Why Types of Damage Can Be Repaired by PDR?

Paintless dent repair (PDR) is an efficient and affordable way to repair many dents without having to sand and repaint a vehicle’s exterior. But what types of damage can PDR repair? We answer that and more in our helpful guide!

Minor Dents

The most common type of damages repaired by PDR are minor dents and exterior bumps. While PDR can take care of most minor dents, every dent is different, and there are limitations.

The depth and complexity of the dent can determine whether PDR is an effective method—if it’s a deep bump with multiple creases and ridges, it may not be within PDR’s scope to fix. But the majority of small to average dents can be fixed quickly and affordably with PDR.

Some Large Dents

While most PDR fixes are reserved for smaller to medium dents, they can also effectively repair more extensive damages. As mentioned, it mostly comes down to the complexity of the mark and whether it has pronounced creases.

A crease is like a sharp edge of a dent. Imagine a soda can—you can warp and massage the can, and it’ll return to form, but if you press too hard, it’ll create a deep crease that can’t be massaged out. PDR can fix even large dents with no pronounced ridges or edges.

Door Dings

Few things are more annoying than returning to your car after shopping or a meal and finding your parking lot neighbor dinged your door. Door dings are a little different than other dents due to the round or crescent-shaped bumps they leave from the round outer edge of the door.

But as long as there aren’t any significant scratches to the vehicle’s exterior paint, PDR can take care of a door ding without much trouble.

Hail Damage

Hail damage isn’t the most common, but when hail season arrives and a hailstorm hits an area, the local PDR shops are at their busiest. At our auto body shop in Chicago, we see customers with hail damage regularly because PDR can take care of these issues quickly and at an affordable price.

Most hail damages are minor dents scattered throughout the hood and top of a vehicle, and fixing so many of these dents through traditional repair methods would be costly. Marks left by golf ball-sized hail may be beyond PDR’s capability, but hopefully, you’ll never run into that severe of weather!

Now you know a little more about paintless dent repair! If you ever encounter a dent, door ding, or hail damage, don’t hesitate to stop by River North Collision Repair, where our trained technicians can fix your vehicle issues with PDR!