So I came home for spring break from school and the second day back my Dad backed into my car with my family's ford explorer. I now have a pretty big dent near the rear tail light and my family is looking at the best way to fix it. The conventional method (weld on rod, pull dent, repaint) came out at 1k. I know some dents can be fixed from the inside without repainting. What about this one?

I am not the one paying the bill, my Dad is. Thus I am more concerned about what is going to give the better end result. If doing it painlessly get you 95% of the result of the repaint method then that makes more sense to me.

 

If the paint surface is not cracked, an experienced "dent doctor" will return this to 100%... I have seen it before

 

There are no cracks in it. That is good news.

 

PDR is your best bet. I've seen it being done on a lot worse dents. It is 100% fixable and the cheapest way.

 

That should be a pretty easy repair for any competent PDR tech. They'll just pull out that taillight and go to work.

 

yeah you should be ok. i had a dent on my back hatch and had a PDR do it. I was amazed how well of a job he did and it didnt cost me an arm and a leg. it was a local PDR that specialized in "exotic's" s look for the same.

I know there are some quacks that claim they can do it and if you go with a national franchise pdr company make sure you get some references. My experience is with the large franchises they just pick anyone that will give them a check

 

I put a similar dent in my '05 MCS and let me just say, find the best PDR guy and ask for his advice. I used a different guy from my usual one who had moved out of state, and turned out he wasn't experienced enough and made a difficult repair even worse. The problem with dents on that corner is that it's under a great deal of pressure and PDR work is all about relieving the pressure. Also access is tricky on that panel. Good luck.

 

That should be an easy dent to remove for a qualified PDR tech. Knowing if they are qualified is the big question. Ask to watch them do a tougher dent than yours. If your happy with the quality, give them a shot.