Local guy takes out dents
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Joined: Oct 2016
Posts: 857
Likes: 47
From: Oregon
Local guy takes out dents
Perhaps this is common knowledge to you all, but after getting a significant ding in my passenger door a few weeks ago I went by the local independent repair place and they gave me the card of a fellow who comes around and takes out dents. Apparently this fellow is well-known to body shops and they hire him to do a lot of minor repairs for them.
I called him and sent a couple of photos. He came by several days ago, driving a fancy pickup with all sorts of custom cabinetry in the back. He said he made his own tools and has been doing this for decades. $100 a dent, cash business, apparently at least several calls a day. While I was chatting with him he had braced the passenger door, popped out a rubber plug in the side of the door, and was massaging the inside of the dent with one of his many tools. Five minutes later, dent totally gone. As an extra bonus, he polished out a scrape made by a plastic snow shovel a few weeks ago.
What was also interesting is that he walked around the car and pointed out previous repairs, paint here and a bondo fill there. He said overall the car looked great but to a trained eye one could suss out previous work (2010 RX 450h).
Makes me wonder just how much this fellow makes in a year.
I called him and sent a couple of photos. He came by several days ago, driving a fancy pickup with all sorts of custom cabinetry in the back. He said he made his own tools and has been doing this for decades. $100 a dent, cash business, apparently at least several calls a day. While I was chatting with him he had braced the passenger door, popped out a rubber plug in the side of the door, and was massaging the inside of the dent with one of his many tools. Five minutes later, dent totally gone. As an extra bonus, he polished out a scrape made by a plastic snow shovel a few weeks ago.
What was also interesting is that he walked around the car and pointed out previous repairs, paint here and a bondo fill there. He said overall the car looked great but to a trained eye one could suss out previous work (2010 RX 450h).
Makes me wonder just how much this fellow makes in a year.
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 25,917
Likes: 4,274
From: Alberta
An independent PDR person can make a lot of money.
Great in theory unfortunately in cold weather they crack and pieces break off I used to see Saturn's all the time with holes in the body.
Pole Position
Joined: Jan 2020
Posts: 2,738
Likes: 544
From: CA
In my area, there's a PDR guy who comes to one's home or work and charges $100 for the first ding/dent, and $50 dollars for additional dents while on location. It's amazing and intriguing how he works, and the results are fantastic. Now that I'm retired, I thought about taking up a trade like this. All it takes is a steady hand, a keen eye, and an assortment of reasonably-priced specialty tools.
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I was chatting with a PDR guy who did repair for me in FL. The main income for these guys is the car dealerships and used car lots. They make weekly rounds and hope for work most of the time. There are competitors as well. The big dollar home visits are just gravy. He had a nice looking truck but who really knows if he's living week to week. He has the resources to keep his 10 year old truck looking new!! As a retirement hobby/source of income, it may be just right for you. A true art.
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Racer
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 1,583
Likes: 278
From: Ohio
I first experienced that marvel of PDR in 2006 after a hail storm damaged 4 of our cars. Insurance paid the shop in excess of $15,000 for PDR repairs ($5000 of which was for damage to my then 1 year old Honda Odyssey).
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 94,226
Likes: 222
From: Virginia/D.C. suburbs
Brought my LS in for a golf ball size hood ding. He said I have three things against the PDR failing to work. Aluminum hood, pearl white (multistep paint can crack), hood film (most likely have to remove it.) I was disappointed as I had work done on other cats without a hitch. I will say that he gave me a 20 minute in-depth education that I tried to cut short but he insisted on me hearing it. Perhaps too much of a perfectionist for my needs. Bottom line $200-250 and remove film. If the paint cracks, he would repaint the entire front end to get a color match. I'll live with the dent.
Last edited by swfla; Mar 1, 2020 at 08:01 AM.