If a car was ever hail damaged and fixed by a PDR guy can the dents ever come back? Does the metal have a memory...?

I have a 2003 MCS which when I bought it I looked over it very thouroughly and found only one very very small ding in the door. You had to be at the exact angle to see it.

Now on the rear hatch I can find 5 very slight deviations in the metal up near the window on the curve of the hatch. They are very small dings which look to be very very minor hail damage. There is also a very small one on the left drivers side rood between the side and the sun roof.

These were definately not there when I bought the car 6 months ago. I have just noticed them about a week ago. Possibly I was in a hail storm and did not know it. I do remember a couple hail warnings but I didn't think they came near my area.

If it was hail damage from when I owned the car and I can not pinpoint the hail storm will my insurance company do anything about them? Is it very likely that hail would only effect a very limited area of the car?

Thanks,
k

 

if you pushed on the exact spot where the ding was it can bend back
down (never really "pops"). but considering the MINI's panels are pretty
thick it would take considerable (deliberate) force.

i think you were hit by another hail storm or haters pounding at your car.
i would take it up to your insurance. does not matter how it happened
it would be considered comprehensive.

 

Thanks for the info Kenchan,

Possibly I would be able to take this time to also have a nice rock ding from the highway on the front of my hood fixed. It had a pretty nice chip as well.

I just went out and inspected the rest of the car. There are also two very small dents on the right side of the hood as well. You are probably right that I was in a hail storm.

Now the question is... When is hail damage bad enough to be **** enough to have it fixed? I have seen bad hail damage and this is not it. My wife would have a hard time finding many of the dings. The only bad ones are the ones on the rear hatch and that is because they are all within 5 inches of the next which makes them more apparent.

Is PDR the way to go? (with the exception of the front hood ding/chip). Oh, lastly since I bought this car used and my insurance company has know idea of the original condition do you think I will have any issues getting this repaired?

Thanks,
k

 

I just submitted an online claim. I think I can link it back to an ice storm we had at the end of february.

My question to the community is... What are peoples opinions on how little of damage is too little to worry about having it fixed? In the sun tomorrow I will find all the effected areas but I am thinking there are possibly a dozen dings and some of those are really tiny. My comprehensive deductible is $200...

Thanks,
k

 

khd- there is no such thing as a too small of a ding. if it bothers you
it is a dent and therefore should be repaired.

i am SUPER **** about dings... thus why i invested literally thousands
of dollars in tools and training to be able to fix majority of them myself.
i get dinged on my commuters almost every month from shopping malls,
super markets, etc. does not bother me not because i ignore it, because
i can fix it.

not all dings are repairable by PDR (due to access points, etc.) even if
i can't fix it completely at least I know I did the best i can.

and another reason why i have "commuters" and dont take my actual
cars to stores. civic and legacy i have are not considered cars to me...
they are just transportation devices.

 

I finally got my MCS to a body shop to get an estimate. Under the flourescent light there were many more tiny dings than just the few large ones that I originally saw.

He said for the small ones that they have a technique where they go from the outside with a special tool / glue which pulls the dent out. How effective will that be? He says it will work great for the size dings that are on the roof and the hood.

Amazingly the total estimate came to almost $1000... Since I only have a $200 comprehensive deductible I will most likely get it scheduled soon to be fixed.

 

glue pullers...

depends on where the dent is. some dents i could fix completely,
some dents were just hopeless. i have several different puller sizes
that i sanded down (even polished on some) which determines the
adhesion force with the panel. can't use it on repainted surfaces
though as it will literally pull the paint off the panel.

 

That is what he said. He said since my car is factory paint it will hold just fine. First off how does he know if its factory paint? I would assume (99.9%) sure its all factory but I am the second owner. When I bought the car there were no blemishes at all anywhere. When you look around for any type of repair overspray there is non anywhere and it looks new...

 

We'll soon find out.

 

I'm interested how everything came out for you. We had golf ball-sized hail here last Friday. The storm hit so fast there wasn't time to think about vehicles let alone try to run through those little comet-like projectiles.

Fortunately, the MINI was under a huge tree at the neighbors (my driveway aprons are being replaced) that took the brunt of the hail, but I still have 1/2 a dozen serious (1/16"+ deep) dings in the roof and around 20 ever so slightly noticeable dings all over that require hunting to find. I'm kind of worried repairs will be even more damaging. Would I go to a dealer or find a local dent doctor type shop?

Hail really hoots! Makes all that waxing and babying seem like such a loss. Maybe I should take a rubber mallet and create a whole new roof look? Okay, I'm kidding. I need a laugh about now.

 

dent repair is the way to go. talk to your dent guys and then get
comprehensive coverage from your insurance. Your dealer usually has
a mobile dent repair guy come in so might want to setup an appointment
with them.

 

LOL -- Fix a dent with canned air and hair dryer

 

yah, let's all heat and freeze our cars and make popcorn noises. lol...

 

Sorry to hear about your damage. I am pleased with the repairs. In the right light some of the (possibly all?) tiny tiny dents that the guy said they would be able to take out with glue from above (on the roof because there is no access underneath) are still visible from the right angle. But they are so tiny that if you are not at the exact right angle then you can't see them, and you really have to hunt for them.

I was very sceptical about being able to make the finish look like factory where the majority of the damage was. I am amazed how well it turned out. Near perfect for most of the car. You will be pleased.

Contact your insurance company and they will give you some names of places.

Good luck,
K

 

Insurance contacted and scheduling with the adjuster now. I hope they'll have a good name or two here in town rather than drive all the way to the nearest dealer. I have two names from a local BMW owner who like to keep his nice and dent-free.

I have a few good ones in the roof. Most are like the ones you mention being hard to find. The bonnet has several of those. I noticed that in the evening dusk or under street lights they appear more easily than during the day. Still, it is depressing.

New thought. Drive it for another year or two with the best repair I can get. Then buy a brand spankin' new MINI and strip this one down for that racing hobby I've been ponderin'. Sound like a plan?

Thanks for the feedback.

 

^^ a good PDR tech will be able to remove the dings to a point
the non trained eye will not detect the ding, given that they have
access to it.

for those they can't fix, just get it bondo'ed and painted.

 

That is my exact plan on this one. It will become a project car that I can take to track events after dental school is over. Then if I like the current new year model MCS I will get that or find a low milage 2006.

 

bondo!!!! I'd buy another first.

Funny bondo story. My ex got my Expedition when we divorced. She had run the passenger side along a guard post one Christmas when it was maybe 5 years old. Got it repaired. Of course, that was the first side to go as the rust started to appear. It's a 1997 and now 10 years old. A couple months ago she's drving it down the X-way and gets off the road and knocks down a bunch of construction barrels same side. Ripped all the bondo and rust off from front to back. All I could think as I was installing a new turn signal assembly was that I was glad that it wasn't mine anymore.

Okay, it was funny at the time.

 

uhhhh... if you hit a barrel at xpressway speeds, usually you'll need to
get the car repaired anyway regardless of bondo or not...

 

Please share before and after photos

 

I've got two little dents I need to get out. Both I am muchly annoyed about:

1) Valet guy at the Valley Ho tries to forcefully slam boot w/ hand just below the license plate recess. Leaves dent roughly the size of...well...the heel of your hand that I did not notice until I was all the way home.

2) While filling up at Chevron, I bump the gas flap, which dings into the panel. Leaves tiny 2-cm ding/crease-looking thing.

I'm worried neither will come out - the first one because of the location, the second one because it's so small.

Boo.

 

ML- those two from how you described sounds repairable by PDR.

the small one next to the gas cap can probably be pulled out with a
glue based puller even without removing the tail lamp. as long as that
dent is away from the top curve by the window it should be soft enough
to pull out easily. i recently pulled out a door ding right next to the
gas cap on my legacy. usual PDR tools can not be used because it was
too close to the gas filler. so i used a glue puller and my knockdown tool
and walla!

i had trouble pulling out a ding on skiitellurde's car with a glue puller
cause it is right at the top of the curve where the metal is reinforced
by the curve. there's really no access area forward of the gas filler
unless i drilled, so we just tried the puller since the ding was not that
big. some car appraisers will detect drill holes done by PDR techs and
deduct points during trade-in. this is my main reason why i did not drill
since it was not that big of a dent to be noticable by most people.

drilling access holes would be my last resort.

 

Yeah if it came down to driling holes, I wouldn't do it. They're not THAT noticible.

The one by the gas cap is actually towards the front of the car from the gas cap instead of towards the rear.

The bigger one worries me because it's so near the "bend" that dips in to become the plate recess.

I'm going to find a PDR guy next week though and see what they say. What do you think those would cost, roughly?

 

ML- really depends on the ding. ive seen retail from $99 for the first
ding and 50% for second. ive also seen local techs doing it for cash
$35 and $10 thereafter.

i dont offer my service to anyone anymore other than for my own cars
and family, but i charged anywhere from $20 to $70 depending on location
and size. some dings are so easy it takes me more time to get my window
wedge into the door.

i did many cars around my area and most of them i was able to get out.
not all of them are PDR-able so best to let your tech see it. it cracked
me up when people with cars that look like they smashed into a brick wall
send me picts asking for PDR. hehehe.

 

She didn't seem interested in repairing the truck. I think she may have insured it for liability only. The running boards did most of the work repelling barrels leaving mostly scratches along the truck. Any way, it's not mine anymore.

I did get both vehicles inspected today at a local site my insurer set up. Walked away with checks in-hand, two PDR-style written estimates, a list of recommended PDR shops, and a promise for additional assistance should either vehicle turn out to be more expensive than the value provided. One of the shops was recommended already by other local MINI owners so I'll start there. The MINI will get all repaired that can be found while the Escort may only get the most the check will cover (less deductible). I'm not up for spending both deductibles at the same time. So, I'm happier today than yesterday. Still, those dings sure take the smile away.