Beyond group buy on dent repair needed?

[2BLUE]

I don't know about you guys but i have no insurance and my car and truck are dented from this storm.

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/2blue2/IMG_4989.jpg

[freshprince1]

When I get home in two weeks and assess the damage I'll be in for a group buy, providing my vehicles need it.

Should we hit up Tomco?

[Mx6er]

I might be down, if my car is not a write off. From what I hear, u of c was the hardest hit in the city and im told to be guaranteed both windows smashed out, and dents everywhere. :(

[2BLUE]

There's people posting on kijiji already for PDR people who will accept cash deals. When i was in kansas i went through a storm and stopped at a PDR place and they charged me $20 per dent and only took them 5-15mins per dent. I have no clue what the guys up here charge

[LongCity]

Alberta set the record in the world for insurance claims pertaining to hail damage I believe.

[2BLUE]

A friend of mine just called allstate asking if he files a claim for hail damage will his insurance rates go up and the guy on the phone said he would have to make a claim to know forsure. What kinda crap is that?

Anyone clarify this ?/?

[colt22]

Yup I need this.. Let's get something organized. I got annhiliated downtown today :(

[S2kpwr]

Originally posted by 2BLUE
A friend of mine just called allstate asking if he files a claim for hail damage will his insurance rates go up and the guy on the phone said he would have to make a claim to know forsure. What kinda crap is that?

Anyone clarify this ?/?

No I believe that comprehensive claims won't make your insurance go up since it's not your fault.

[dantheman27]

ya downtown got it pretty bad to. I work at a dealership downtown and pretty much all the brand new vehicles outside have hail damage!!:eek:

thankfully my car only got one dent lol

[craigcd]

Looks like my second hail claim in 2 years- so annoying!

[nonlinear]

tomco is going to be busy for weeks and weeks, if not months. I've already sent him a PM, but in case he is too backed up, can anyone recommend another PDR shop in the city? insurance is paying for this, so cost isn't really an option I guess. just want the best job possible.

thanks

[rage2]

TomCo is driving back to town now. Spoke with him earlier. Good luck guys!

[Speed_69]

luckily my car was parked in the garage at the time of the storm :D

[bourge73]

missed last nights onslaught in Coventry Hills , only to be caught today in Sunnyside. Ummmm count me in I guess. Ballz

[FYD524]

Will be in for a group buy. Cost is an issue since I don't have the insurance for it. My car might as well have been at a driving range.

[realazy]

In as well, and cost is not an issue, our cr-v is only 6 months old and insurance is paying to fix it.

[masoncgy]

Originally posted by S2kpwr
No I believe that comprehensive claims won't make your insurance go up since it's not your fault.

My wife said she was told that our insurance is going to go up as a result of such a claim, which seems ridiculous considering this wasn't anyone's fault.

I'm on hold now to talk to someone... let's hope she was just misinformed.

[realazy]

I asked if it was on comprehensive with our insurance company and they assured us that it would not affect our premiums.

[kaput]

.

[bourge73]

I actually believe your premiums will increase:dunno:

[masoncgy]

Count me in for a group buy too... I'm still on hold, but I get the feeling I'm going to get the middle finger from Meloche.

[D'z Nutz]

Originally posted by rage2
TomCo is driving back to town now. Spoke with him earlier. Good luck guys!

Haha where was he when you called?

[jsn]

Originally posted by bourge73
I actually believe your premiums will increase:dunno:

I spoke to my dad and he said his never went up. His car had hail damage on it a few years ago and he just had to pay the deductible. I guess we'll find out in a few days. I called the insurance company about our car. The adjuster will call us back in a few days with more info, and we'll find out if our insurance goes up. If it does, we may not claim it.

[rage2]

Originally posted by D'z Nutz
Haha where was he when you called?
Passing Brooks.

[canadiandaytona]

Originally posted by masoncgy
Count me in for a group buy too... I'm still on hold, but I get the feeling I'm going to get the middle finger from Meloche.

http://www.melochemonnex.com/utilities/help

[canadiandaytona]

Oh and I'm also interested in said group buy

[Cos]

My wifes car at the UofC was damaged :banghead: she isnt home yet but Ill grab photos. She said her roof is fucked up and her windshield has a big crack in it.

[Zewind]

Your Insurance premiums shouldnt go up. Comprehensive is a non-chargeable claim.

Now that all depends on the carrier, talk with your local broker

[bastardchild]

Just saw this thread, yea I need some PDR. I sent Tom a message. No rush but I would like to get it done.

[2BLUE]

Anyone have any clue of PDR prices within the calgary area?

[canadiandaytona]

http://www.beyond.ca/how-golf-may-revolutionize-the-auto-industry/1523.html

[redrocket]

Yep I was by the U of C and my car is so screwed im in hah again anyone have an idea what im looking at for cost of PDR my roof, hood and trunk ? :(

[eb0i]

I claimed hail damage on my car insurance a few years ago. Premiums never went up.

Also how anyone live in Alberta and not get coverage for hail, seems a bit silly?

[al-ti2d]

count me in on the group buy if it happens!

[Cos]

I am going to need this group buy, no comprehensive on the beater :banghead: bad call there. Either that or will be buying a new hood and a new trunk from pick your part.

[shakalaka]

My car was in the garage so all good, although I am in for the group buy or whatever due to a couple of small dents from before.

On a side note, saw a RX8 with a smashed rear window, I thought it was bloody shot at! Had holes right through it at some places.

[StreetRacerX]

hrrrmmmm I never noticed anything when I took my car out an hour ago, I'll have to look at it in the morning, regardless I know I have some dents on the passenger side and one on the hatch, I'd be up for this group buy!

[2BLUE]

Have talked with a PDR place in the NE and their very interested in working something out but waiting on the owner of the shop to get back to me. The person i spoke to said they have done sales like this before which were 50-75% retail which is huge saving. It all depends on how many people and what not.

The person on the phone asked me

"Will you guys be paying cash?

"I lol"

[shakalaka]

We got Tomco here, why would we go to some other shop? I am sure Tomco would be more than willing to sort something out for us. :D

[Xtrema]

I think there will be a slight increase in premium for comprehensive next year. So if you have the coverage, claim it. Everyone is paying for it which is the point of insurance in the first place.

[dkmlam]

Count me in for a group buy.

I was at the children's hospital (right next to the UofC). The hail pellets didn't look to big, but when inspecting my car, my roof, hood, and trunk have a combined 50-60 dents.

I saw an audi driving on shag north and it had HOLES through the rear windshield :banghead:

[frozenrice]

I haven't looked at my insurance policy in a while. Does comprehensive mean I have hail coverage? I can't remember what that covers.

[kaput]

.

[amorak]

I'm in - 10-15 dings in my 2010 A4.

[omfgcurtis]

Might have been a repost
<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Gkfy7klBqv4&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Gkfy7klBqv4&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>

nvm- can someone embed that for me

[anarchy]

I'm in for a group buy. Damn hail!

[Ashers]

I survived yesterday at the airport and today unscathed! Ford must have tough sheet metal.

[rc2002]

Originally posted by Cos
I am going to need this group buy, no comprehensive on the beater :banghead: bad call there.

I don't think that's a bad call. PDR will likely be less than your deductible. Not to mention comprehensive itself is at least a few hundred bucks a year, plus if your premiums go up because of the claim it wouldn't even be worth it to claim it.

I'm debating whether or not to even pull these dents on my daily driver. Beaters don't need to be pretty.

[Kloubek]

I think the viability of using PDR goes way down once there are a lot of dings. TomCo will be able to answer that better when he gets back...

[TomcoPDR]

Ha guys, thanks for the support.

I drove 1,500km just to be back home from working on another hail storm whereever else in Canada.

The only issue with hail damage using PDR is that you're still going to be looking into the $$ thousands, so in essence your insurance company will need to be involved.

Currently I work with a group of other indenepdent PDR techs, and we in return would assist "your" insurance companies and/or local bodyshops to fix whatever we can whether it'd be all PDR, or parts of the vehicle with PDR and the rest with replacement and repaint; like a roof would be more ideal to use PDR instead of a re-welding a replacement roof, but a hood if there're too many dents would be easier/cheaper to replace...

So at this point, the team of dent techs I work with, we'll be fixing hail damage on dealership new vehicles. And then pending on the situation, we'd (as a group) get around to insurance claim hail damaged vehicle.

At this time, with hail damage (not your everyday door dings), it'd be wise just to inform your insurance companies your vehicle was effected by hail damage.

Sorry to keep it short, I'll try to answer more questions as I find out the answers... as there are situations that I'm not sure.

[syritis]

I was at the track when the hail attacked, voided insurance strikes again.

j/k

we got some good hail going sideways but nothing any bigger then a marble, so i never looked very hard. but holy crap. it took 30min to flood the parking lot at race city.

[chkolny541]

i dont even think it rained in the south haha, my mom called me and told me to take the car home in the garage but i never saw a drop of rain :devil:

[derpderp]

I don't think it made it to Airdrie thankfully, my car looks pretty dent free, but the storm would explain that car parked outside my work has no rear window.

Just heads up though, there is a heavy rain fall warning for parts of east Alberta and Airdrie area, so if you're car window are smashed, you might want to park some place with good cover.

[shakalaka]

It better not hail tomo, I am gonna have to take my car out tomo for sure.

[TomcoPDR]

Just trying to be community responsible here... first and foremost, thanks for thinking about me and the support. ;)

The thing with THIS particular hail storm (damaging vehicles, houses, etc...) its that it's so extensive that anybody and everybody will start coming out as a recovery/restore speicalist. It'll be one of the biggest hail storms out there in history.

As for myself, I'm currently committed working inside a reputable bodyshop in the South end of the city... I'm not gonna plaster that as shameless promotion (it's not even that)... So I'm going to be their PDR skill tech/subcontractor specialist/ extra helper, whatever you wanna call it... I'll be working with this bodyshop as well as vehicle owner's insurance companies, and we assess the hail damage, and how it translates into PDR. (some cars can be fix all PDR, some cars cannot be fixed with PDR, some are more efficient and cost effective using some PDR and some bodyshop repaint/replacement)... If you PM me, I don't mind telling you which shop I'm working in as a business inquiry.

I'm thankful for all your referrals and work, I hope you all realize I'm only ONE tech (dent tech) who just wants the public to be informed in what we do... so as much as I like to personally help each and everyone of you, reality is that there are hundreds of Paintless Dent techs driving into Calgary from all over Canada as well as the States... so I'm just going to be 1 in 1,000,000.

I'll start off with some general FAQ and add them on if anyone needs info: (disclaimer: now these are just my general info, I can't talk about any specific cases and each situation is different)

My vehicle got hail damaged what do I do?
- It is similar to a vehicle collision damage, in the case of this hail storm, (IMO, from what I've seen), the damage will exceed your deductibles... So best thing to do is to inform your insurance companies.

What's next after informating my insurance
- For now, insurance co's will be swamped because of this... they are scambling themselves to find: bodyshops, dent removal techs, phyiscal space to have a damage assesment on your hail.

But I don't want to go through insurance
- That'll be up to you, just like a collision damage, the vehicle will be estimated at the shop's required prices (bodyshop or dent shop)... again, from what I've seen, and believe me I personally drove to all hail effected spots looking at the parked damaged cars, you're looking into amounts over deductibles.

This isn't from the Calgary hail, but the stuff I've been looking at looks similar to this... please remember looking at hail damage in the rain, bright sun is totally different than assessing them in ideal conditions... When you think it's "only" 5 dents on a hood panel, it could very well turn out to be 60.

naC9Eu9vTzE

So can my hail damage be fixed using PDR? And for dirt cheap from you Thomas?
- Well, that depends on the tech, pretty much the dent tech has to assess your vehicle. (and in return if you trust that tech or shop, just like you would research a bodyshop, plumber, welder, house framer)... Unfortuntely I've been doing this for too long that I personally won't be able to be grouped into the lowballed labour general guys. Honest answer, if you want to pay for this out of pocket for next to nothing using PDR, there will be guys coming all over North America, probably setting up "windshield repair" type of tents on parking lots... That would be your best route.

So Thomas, how could you help me then?
- I'll tell you which bodyshop I'm working in as a PDR tech, and the bodyshop will then book an estimate time for you to assess your hail damage (most likely insurance companies would group all of their hail damaged customers on the same day to assess damage with a PDR tech; hence why I'm encouraging you to call your insurance co. to be putting your name down sort of thing). Again, some damage just honestly can't be fixed using PDR, it just will not come out right... some damage can be fully PDR... and some will need the partnership between a PDR tech and a bodyshop facility. (i.e. think of the dented moldings, cracked windshields, grilles, lights)...

How do I get my hailed car fixed RIGHT NOW?
- lol, you can't... bodyshops and PDR shops, even the hail chaser PDR techs (this is what I do, to other cities)... this particular case will probably tie up everybody till year's end well into next year. (my opinion only)

Hope this will give y'all a start. And please just be patient, also do not rush into getting your vehicles repaired, there are going to be 1,000's of "dent guys"... I'm only at ONE place and committed to ONE place, gotta pick your friends and associates ya know... but there'll be lots of ad, signs and radio ads with "get your hail damage done with our xyz dent co."... If it's PDR, in my opinion, just ask to watch a dent tech's work... if the shop has a couple of techs, make sure you watch everyone's work, not just the "top guy" they lead you to... But business wise, you guys are more than welcome to come watch me work, and understand how PDR is done on a hail car. This is what I've been trying to do on Beyond all these years (waiting for a day like this), there's nothing to hide or nothing to be ashamed of to be showing customers what you're doing as a PDR tech. Like bodyshop work; "our best work, you won't see"

Also remember for now, most of the dent companies or guys (even my friends/associates) will be helping out dealerships fixing their hailed vehicles.

Now if you guys would excuse me, need to set the crib to accomodate... feels like my house got turned into some Malaysian brothel... but with 30-50 year old white dent guys.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r95/Tomcompany/Past%20repairs/Random/100_4414.jpg

But seriously, thanks for the support... with this type of severity (volume)... all I can do is chip away at my own work in front of me. I can try answering general questions, but ultimately most of the hailed vehicles will be fixed by other PDR techs too. (other companies, or even other dent techs I know)

[Kobe]

After reading this thread I feel this much more privileged to be able to get my dent fixed by Tomco and write on his wall

:love: :love:

[TomcoPDR]

Also, some people think they're not covered by hail... but just call your insurance and see. Every insurance company varies.

[2EFNFAST]

Originally posted by chkolny541
i dont even think it rained in the south haha, my mom called me and told me to take the car home in the garage but i never saw a drop of rain :devil:

The South's awesome, isn't it. :D

Everybody was talking about this huge ass hail yesterday, meanwhile I had the top down on my 04 cobra for about 95% of my errands, just puttering around Bonnavista and Midnapore :rofl:

[speedog]

So where to with the group buy as it would appear by TomcoPDR's posts that he's going to be quite busy just dealing with dealership vehicles and then insurance industry claims? As such, it is probably going to very difficult to get any shop to agree on a discount for a group buy as pretty much every body shop in the Calgary and surrounding area will have enough full-pay work to keep them busy for quite a while - in slow times a group buy situation might be feasible, but with this big storm event and the resulting aftermath, it's most likely undo-able.

So for the fortunate ones, it's off to the insurance company and for the rest, either wait it out for a slow time for a possible group buy or get into a body shop ASAP. Also, it would be best to be taking a good look at your home's roof/siding/fences/eaves-troughs too as they should be covered by your insurance as well - note that I added fences in there, the two big hail storms in 1996 resulted in us getting our roofing and eaves-troughs replaced as well as monies for the damages to the paint on our window/door frames and fence. Those storms were so bad that they actually chipped paint off of our fence and the painted surfaces on our house which the insurance company covered.

BTW, live in the north central part of Calgary and while we got hail, it wasn't big enough to damage anything besides our plants - areas just to the SW and south of us got hammered though. Did leave a big enough mess though to have the city out with it's street cleaners yesterday in our neighborhood.

[kaput]

.

[speedog]

Well, they still would be new vehicles, but I do remember of hail sales from the past where these vehicles were sold as new but with the hail damage repaired.

[Euro838]

Tomco, what happens to the body on a "poor" PDR job? what should the un-informed on the industry look out for? In the video you posted, is that car PDR-able? What would you estimate the cost to fix that car would be?

From the pictures I have seen, I'm betting a lot of cars are looking like that.

[codetrap]

I have to admit when I saw the "beyond group buy" on a service like this, I was pretty surprised that someone would think that this was even possible. To be totally honest, if I was a service tech like Thomas, I certainly wouldn't be whoring myself out to give a deal, prices would be going up as demand went up.

The only type of circumstance I could see someone doing a "group deal" for a service like this would be when there's no other business to be found anywhere in the country and they're hungry for work...

[StreetRacerX]

Damn, I had a look at my car today and 5 dents on the passenger side became 5 noticeable dents with 50 fucking ninja dents all over, looks like I'll be buying a new hood and hatch soon.

[mugensix]

yeah me to fender is fucked hahah fucking hail!

[frozenrice]

Originally posted by TomcoPDR
.... but there'll be lots of ad, signs and radio ads with &quot;get your hail damage done with our xyz dent co.&quot;... I already heard the first radio ad yesterday from the Dent Clinic.




Originally posted by TomcoPDR
Also, some people think they're not covered by hail... but just call your insurance and see. Every insurance company varies. I found out this morning that my comprehensive coverage includes hail with a $250 deductable. http://www.smileyvillage.com/smilies/banana023.gif

[TomcoPDR]

Originally posted by speedog
So where to with the group buy as it would appear by TomcoPDR's posts that he's going to be quite busy just dealing with dealership vehicles and then insurance industry claims? As such, it is probably going to very difficult to get any shop to agree on a discount for a group buy as pretty much every body shop in the Calgary and surrounding area will have enough full-pay work to keep them busy for quite a while - in slow times a group buy situation might be feasible, but with this big storm event and the resulting aftermath, it's most likely undo-able.

So for the fortunate ones, it's off to the insurance company and for the rest, either wait it out for a slow time for a possible group buy or get into a body shop ASAP. Also, it would be best to be taking a good look at your home's roof/siding/fences/eaves-troughs too as they should be covered by your insurance as well - note that I added fences in there, the two big hail storms in 1996 resulted in us getting our roofing and eaves-troughs replaced as well as monies for the damages to the paint on our window/door frames and fence. Those storms were so bad that they actually chipped paint off of our fence and the painted surfaces on our house which the insurance company covered.

BTW, live in the north central part of Calgary and while we got hail, it wasn't big enough to damage anything besides our plants - areas just to the SW and south of us got hammered though. Did leave a big enough mess though to have the city out with it's street cleaners yesterday in our neighborhood.

^^^ bang on



Originally posted by kaput
Can dealerships sell hail damaged vehicles as new after they have been repaired?

As far as I understand... In Alberta new vehicles that are repaired from hail damage (PDR or repaint bodyshop), the seller need to disclose.

[TomcoPDR]

Originally posted by Euro838
Tomco, what happens to the body on a &quot;poor&quot; PDR job?

- Paint can crack on a "poor" job... but I stopped getting into details or upset about this issue... cuz the PDR industry isn't regulated, so my words of calling someone else has "poor" work has the same merit as someone else calling me a hack... So it's just a wash, so I stopped thinking about that.



Originally posted by Euro838
what should the un-informed on the industry look out for? In the video you posted, is that car PDR-able?

- I've posted what I wanted to say on a car enthusiast site. There're way bigger forces than my for-fun blog from "you" (hail damaged client) being steered clear from a crappy technician. Everybody will get to work on a car. (PDR tech, body journeyman tech)... So not sure what to say without pissing off the big pump shops.


Originally posted by Euro838
In the video you posted, is that car PDR-able? What would you estimate the cost to fix that car would be?

From the pictures I have seen, I'm betting a lot of cars are looking like that.

- The roof was PDR dent removed, the hood was cheaper to just replace, front fenders as well.

meoFwHLfOVA

A lot of this Calgary damage will be like this (IN MY HUMBLE OPINION, from what I have seen), so this is why I'm not setting up as my own "PDR 100% hail repair store"... It is a perfect partnership for PDR tech working with a bodyshop...

On cost, you'll need to contact your insurance, they'll setup an estimate time/date. And then go on from there... Most case, insurance is trying to remove dents as much PDR as possible, with this storm's type of damage, even the bodyshops wants more PDR so that they don't get clogged up repainting entire vehicles... hence any "dent guy" flooding Calgary now will align themselves inside a bodyshop. OR just try to set up windshield repair tents outside of parking lots trying to get you to sign over the insurance repaired cheque. lol (common in the States, travel like gypsies) lol








-

[stefan15]

Originally posted by masoncgy
Count me in for a group buy too... I'm still on hold, but I get the feeling I'm going to get the middle finger from Meloche.
How'd this go for you? I'm also on M-M... my buddy is on Meloche and apparently they gave him a really hard time which was surprising to me as the service has been good thus far... Hopefully they don't jerk you around.

[kaput]

.

[Aleks]

Why would they give anyone a hard time? I got through fine, opened a claim and talked to an adjustor, just need to meet up with a guy to look at my car next, or is that the point when the wheels fall off? :dunno:

[911fever]

Wow I feel for you guys, that's awful. Imagine the dealer lots, must be a nightmare

http://www.canadianunderwriter.ca/issues/story.aspx?aid=1000378721

[realazy]

I just wanna thank Thomas for being so helpful, I gave him a call today after I got the insurance estimate and booked right in for August 3.

[codetrap]

I'm also surprised you guys aren't taking out the ball peen hammer and going hardcore on the car for the lower numbers!

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/22/mythbusters-golf-ball-like-dimpling-mpg/

[wintonyk]

i just called monnex an hour ago. Quick 15 min call and then called their recommended shop. My estimate date is 28th.

Same as described earlier for me. I thought there was 1 or 2, now i can see more like 80-100

[SpeedIllusion]

I'm with Economical Insurance and they were nice enough to waive my $250 deductible because they believe the hailstorm was considered a rare "freak accident."
The company that will be PDR'ing my car is called the Dent Squad(http://www.dentsquad.ca/). Has anybody heard of them?

[TomcoPDR]

Originally posted by Euro838
Tomco, what happens to the body on a &quot;poor&quot; PDR job? what should the un-informed on the industry look out for? In the video you posted, is that car PDR-able? What would you estimate the cost to fix that car would be?

From the pictures I have seen, I'm betting a lot of cars are looking like that.

Got a little bit of time on my 1 day off... been thinking about this, and I do realize I owe it to the (car) community a more indepth explaination than leaving you guys high and dry when I'm busy with work myself. As I understand y'all try to support me with door dents and referrals, etc... (even though I'm more business 2 business)

I didn't get into writing articles about PDR and hail chasing/hail damaged vehicle, but guess this would be the due time. Automotive hail industry (i.e. insurance, dealerships, man-power of PDR and/or bodyshop required INSTANTLY) is a completely different ball game than just being my own dent shop/minor dings.

In regards to Euro838 "what to look for?" I think it's fair game if I talked about "quality", without using names of specific companies, not even myself... So these are just opinionated, so anyone reading this (regarding "PDR") should conduct their own research as well.

Ok first and foremost, (IMO) please remember not all hail damage or "dents" can or should be removed using purely PDR (Paintless Dent Removal, I'm sure I don't need to write out the meaning of PDR by now)... And some of the hail damaged vehicles as per this storm, should (IMO) be 100% repaired with conventional auto bodyshop method.

So it comes to a point of anaylizing each individual's hail damage... this is done either by your insurance adjustors, or bodyshops, or PDR shops, and/or a PDR tech inside of a bodyshop where they truely estimate the vehicle, not just "steer" customers, but who's for me to say which companies are good or bad right, so I'm not getting into this at all.

This is why maybe people from this thread (not your fault), have the misconception that even though I got my own "warehouse bay" (clicky under my sig), that you'd think I'd be "happy" to take cash or get group work on dents and hail damage... but TO ME, that's not a best situation for the industry nor the vehicle owner (my own "dent shop")... Not that I have to talk about it, but my "warehouse/shop" is just my real estate retirement, that when the mortgage is paid off in 20 odd years when I'm 40 something that I'd have some extra income to hang out with 'em 18 year old cuties.

Within PDR, this is all I do, chase hail storms all over the country (not run my local/YYC dent shop)... I work along side with other independent owner/operator PDR techs from all over North America (some of the Canadian guys I work with goes to Germany, Aus, everywhere with hail damaged vehicles), we specifically team up to ensure dealerships, insurance companies (their insured clients, like yourselfs), the bodyshops are able to fully utilize PDR to the fullest. (again, not having our own "dent shop" and compete, but WORK WITHIN the industry helping vehicle owners)... The team picked me, and I picked the team... I'm more than welcome to flip 'em the bird and be on my own if I don't like what they do, vice versa if my quality/attitude/skills isn't up to par with everyone else, the group would just naturally force me out... But this is what guys like me CHOOSE to do. (I'm not forced as an employee)



So with hail damage and PDR.

"What to look for, right?

- So without discriminating against other PDR shops, all I have to say is, if YOU are interested or took to bring your vehicle to a "dent shop" all you have to do is look around different shops... If you PM me, you are MORE THAN WELCOME to come watch me work, as well as the other PDR associates I align myself with... Just like quality bodyshop work, what's there to hide?

- So visit different PDR shops, ask what the tech is doing, watch what the techs are doing, see how you feel about them, listen to what they're explaining to you. (hey, maybe some people won't like ME, but I'm just trying to write a fair article about my industry)

- With hail damage, a vehicle's side pillar will get dented, make sure the dents are removed from the pillars (if you're watching the shop work on someone else's vehicle)... This is a newly developed (within 10 years) technique, tools and skills within PDR. (PDR 10 years ago were not able to remove dents on pillars in certain spots, there are NO excuses for this nowadays)
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- What to look for, what's a poor PDR job. (disclaimer, this is only OPINIONATED, other competitors are more than welcome to disagree)
Here's a sample of Rage2's Mercedes C63... his camera's able to capture the texture of the paint called: "Orange peel" (looks like the surface of an orange)
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r95/Tomcompany/Past%20repairs/Random/01.jpg

If you were to watch a PDR tech (if they are chill enough to explain the process to you), watch them work on a dent from these PDR flourscent lights, the texture after removing the dent should be uniform... Just think: "work of the best tech, you should never see"

Here are some samples, that in my OPINION, are poor PDR work... Again, other competitors are welcome to disagree and let us know these are acceptable PDR work. :dunno: (remember, our industry isn't regulated, so I'm letting the readers know, I might not be right, according to the competitors)
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r95/Tomcompany/untitled4.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r95/Tomcompany/untitled1.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r95/Tomcompany/untitled2.jpg

Here's a hail damaged hood from the 2008 Toronto hail storm, we had to PDR the hood because it was a brand new vehicle and the purchaser didn't want a paint job... (PDR done by one of the guys that helped trained me 12 years ago, not by me... I PDRed the roof of this vehicle along side with him)
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So in the above comparsion of the black PDR repair and the above white hood, there are no industry standards that legally seperates the difference in what different tech are capable to do. (and this is where the entrepreneurs who hires employees just grabbing work contracts, just cares about his own profits; compared to technicians who wants to do a "good job" (no legal definition of this) and money naturally comes for doing their jobs... So I'm just saying, I'm at that point in doing this (PDR thing) for my entire youth that I realize: "who's for me to make this judgement to force to the public?"

So there are no legal definition of "good work" or "bad work"... whatever you want to believe, nobody in the industry has more rights than the others in saying shit about another, y'all know what I mean? But just check out one of my articles http://forums.beyond.ca/st/185585/hall-of-shame/


- This is an example why nowadays sometimes PDR techs and bodyshops actually like to team up... because (IMO) not all hail dents can or should be and/or cheaper to just use bodyshop method... in the case of this hood (only cost $199, plus bodyshop paint)... Just faster, cheaper, ideal situation to just replace this hood and repaint it... (PDR on the roof so the bodyshop doesn't have to cut up and reweld a new roof skin)

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Another reason why I truely believe my PDR skills are better served (aside from working with a team of independent PDR techs), but within bodyshops instead of running my own "PDR shop" with hail damage is that, sometimes you get into situations where working with other automotive specialists (and sharing that $$ money pie) is better than trying to be greedy and mess up... like these 2 hail damaged "high end" vehicles, personally I'd rather fix regular cars, but these just somehow ended where I work now :(

I'm not gonna lie, I have no idea how expensive vehicles work and/or the costs to replace something if I break it... but inside a bodyshop I have access to 20-30 year experienced autobody techs, they stripped the interiors for me, I just use PDR.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r95/Tomcompany/Past%20repairs/Random/attach6.jpg http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r95/Tomcompany/Past%20repairs/Random/attach5.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r95/Tomcompany/Past%20repairs/Random/attach4.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r95/Tomcompany/Past%20repairs/Random/attach.jpg http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r95/Tomcompany/Past%20repairs/Random/attach3.jpg


Anyways, really sorry for the long read, and sorry that I couldn't really help y'all out that much... And my eariler response seem un-personal... but please realize I've opened my home to a bunch of out-of-town dent techs... They using my toothpaste, eating my food, using my toilet paper, using my soap (I even tried putting my pubes on there seeing if they'd get the hint buying their own soap, but that just encourages them to add some more), they even using my towels so I had to buy my own from Wal-Mart.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r95/Tomcompany/Past%20repairs/Random/100_4419.jpg http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r95/Tomcompany/Past%20repairs/Random/100_4415.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r95/Tomcompany/Past%20repairs/Random/100_4416.jpg

But you know what, that's ok, we all need friends, family, co-workers, we all need to feel that we belong.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r95/Tomcompany/Past%20repairs/Random/attach2.jpg

[Euro838]

Thanks Tomco for the explaination, I think beyond will benefit to understand the PDR process and industry better now. I don't think it's a fair comparison to relate PDR with windshield chip repair.

From the vehicles I have seen from this past hailstorm, it looks like a majority of the cars are going to be written off as the damage on a lot of them seem extensive and from what I have heard from the adjusters, they are not PDR-able. A lot of them will require panel replacement or body work. For me personally, I had a lot of damage on the hood, roof, fenders, pillars, and the driver's side door. The estimate came in at $11K, car is going to be written off.

[atgilchrist]

Originally posted by TomcoPDR



You rock, both at poker and as an industry player. Thanks for the detailed description!

[GTI1671]

Count me in if there is a group buy. The GTI got a pingpong ball sized dent on the fender and couple of dents on the hood from the hail storm at balzac. :(