Hwyman

So my wife and I go to Lowes, and she says, "honey park far away so the LS is safe, I don't mind the walk." It's 95 degrees out, bless her heart. So after shopping we are walking back to the LS to find a car backed into an adjacent stall, where its driver door is next to mine. As we approach, the car takes off, not a good sign. Yup, he tagged my driver door. Luckily it did not break the paint. My wife was surprised I was so calm about it; she was not. We just had the car detailed, ugh! Took the wife to lunch and order some wine, she's better now.
Anyway gents, I would like to know if anyone has used paintless dent repair. I've seen these guys pop out door dings at the Lexus dealership with surprisingly good results. Correct me if I'm wrong. They take a wedge and bend the car door at the window to create an opening. Then they use a pry tool placing it inside the door cavity and wiggle out the dent. It looks great, but I was wondering what does it do to the integrity or the tightness of the glass and door. Does this create future problems of wind noise or rattles? Sorry if this is a silly question, I've never had this done before. By the way, after leaving Lowes almost got broadsided. What a day!

Wandl

That is why I only shop at Home Depot...

Depends on the severity of the dent but these PDR guys usually are pretty good and do wonders especially for used car lots. Since it didn't break the paint I would be pretty confident the repair would restore the glory of your car without any big hints of it having been there

baam

Someone backed into mine a couple weeks ago in parking lot and split the rear bumper open. No repairing it so a new cover & paint will be required, just over a grand to fix.

As far as the dent repair goes, I had this done on a door when I bought the car. It was a good 2" crease kind of dent low on the drivers door. The repair man drilled a 1/2" hole in the end of the door and worked the dent out with a long stainless rod. He filled the hole with an automobile style plastic plug that looks factory installed.

The dealer had assured me they could remove the dent though I was skeptical but he actually got it out so it doesn't show at all, I was surprised and pleased!

I don't know that I would want them going thru the window opening as he had to apply quite a bit of pressure/leverage on the rod (multiple times) which seems like it could spread the window opening wider, especially if they use wedges.

1Putt

Depending exactly where the dent is on the door will determine how they access it. A good PDR guy will be able to make it disappear like it was never there, or will tell you if they can't get it all cleanly.
I've had a ding removed from my driver's door, they ended up taking off the inside door panel to access it properly, maybe since it was below the side mirror.

BPauto

Very true.

A good PDR guy generally can look at a car he's never seen and figure out where he'll need to safely pry within a couple minutes.

The only issue you run into is if the dent is in a location that's inaccessible via normal openings, in these cases (which are rare), the PDR tech might have to drill a small access hole.

We recently had our go to guy come to remove a few decent sized creases in a couple doors and some dents in a trunk panel, and he got everything out with no adverse effects to the car (it took him a few hours for one of the bigger dents, but his decision to take his time shows in how the final repair looks like the dent was never there).

Hwyman

Thanks guys. I think I will have him drill a hole opposed to the window access. I love the way the LS is so quiet; I would not want that compromised. Safe travels!

R Z

My old LS400 was dinged a few times on the passenger door. I took it to a Dent Doctor place and when I picked it up, I couldn't find those dings at all. Looked new.

CJITTY

I had over $7K hail damage on my old Acura TL with Diamond White Pearl paint..those PDR guys had the car for 3 weeks and rolled every single dent out without a drop of paint...absolutely amazed at how great of a job they did. Now, hail dents are fairly round and somewhat shallow, but it all depends on the steepness of the dent and where it sits on the door..

BPauto

They shouldn't have to drill a hole unless the dent is completely inaccessible by normal means.

Where are you located in CA? If you're in SoCal, I can put you in touch with a very talented PDR guy, who has reasonable rates.

Dave Mac

I have always had good success with PDR and use the vendor who does work for Lexus. I no longer get too upset when these things happen because of this. One time I tried to be helpful because the dent appear right behind the door safety reinforcement and removed the door trim before the guy got her. He couldn't deal with that as his mechanics are to work from the outside of the car.

Dave Mac

1Putt

Yes, last resort is to drill a hole !

Hwyman

I live near Fresno, CA. So I called Dent Doctor and they said they normally access the dent between the door trim and window (insert a wedge with the window rolled down), with a caveat if the dent was on the lower portion of the door, it would necessitate to drill a hole.

CJITTY, BPaulto, 1Putt: Does this constitute normal means?