Paintless Dent Repair Training

[starman]

how long dose it take to learn dent repair?I had heard about three yrs to get realy good at it.

[Coitster]

WOW, interesting question. That really depends on a couple of factors. I think first and formost is how you get trained and WHO trains you. I don't recommend that you go to one of the schools, they really don't care I don't care what they say about training correctly, most of them just want your money. Find yourself someone who is good (not a hack) and pay them to work with them and learn from them. BTW word of warning here, make sure they are good, ask any dent guy if he is good and he will tell you he is the best their is. Most dent guys are nearly as good as they think they are.

Now once you get trained make sure to practice, and practice and btw did I mention practice If you work really hard and keep at it, you can probably do retail work after a few months and then be really good after about a year, but you never ever quit learning. Don't be afraid to spend money to get the proper training, its worth its weight in gold, I personaly know of a few guys that chase hail that make over a 1/4 million dollars a year and they only work about 8 months. You have to be good and it takes years to get to that level, a good PDR tech can make $100,000 a year.

Back again to the training question I personaly recommend KDP from our forum and he is also on Doording.com. Probably the best Dent guy I have ever met in my life, I am planing on going to get some extra training from him myself. I was trained at one of those rip off schools and I am the only Dent guy left in the business out of my class and the classes before and after my class. It takes a lot of commitment, but if you become good at it, it is sooooooooooooo worth it. Hope that helps.
David
Coitster

[starman]

Thanks Coitster dont know if I will go for it but have been ask when i do my wsr work. I always listen and look for wats to make money.BUT YOU ARE THE MAN.

Thanks Crayton

[screenman]

I heard from a reliable source that the failure rate for people that do pdr training and fail to get started can be as high as 95 %.that is only one 5 people per hundred gets to earn some money.

I have been doing dents for about for quite a long time but still learning every day.

[Coitster]

Hey Screenman,
Actualy I think your estimate is low. I would more belive maybe one in 200 is more realistic. It is very hard to learn at first.
David
Coitster

[screenman]

Coitster
you could well be right I got this information from a good friend that sells pdr training in the UK.

I went on two traing courses one insisted on starting from the middle of the dent and working out and the other to start from the outside and work in .

In this case I think it was a case of those that can do and those that cant teach.

In a list of most profitable as in time and profit.I would list smart repairs as.

No; 1 pdr
no; 2 screen repair
No; 3 trim
No; 4 paint scuffs etc.
No; 5 touch up
N0; 6 deoudor
N0; 7 detailing or valeting whatever you call it over there.

I hope this list helps anyone thinking of adding on to their original business.

[johnnyone]

I have read the fourm on PDR and I have always been interested in learning the trade. Have seen a lot of tools on ebay would this be a good way to get started? :-k

[Joe Delatte]

I have a good friend who works in a body shop. He's been a body man for 30 years. Would he be a good teacher for PDR? I spoke to him about it but he said most of the PDR people who haven't been trained as body shop technicians usually do less than adequate work.

[screenman]

I would say pdr bares very little in relationship with conventional panel beating. I have been doing PDR for about three years and the best pdr men I know were not even in the motor trade before they had the first lesson in PDR. You will watse a lot of time if you do not get proper traning
It has( if you do not believe me ask Coitster wherever he is.)

Pdr is an art form and even after training it is practise practise and more practise, it is a fantastic money earner.

I have found that a lot of body repair men down talk PDR because it has had an effect on their industry much like screen repair and replacement.

A good PDR man will earn about

[kdp]

Thanks for your insight, David!!

Hey guys, I'm here to answer your questions if you have them.

I can see that you guys, for the most part, are right.

As David says: Stay away from Training mills. But, no offense, David, just because you are a good dent guy, DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU CAN TEACH PDR!!!

I can not stress that enough!

Panel Beating: You would be surprised actually how close GOOD PDR is to the old school techniques of "metal bumping".

But a bodyman that does not understand how it relates to PDR and does not do pdr and IS NOT A TEACHER can do nothing for you!

I am surprised that I have not gotten any pms from this site. Oops. my email address has changed in the last few months.

I'll update it.

If you folks have any questions...... ASK!

Thanks,

Keith De Paul
Top Gun PDR, Inc.

Trainer / Advanced Trainer
2004 PDR Mentor of the year
Vale Certified Master Craftsman
Co. Author NPCCRS Article of Large Dent Repair: Just How big can we Go?
Longtime teacher of many skills (25 years)
Developer and founder of the P.I.R.P Process (Pressure and Identification and release Process)