We received a call from a great guy in Mt. Lebanon Pa last week about a teeny tiny dent in the left driver’s side rear door of his 2024 Lincoln Navigator. It was so tiny, we really had to zoom in to see it. Our customer needed a mobile repair for specific reasons, and coming to our shop in Robinson was not an option for him.
We started our business completely mobile with no brick-and-mortar shop. We had two technicians, and both worked out of their vehicles, servicing Pittsburgh and the surrounding tri state area. We’ve really grown as a company these last few years. We’ve added 2 more technicians, a full office staff and content creator. We also opened our shop 6 years ago…..it was a great decision! Having a shop allows us the capability to execute the best quality paintless dent repairs possible. As tools of the trade, technique of repair, the build quality and engineering of vehicles changes and evolves, we are able to repair damage that just simply wasn’t possible all that many years ago. We now see damage that isn’t measured in inches but can be measured in feet, and this as you can imagine requires some very rigorous work to get damaged metal that size back to its original place. These larger, more costly damage repairs also have us dealing with insurance claims and adjusters more than ever before. Adding insurance companies into the mix can and will add extra layers of administrative work as well as having to wait on approval from them before we can start or continue the repair which can add a day or two to the repair process.
Luckily, our Lincoln Navigator repair did not fall into that category! We were able to travel to his home, and repair the door panel in minimal time. He was thrilled with the outcome! Not all repairs can be done on a mobile basis, we have put together a basic list of criteria to qualify repairs.
Our technicians ideally need a shaded area or garage to work in. They use specialized lighting and sunlight can wash out the distinctive distortions our technicians use to perfect the repair. A garage is ideal (heated and available outlets are a gift!!) for inclement weather. Freezing temperatures are difficult to work in, and make moving metal even harder, and with rain, again that will distort what the technicians are looking at when repairing a panel. If the weather is bad, your vehicle will need to be out of the elements in order for us to provide the best repair possible. The vehicle needs to be clean (wash the car or go to a car wash before your repair). Technicians are not able to wash or wipe your vehicle in direct sunlight or if the surface of the paint is hot. In addition to that, dirty panels make it so difficult to see the damage in photographs for an estimate, and when in person, and we put a light on it, the dirt or debris and dust make that impossible to see correctly. Mobile repairs should not require removal and installation (r&i) of any parts to get access to damage. There needs to be relatively straightforward access to the dent. This means dents in the upper half of a door, fenders, hoods, and trunks can be candidates for mobile repair. Roofs, quarter panels, lower door dents, excessive hood or trunk dents can all require extensive R&I, so mobile repair is not recommended. Room to work is imperative. Technicians need to be able to move their lights and tool carts around the vehicle to have access to everything they need and more importantly they need to be able to see the damage from multiple angles with their lights. Because of this, and a litany of other reasons, we do not schedule mobile paintless dent repairs in parking garages. We also try to steer clear of on street parking. As a guideline, our company has a policy of only repairs under $500. Anything more than that, is more involved and more time consuming. Those repairs need to come to our shop. Dent Repair Now’s goal is to always provide the best highest quality repair. We have found that when damage exceeds this cost, the repair will require more than we can provide in your driveway or garage. For instance, we may need specialized tools that are not normally carried with a technician, (power pdr box) 110v power access, storage for parts that have been removed, (glass from a door panel) and access to our scanning tools to ensure that all safety components are functioning properly both before and after the repair.
When dealing with mobile repairs we do have a mobile service fee to come out to your location. Our current mobile service fee (as of April 2024) is $99.95. This fee covers our technicians’ time to load their tools into their vehicle, drive to and from your location, and unload and reset their tools at the shop. We also, on some occasions, need to provide extra coverage for them at the shop while they are out on location (we can’t close the shop just to come out and fix a dent).
If YOU have a dent or damage on your car, truck, or SUV, we’d like to help you out! You can call us at 724-607-8980 or contact us through our email info@dentrepairnow.com . You can also read more about Dent Repair Now on our website, and don’t forget to check out our blog! There is tons of information there! If you are looking for a free estimate, you can fill out this form, and we will get in touch with you quickly, or if an in person estimate is more your preference, you can stop in our shop currently located at 2603 Washington Rd, Unit 3, Canonsburg, PA 15317. Another option, if our shop is not convenient for you, is to meet us at one of the body shops that we partner with. We have body shops that we partner with from Washington County, and Greene County in Pennsylvania to Wheeling and Morgantown West Virginia, and even Garret County, Maryland. We are more than happy to help you find the best way to get that ugly, annoying dent taken care of for you.