Can we repair minor collisions or are you bound for the body shop?? That all depends on the damage. Minor fender benders can often be a candidate for paintless dent repair. If your paint is intact and we can get to it, your chances are good. this was the case with Phil and his 2022 Acura MDX. He and another patron were at an establishment in Allsion Park and tried to leave at the same time. Unfortunately, Phil didn’t see the other vehicle and backed out right into the path of the other car and they collided. Now, this was a really slow parking lot hit, and the damage to his right front fender was relatively minimal compared to other higher speed collisions but the damage was still larger than 12 inches and involved the body line. After exchanging information and insurance cards, they went their separate ways. Phil’s insurance company Allstate tried steering him towards a body shop for repair. He got an estimate from a local shop and although his deductible was going to need paid no matter what the cost of repair, the body shop wanted to replace the fender, and with that, they wanted to paint his hood, and passenger front door to blend colors. (This is very common practice and prevents your newly painted panel from being a completely different shade, they blend the other panels so there is no stark contrast.) Phil knew that having repainted panels would lower the resale value of his Acura. He came to us to see what we could offer and if his situation was a candidate for paintless dent repair.
Paintless dent repair (PDR) is a specially designed approach dedicated to removing dents and damage on vehicle panels (hood, fender, doors, quarter panels trunk or liftgates etc.) without resorting to traditional repair methods like sanding, filling, and repainting. Technicians who are adept in this technique employ unique tools to carefully manipulate the metal back to its original shape from behind the impacted area. This method ensures the preservation of the vehicle’s original paint, making it particularly suitable for damage such as dings, dents, and hail dents. We also specialize in larger more difficult dents.) Paintless Dent Repair not only offers a (most times) cost-effective and time sensitive solution. It also promotes environmental sustainability by avoiding the use of harmful chemicals associated with repainting. It’s a meticulous and non-intrusive process that maintains the vehicle’s factory finish and resale value. This was exactly what Phil was looking for.
You may ask yourself what the difference between a traditional body shop repair and a paintless dent repair is. Check this out! 👇👇👇👇👇👇
Phil emailed a copy of the insurance estimate for a conventional repair, and we compared it to our estimate for paintless dent repair. We were very confident we could make a better repair on Phil’s car than a body shop repair in this case, preserving his paint, resale value, and we could do it in one day where the body shop couldn’t get him scheduled for over a month and a half. We scheduled him for a week later. So, Phil’s insurance company had not taken a couple things into account, and our repair was going to cost more than their estimate. This happens quite often, and we need to file a supplement with your insurance company. This is nothing that requires anything from you, the customer, but rather, we go to bat for you against your insurance company to provide you with the best repair possible, and the insurance company usually wants the least expensive repair done. When you file a claim with your insurance company for damages to your car, an adjuster will assess the damage and estimate the cost of repairs based on the terms of your policy.
Supplements typically arise when additional repairs or expenses are necessary to fully restore a damaged vehicle, but these were not initially anticipated or included in the original estimate provided by the insurance adjuster. The repair shop submits documentation detailing the additional work needed along with an itemized list of the associated costs to the insurance company. The insurance company reviews the supplemental claim to determine if the additional expenses are justified and covered under the terms of the policy. This may involve further inspection of the vehicle or consultation with the repair shop. Once the supplemental claim is approved, the insurance company adjusts the claim payout accordingly and provides additional funds to cover the extra expenses. These funds enable the repair shop to complete the necessary repairs without imposing a financial burden on the insured party.
As soon as the Acura was at our shop, we submitted the supplement to his insurance. In less than 24 hours (which is really quick) we received approval for the additional charges and got to work. First, we removed the fender liner, found up above the front right tire. This gives us excellent access to get a tool behind the damage to push and maneuver the metal back into place. Did you know that every inch of damage requires about 100 pushes to move it? that’s a lot of muscle work! If the panel is aluminum, the pushes require about 40% more strength. Most of our first-time clients have the misconception that dents just “pop out”. The majority of the time, this is not the case. We were able to completely repair Phil’s Acura to its pre-accident state, and we even saw a small door ding on his driver’s door we went ahead and fixed. Having our customer’s expectations blown out of the park is our goal. We will go above and beyond for them. If you would like to be wowed, check us out!
***If you are a reader, or would like to learn more, we have a library of information in our BLOG
You can find us on the web at https://dentrepairnow.com/If you have a dent, ding, hail damage, or even larger dents and you are not sure if it is a candidate for paintless dent repair, we are here to help! Call us at 724-554-1756. (You can also text pictures of your damage here as well.) If you have hail damage, call us to set up an appointment to have us do an assessment.
We are located at 4699 Campbells Run Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15205. That’s right next to I376 (The Parkway) just off of the Campbells Run Road exit if you’re coming from I79 or Downtown Pittsburgh. If you’re coming from the airport area, you have to use the Ridge Road exit and then turn right.
