FAQ (Paintless Dent Removal Questions)
What payment methods do you take?
We take all Credit Cards including Amex, Cash and BACS by prior arrangement.
How good are you at PDR?
We have been doing PDR since the 1990s. During this time we have removed tens of thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands of dents. This has enabled us to have a broad spectrum of knowledge and get a very good reputation of never being complacent about a dent. We will always discuss how we are going to remove a dent with a client and let them know if any potential imperfection may remain. Our goal is 100% customer satisfaction! Check out our testimonials for more info.
Do you offer a mobile service?
This is a difficult one. We did for nearly 15 years but found that we spent more time driving to and from the job than doing the dent. Many PDR companies incorporate this cost into the quote but this makes it very expensive. The weather also limits what could be done, too cold and the paint could crack, rain and you can't see the dent properly, no place to park the van near the car etc.. This is why we now have a purpose built, fully lit, fully equipped and heated workshop with customer parking. That said, if you had multiple panels dented, a space to park and couldn't get to us, we would do our best to get to you.
Do you strip doors and panels to get to the dent?
No... We haven't taken a door panel off to get to a dent in years! Rear side panel trims every now and then and boot panel trims when there's no other way. We don't need to strip a car down, braking panel clips, causing rattles and water leaks when it's not necessary. When we do PDR the whole car remains as untouched as possible to keep it factory fresh with minimal disturbance which also reduces the amount of time and cost to do the job. To get into a door we lower the window, use a protective shield and go between the glass and the door skin.
How big a dent can you do?
This is a common question asked but there's no real answer. We have done dents up to the width of a car when something fell across the roof, whole doors that have been pushed in when fell against or the size of a dinner plate when a football bounced off a bonnet. To be realistic it really comes down to two things;
- If the dent is too deep on a flat panel it may have stretched the metal and it will not go back into its original shape. On a curved panel this may not be the case as it may have collapsed the panel and not stretched it.
- PDR is done by carefully massaging the metal back into place. This takes time and Time = Money. On some dents it would be cheaper to fill and paint the panel than spend the time necessary to remove the dent satisfactorily. As a rule of thumb up to Grapefruit diameter is 'usually' the upper limit but there's no harm in asking!
For Accident Repair try Gooch Accident Repair Centre, Mill Road, Lowestoft, NR33 0PP.
I've got paint damage/Do you do scratches?
Well its in the name really - Paintless Dent Removal. We do have a small selection of touch up paints to touch in stone chip type dents. Sometimes light scratches in the Lacquer layer may also polish out with a cutting compound. We will do what is possible without spraying to the damaged area once the dent is removed.
We work in cooperation with a S.M.A.R.T. repair company - Cosmic Car Care, also based at Gooch Accident Repair Centre site in Mill Road, Lowestoft who specialise in small area paint work, i.e. bumper corners etc.
Do you do plastic bumper dents?
Possibly if the dent is in a corner that has been pushed in and the paint/finish is not damaged.
Do you do Hail/Conker damage?
Yes we do but it can take a bit of time. We have done panels with over fifty dents in them! This is usually done by external pulling on hard to get to panels such as roofs.
Are you Insured?
Yes, we have full Public Liability, Product Liability and Sales and Service Indemnity as well as Employers Liability Insurance.
Will a dent come back in time?
No, it can not come back as the metal will hold the shape it was last bent into. This does mean that it will dent again if hit though.
Do you give discount for multiple panels/repeat work?
Yes, we always try to be fare on pricing a vehicle. When we have a vehicle in the workshop, set up and the tools out it is a lot quicker hence cheaper to do multiple panels. This will be reflected in the quote given to do the job.
Don't you just suck the dent out?
This is a common myth that dents will 'suck out' or 'pop out'. If they did we would not be in business. Some large, shallow dish type dents can be started to come out by pulling but will normally need finishing off using PDR Tools to remove the tension dents around the edges. Similarly using boiling water or a hair dryer would give the same results as trying to suck it out!
How long does it take?
The average time to remove typical car park dents in a panel is about 30 to 60 minutes depending on where they are. Large dents can take up to three hours or so. Normally this would be at the limit to the size of dent that can be done using PDR. There are several Coffee Shops/Restaurants and ASDA within 300 yards of us so there's places to go.
Will it add value to my car? Is it worth doing?
We get asked this a lot. Would you buy a car off someone if it was dented? From a Garages point of view this is a nice little earner. When you take your dented car to trade it in, the Garage would look at the dents and say that they would have to paint the damage and knock off £300-£600 per panel from what they would give you for your car in part exchange. They would then get a PDR Technician to remove the dents saving them £100's - thank you very much... We think you would agree that the answer to the question is YES it is worth doing!
Do you do Motorbike Tanks or Sinks?
Yes, we can do dents in most thin metals but only shallow ones will come out with any success. This can be a combination of pulling and pushing the dent out.
Do you do Lease/Hire car/PCP car dents?
A lot of Lease/Hire/PCP companies will charge heavily for any damage on a vehicle when returned. We do a lot of these cars saving the leaser/owner a lot of money.
I've had a cheaper quote!
Really? In the unlikely event of getting a cheaper quote please ask them this question - 'will I see any evidence that it has been repaired at all?' - Remember, you get what you pay for!