I may be totally wrong on this but it seems that the guy making money on it would be the guy selling the franchise, tools and equipment to the folks who attempt to make a business out of it in their city.

It just seems to be a different person, different vehicle each year, you know?

sort of like that continuous concrete curb business...it would all depend on who was doing the job, I expect.
And the turnover seems to be fierce.

 

We worked on the tools used by our local paintless dent firm. It has limitations. If it is truly just a tiny dent, it works pretty well. If it has a crease, where the ends of the crease poke out beyond the original surface, no go.

The tool is a big U shaped thing with a flat steel pad that is pressed against the dent from the outside and a ball shaped "hammer" on the inside of the body panel. They have to be able to get the tool into the body for it to work.

 

I used a similar company in removing 3 dents from my Dodge Ram. The dents ranged in size from a quarter to a lemon. As long as the paint is not creased or cracked, they'll be able to remove the dent. The price ranged from 75 to 150 per dent. The best part is that it usually takes an hour to repair and when it's done you'll never know where the original dent was located. Also, no paint work. Just be sure that you hire someone with experience.

 

If you don't have a significant crease, you could try this. These guys don't talk you through the process, but you need to make sure you hold the can of compressed air upside-down. I thought you needed to heat the body a bit more too.

 

In addition to creases, they won't be able to take dents out of anywhere that on/near/along a brace. Example: I actually have a dent just above the wheel well of my driver's rear wheel. They can't do it, because there's a brace right there. So something that could have been taken care of for $75-100 is now $1300 for adding body filler and re-spraying.

Oh well.

But yeah, $75-100 is reasonable. When I drove a black car, I'd take it into my favorite PDR shop every spring to have dents pulled out and some paint touch-up. I don't remember them charging me more than $175 to do the whole car every spring, and they usually did a pretty darn good job.

 

There is a place in the Philadelphia area called Carisma that does a pretty good job. A friend of mine had them repair his VW R32 after it got smacked by a blown out semi tire on the highway, and the front fender on his Porsche after it was struck by some unknown object by the headlight. They even touched up the paint where it was scratched through by the tire and UO (I didn't want to put UFO...but it was flying whatever it was!).

 

hmm. I guess I'll find a place with good reviews and get a quote. My concern is if all of it cannot be fixed by PDR, then I might be better off getting a bodyshop to do it.