MarkL

Some of you may remember my C240 sustained some hail damage several weeks ago. My appointment at Dent Wizard finally came up and I took it in yesterday. I picked it up today (would have been yesterday -- more later) and there's absolutely no evidence of any damage or repair. It's literally as good as new. I have no connection at all to Dent Wizard, but from this experience, I would recommend them to anyone for any type of car. They were very professional and friendly, and did a great job. In case you don't know, they use a paintless dent removal process, and they do all the work from behind the affected panels.

I really went to pick it up yesterday, but the other shop which had lowered and replaced the headlining (for roof repair) didn't quite get the back edge of the headliner snug against the rear glass -- you could stick your hand in between. They took care of it today and everything seems fine. I'll wait to see if there are any noises that weren't there before in case they need to make a final adjustment.

Anyway I had 20 dings on the hood, 11 on the roof and 5 on the trunk. The charges were $625 for the ding repair and $366 sublet to the interior place.

Fuzzo

does insurance cover this sort of damage or does it come out of pocket... just wondering

also to fix hail damage, do they fill the holes and repaint or just pull out the dents?

wondering how it effects the resale value of the car if any?

SoCal240/6

Dent Wizard type places don't fill and repaint, they basically push the metal back until it is pretty much straight again. It is a very interesting process - I've seen it done a few times.

It really does result in a 99% repair. I say 99%, not 100%, because if you have the car in the right lighting (like flourescent lights), and you look carefully, you can almost always spot the repaired areas. (But most people would never notice). It really is a great process - much better than repainting the whole panel.

MsMercedes

Yes, insurance does cover hail damage minus deductible. They prefer the dentless removal over conventional because it saves them money. There is no effect on resale unless the repaired spots can be seen or unless you blab and tell the potential buyer

Michelle

MarkL

Well, I haven't checked under flourescent lights yet, but I'd say it's 100%. Your first statement, "until it is pretty much straight again" makes it sound like it doesn't really look good. I'm telling you, at least for my repair, there is no sign of the metal having been dented. Some of the "technicians" are probably better than others, but for my car, it's like magic. The guy also told me that he loves working on Mercedes, because the metal is very forgiving and moves back into place more easily. Also, the M-B support structures allow them the access they need to reach various places without a lot of effort. BTW, they use a grid/light system verify the repair. The grid reflecting on the surface makes it easy for them to check for 100% dent removal.

That said, I know someone with an SC430 where I work whose aluminum hood was much more damamged than mine. Dent Wizard had some reservations about making it "perfect". They tried to repair the worst of the hood dings and they weren't satisfied with their own repair. They didn't proceed with the rest of the hood. He now has to have the hood replaced. I can't speak for all Dent Wizard franchises, but the one in Rockville, MD seems to be very honest and up-front with customers. If they can't do it they'll let you know instead of trying to f-ck it up more. I was very impressed.

SoCal240/6

"Pretty much straight again" was an understatement - it does look really, really good after it is done.

But take the car to another paintless dent removal place and ask them to show you where all the old dings were (by just examining the outside of the car). They will be able to show you most or all of them. That's why its 99%, not 100%. But most people under most conditions will never, ever notice anything - so in reality the car is pretty much perfect again.

WebGuyNJ

Do you have any before and after pictures? Posting those would be great.

MarkL

Sorry I don't. That would have been a good idea. I can tell you that the 3 worst hits were on the roof about 2-3 inches behind the sunroof. The ones on the trunk were near the back edge near the rear glass, and they were small. On the hood, there were about 3 bad dings just forward of the cowl area, with about 10 others scattered over the panel. Some looked like water ripples when viewed at certain angles. The worst ones were about 1/2 - 3/4" inch wide by maybe 1/16 - 1/8" deep(?). There was also a slight crease type ding on the front fender where hail had blown from the side. As I said, upon careful viewing, there is no sign of anything. When I wash my car this weekend I'll check even closer, like SoCal says, there may be some miniscule evidence but it sure is hard to see.

SoCal240/6

What they do to push the dings out is basically apply very localized pressure to the back of the ding - very small spots - which means very high PSI. So on a ding say the size of a dime, they will push behind the ding in hundreds of tiny spots.

So, the ding is not really "popped" back out in one motion. Imagine slowly working the ding out from the back with a very strong ball point pen.

After they are done pushing it back out from the bottom, there are invariably a lot of spots that were pushed a little to high. They hit those back down with what looks like a solid plastic pencil and a hammer.

So, when you are looking, look for a a very fine "pimply" appearance in the paint where the ding was.

The lighter the ding, the less times they have to push on it, and the less you can notice it. Very light repairs may not be noticeable at all, but if the metal was stretched at all in the ding (like you describe where the metal was creased) you can detect the pimply appearance in the paint under the right lighting.

If you are going to look, you need to do it in your garage, with florescent lighting. You probably will have a hard time seeing in natural or incandescent light. Florescent is unforgiving! (which is why they use florescent lighting when they do the repairs).

MagmaSilk

who didja work w/ at dent wizard ... actually any contact info would be much appreciated as a friend of mine got caught in the same hail storm as u ... TIA

MarkL

Actually, I think one of the guys was Chris. But the office manager, Carrie, is very helpful. 301-881-0770. You just drop by anytime for the initial estimate, and then they set up an appointment if you want.