Paintless dent repair (PDR), also known as "paintless dent removal", is a term used to describe a group of techniques used when removing minor dents and a wide range of other damage from the body of a car, truck or other automobile. Most commonly, PDR is used to repair hail damage, door dents and minor body creases.
 
PDR has been in Australia for around ten years, originating in local car dealerships, auto leasing companies, car rental companies and insurance companies who were looking to increase revenue. Since then, consumer awareness of PDR has increased and the practise has spread to private auto repairers.
 
The most common methods of PDR utilise custom-made metal rods and tools to push or massage the dents out from the inner side of the body panel. During PDR, a highly-skilled technician specifically pushes exact locations of metal to a precise height, and this often requires the use of other accessories such as lights and reflection boards to ensure the repair is of the highest quality. Glue may also be used from the outside of the panel to pull the dents out. In all cases, fine-tuning of the repair often involves "tapping" down and reshaping to make the surface flat.
 
There are several reasons why choosing PDR makes sense:

• It avoids the risks of traditional bodyshop repair - mishaps, poor quality painting (including colour mismatching) and messy overspray.
• It's the least invasive way to repair a dent.
• For vehicles with custom paint jobs it’s often the only way to retain the design.
• It’s good for the environment because it saves on the use of unnecessary toxic chemicals normally found in clear and base coats, paint thinners and auto paints.
• It saves you more money than traditional dent repair because you do not have to pay for car body filler material or auto paint, and not as much for the manpower involved.
• It saves time – in some cases, the repair can be done while you wait.
• Most importantly, PDR allows you to preserve your vehicle’s original factory paint finish, its warranty and its value.

While the effectiveness of PDR is limited by many things – age of the car, flexibility of the paint, amount and location of the damage – the biggest limiting factors are the skill of the repairer and the quality of their tools. See our Training section to find out how YOU can become one of the masters of the trade!