What is Paintless Dent Repair?

[Coitster]

Hey everyone,
I have gotten a few messages asking me about PDR. What is it, and how does it work? Is it a business I want to get into? How do I train for it? I will try to answer a few of these questions. Hope this helps.

1st Paintless Dent Repair (PDR for short) is basically the process where trained technicians take specialized tools like either Rods or Hand tools and get under the dent and slowly massage the dent out. We do this by relieving the stress points in the metal. A dent is, after all, streched metal. As the name implies, we don't paint the car, this is not bodyshop work, we don't drill holes in the dent and pop it out. To give you an example of what I would do, lets say I have a customer with a door ding that they recieved in a parking lot where someone parked next to them opened a door and caused a little nick and dent in the car. What I would do is take a door tool, stick it down the window and slowly push the dent out to where it is totally invisible to the naked eye, because in PDR, in most cases you can completely eliminate the dent. Unlike in windshield repair, where you might have a small blemish left.

2nd What can you fix with PDR? PDR is designed for small dings and damage. If someone has a collapsed panel or the dent is larger then lets say a dollar bill then probably they should have body work done. Now their are some techs who can repair very large size damage. Techs of this skill are very rare, PDR is very much an art form and requires a tremendous amount of practice. Most door dings or small damage can be fixed by PDR. The thing I like about PDR is virtually every car on the road has some type of dent in it. Another thing that PDR is used for is hail repair. Hail repair involving PDR is very beneficial for insurance companies. They really prefer this to conventional body work because body work can be very expensive. Insurance companies would rather pay 60% to 75% of a conventinal body job, using PDR. Hail work is very specialized because when doing hail work, a car can take anywhere from 2 days to 1 week to work on. You are looking at from 400 to 1000 dents on a hail car. Granted some area's of the country don't get hail, so many techs chase hail. They go around the country following hail storms.

Most hail teams won't let you join them unless you have about 2 years experience doing door dings. A good hail chaser can make easily $150,000 a year no problem. The only downside is if you have a family it can be hard on them. :cry:

3rd How do I train to get into PDR? Well you have a few options, some companies will train for PDR, however in most cases you are going to need to sign a 2 year commitment with them, and you get to do all the grunt work. You are also on straight commision, so don't expect to make much money until after your 2 year training period is done. The other option is to go to a school for PDR. Most schools will offer a 4 week program to learn the very, very basics of PDR. Cost involved to do a 4 week course on PDR start at about $8,000 dollars to train, plus lodging. Most of these schools are good, however don't expect after 4 weeks to be able to do a retail job. You are just beginning. You will need to spend at least 5 months after school practicing on junker cars for a few hours everday. After you have practiced about that amount of time, then you are probably ready to do retail work. PDR techs are in very high demand, however it isn't very easy to learn how to do it. An experienced PDR tech would make it look easy, however they have been doing it a long time. I personaly know a Hail Chaser who only worked 7 months last year and make $250,000 last year.

4th Is it a business I would like to get into? Don't know thats up to you. Make sure if you do, you are willing to spend a lot of time practicing your new trade. There are a lot of hacks out in the PDR industry. Also some schools will try to convince you that a 1 or 2 week course will get you ready, trust me, if you do fall for that you will be out of the industry within a few months of getting out of the school because customers won't be happy with your work. If you do decide to practice and practice and practice and get good at PDR get ready for an awsome income. Virtually every car on the road has a dent in it. Also when hail does happen, there are so few hail techs out there they they demand very top dollar. Most hail techs make minimum 4 to 5 grand a week. You could also decide you only want to do door dings, very profitable income because just doing door dings in your area could make you over 100 grand a year, great addition to your windshield repair business. Remember every area of the country needs PDR techs, if you are willing to put in the time and money to learn it. If you have any questions please post a reply. Thanks, hope this helps out to those who had questions.
David
Coitster

[kdp]

Hey guys!

I know David and we've been talking here and there.

If you have any questions about PDR, feel free to ask me!

I am an 8 year technician. If it can be done, I can do it. I have a good rep in the industry.

David is very knowledgable, but if I can be of assistance, please ask some questions...

Take care!

[Coitster]

Keith,
Welcome to the Delta Kits site man. Great to have you here.

Special Announcement: Hey everyone, Keith (AKA KDP) is an extremely experienced dent guy. Many people all over the country come to him when it comes to advice on PDR. I myself goto him, I only have about a year in the PDR biz, Keith on the other hand can fix monster dents in cars, he has some before and after pictures that will blow your mind. I am very glad that he has decided to come to our forum and help out with any questions. Please everyone, you don't realize what a honor it is to have him here with us.
David
Coitster

[kdp]

Thank you, David!!

I am very flattered.

If your friends need some help, I will do what I can.

Again, thank you, david and thank you DeltaKits, for a warm welcome!

[dgarza]

kdp,
Where is a good place to start in getting all the information I can about pdr. like if its right for me and what is involved in getting started.

thanks,
damien

[kdp]

www.doording.com

[paintlessplus]

Coitster , Thanks for getting this pdr site started. Kdp , I just joined the doording site ( Bondo Bob ). I was never aware of it until posted here...THANKS. Just to let you all know my background, been in and out fo the bodyshop business for 23 years as an owner,manager,and tech. For the past 13 years I have worked as a professional paid firefighter in Omaha Nebraska. Now with impending college costs for my two kids, and to prepare for my retirement from the department in 7 years, I am starting up a new mobile windshield repair/PDR business. I've spent 100' s of hours (and dollars) so far patiently practicing my PDR skills via videos and covertly watching a local tech. I hope to do a few small cash jobs in April, but will be picky in my work to meet my skill levels. I'm attending DeltaKits training in Austin next week, and intend to take each area (WSR/PDR) seriously, neither just an add-on. I hate "hacks" in any trade and will NOT establish myself as one. The PDR guys in this area are pretty secretive, I would probably be too if I had paid 1000's for training and worked under non-compete clauses to earn my wings. I think with my background, that my learning curve will be shorter, hopefully I don't sound too naive. Thanks again to all, you have no idea of how much I value all the help I have received on both forums. Bob Pennington @Paintless Plus

[Reflections]

Hello across the board, I’ve been “sandbagging” for a while now & have really learned quite a lot just being here. Thank you all for sharing your knowledge so freely.

Coitster and kdp you both have answered so many of my questions without even knowing it. Please keep posting.

One question on the subject of “earning one’s wings” I have been seriously considering signing a non-compete clause with one of the country’s best tech-training co. just to get what I believe is the best training. But I’m just wondering, what is your opinion on doing so?

I think that the exposure & learning curve would be at a maximum level for me but what is the norm here? 2-3 Yrs. In all parts of the country? Last time I talked to an attorney on this I was told that it couldn’t hold-up in court because of the “Rico-Act”
It would be a restriction of trade ! & that is illegal. But I’m sure that the big-boys have enough money to tie one up for a long time with such things.

So what would you do if you were just starting out?
Is the best thing one could do is just take one of these crash courses & come home & practice my tale off ? I think I’m somewhat of the old school & would benefit by Sharing / brainstorming the day to day doings of a trade of this type.
Please, I’m about to take a leap of faith here and need some guidance.

Thanks, A squire lurking in the shadows.

[Starburst Mobile WR]

Coitster,
I know this post was posted quite some time ago but I would like to say that I throughly enjoyed reading it.

[hidesertguy]

I had no idea of paintless dent repair, this was a fantastic topic. I did not know there was so much money to be made in this type of business. I'm going to look further into this business and probably add it to my windshield repair business