This week, we had a customer stop in with his 2022 Subaru Outback. It was in great condition except for the damage to the passenger door and fender. While driving last week on an icy road, someone slid into his car and kept going. I know, your first thought is, “I would have followed him!” ….or maybe “I can’t believe someone did that!?!” Well, following was not an option, and as far as people’s cars coming into contact with other cars and not stopping, we get calls from customers DAILY who have damage to their vehicles through no fault of their own, but no recourse as the other party either didn’t stop, or didn’t leave a note. On the other side of the coin, there are the few customers who call for an estimate and the other party will pay for the repair, it just seems to be rare.
So, James got home that evening and looked at his car. There was damage to both the right fender and right front door. He wanted resolution as soon as possible. (As would anyone, right?) He snapped some pictures, called his insurance company, and then went to Google. That’s when he found us, Dent Repair Now! We provide top of the line paintless dent repair services out of the Pittsburgh and Tri-state area including Morgantown, West Virginia, Wheeling, West Virginia, and parts of Ohio.
Paintless dent repair is a process of repairing small to large dents in cars, trucks, and SUVs. In cases where the paint is intact, we use special tipped tools behind the dent to massage the metal back out to its original position. We also use tap down tools (they look similar to small hammers and paddles) bring down any high spots. If there is limited or no access behind the damage, we have the option of using specialized hot glue and tabs to adhere to the outside of the damage. We use calculated pulls to return the metal to its pre-damaged condition. If you’d like more details, you can read HERE.
Back to James and his Subaru. When he found our website, dentrepairnow.com he was able to read our reviews, see before and after pictures of our work, and fill out a form with his information and pictures of his car. (We take that information to put together an estimate and go over options and expectations.) When sending pictures to us, it’s important that we can see the full area of the damaged panel, and we need to be able to see where on the panel the damage is located. The pictures James sent were from the evening of the incident and they were kind of dark, and his car had salt and road snow all over it. So, we talked about the size and roughly what he was looking at as far as cost of repair. Since the repair was definitely going to be more than his $500 deductible, he decided to go the insurance route.
Dent Repair Now PSA!!!!!
We have had a slew of customers both repeat and first timers stopping in the shop and sending pictures wanting estimates to repair their damage. They look like this:
A dirty panel is difficult (if not impossible) to see the full the full scope of damage. Because our pricing begins with size of damaged metal and everything after that is based on that, we need to be as accurate as possible with our estimated size of your dent. Otherwise, your whole estimate is skewed and no good for you or for us. A best practice is to wash the car, truck or SUV. You can do it yourself, or just run it through a quick car wash. If that is not feasible, cleaning the panel alone will work. Be sure not to scratch your paint using a dirty rag and be sure to wash off the dirt and salt first. The video below doesn’t take winter weather into consideration but is an effective tool explaining how to take great pictures of your damage in just four easy steps.
James called to ask up about insurance and did we accept it? The short answer is YES! We work with all insurance companies and are happy to do that. Once you’ve opened a claim with them, we will follow their lead in what to do next. In Jame’s case, they told him to get an estimate and send it to them. Other times, the insurance companies will send their own adjuster to you to inspect the damage or even do a video call claim. James brought his car in to our shop (after running it through a car wash so we had nice clean panels to look at.) We did a full estimate for him which included replacement of a molding. He set that to his insurance company, and they approved the repairs. The issued a check for the total cost of the repair minus his $500 deductible. Now, full disclosure…this is not a typical scenario for insurance companies and repair shops. This one was relatively painless, but most times, there are hoops for us to jump through 9which we tend to accommodate) and we are at the mercy of the insurance agency when it comes to a sense of urgency. (That is to say they don’t have it. We want to repair your car and get it back to you as soon as we can so your time spent without a car is at a minimum. For more information about how we work with Insurance companies and what the process is, you can Read More Here.
If your car, truck, or SUV has damage, big or small give us a call or shoot us text including the year and model of your vehicle, and some pictures of your damage. We can put together an estimate and call you. If you are more of an in-person kind of person, you can visit our shop located at 4699 Campbells Run Road Pittsburgh Pa 15205. We are right off of the parkway 376 West at the Campbells Run Exit. Make a left, and we are right there, on the left. You do not need an appointment to come and see us, however, we do recommend calling first as our trained, experienced technicians get called out to service dealerships and body shops quite often. We’re waiting to make your car look as good as new!! What are YOU waiting for?
