yourself. But no need to make more work for the body shop when you make a mess out of this one.

The metal is hard, and the way it crushed under created a great resistance to pulling it out (by hand). I'll leave it to the pros. I wouldn't want to **************** it up so badly that it would require a donor panel, welding, etc.

[blue62]

Husker is spot on.
This is not a panel you want to experiment with, try to learn body work on, or go as cheap as possible on.
A novice would make a mess of the repair, do real damage to the metal and end up with something that looked far worse then it is now.
Pulling is not as simple as it sounds. You have to have knowledge and experience. Done correctly it looks very simple, done wrong and you will make a real mess of things.
If you want it done right take it to a Qualified professional that knows his trade.

[blue62]

double post, dang it.

[Rob175]

Regarding the OP having a $1,000 deductible:

FYI....a few years ago, after being "chastised" by a buddy for carrying a $250 deductible on all of my vehicles (he said I was spending too much for the low deductible) I contact my insurance company to price out higher deductibles.

I was surprised to learn that the premium difference between a $250 , $500 and a $1,000 deductible was so small (and very affordable) that it wasn't worth the savings to raise my deductible.

Others may find different results, but I suggest some research could be interesting.

[paulofto]

Originally Posted by Rob175

I was surprised to learn that the premium difference between a $250 , $500 and a $1,000 deductible was so small (and very affordable) that it wasn't worth the savings to raise my deductible.

I agree 100%. We have public insurance here in Manitoba and the difference is only a few dollars so having $250 deductible is well worth it. Not sure about private insurance in other provinces.

[blue62]

Originally Posted by ike84

Fwiw, you can buy those kits on Amazon for under $50. You may wanna order one and try it out. Send it back if it doesn't, but it may save you quite a bit of $ if it does.

I've used them before and while not perfect, theyre the best $50 spent on body work imaginable. I'm getting ready to do it on my truck's c pillar. I can post pics if you want.

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Ike
post some pictures of the trucks dent damage.

[ike84]

Originally Posted by blue62

Ike

post some pictures of the trucks dent damage.

Pics

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