Paintless Dent Repair
When the paint is unbroken, the fastest and cheapest fix is usually not paint at all. PDR works the metal back from behind the panel and leaves the factory finish untouched.
At a glance
- Division
- Collision & Autobody
- Typical turnaround
- Often same day
- Original paint
- Kept intact
- Vehicle history
- No repainted panels
Overview
Paintless Dent Repair
Paintless dent repair is a specialist skill rather than a shortcut. Purpose-made rods and tips reach behind the panel, and the technician pushes the metal back to its original shape in small, controlled increments while reading the reflection on the surface.
Done properly, there is nothing to detect afterwards — no filler, no primer, no blend line, and no note in the vehicle's history about repainted panels. Done badly, it stretches the metal and leaves a low spot that only paint can hide, which is why it is worth asking who is doing the work.
What this service covers
- Door dings and parking-lot dents
- Hail damage across hoods, roofs and deck lids
- Shallow creases and body-line dents
- Panel-edge repairs where access allows
- Pre-lease-return and pre-sale cosmetic cleanup
- Fleet-wide dent removal at your yard or ours
- Insurance hail claims handled directly
- Honest assessment when PDR is not the right answer
When PDR works — and when it doesn't
The deciding factors are paint condition, dent depth, metal stretch and access. If the finish is unbroken, the dent is not unusually sharp, and there is a way in behind the panel, PDR is usually the better option on both cost and outcome.
We will tell you honestly which category yours falls into. Pushing a dent that should have been refinished wastes your money and can make the eventual paint repair harder.
Key points
- Works well: smooth dents in flexible areas, hail dimples, door dings, shallow creases
- Sometimes works: dents on a body line, dents near a panel edge, aluminium panels (slower, higher cost)
- Does not work: cracked or chipped paint, sharp dents with stretched metal, damage over a bonded brace, previously filled panels
Hail season in Alberta
Calgary sits in one of the most hail-prone corridors in the country, and a single storm can dimple every horizontal panel on a vehicle. Because the paint usually survives, hail damage is the ideal case for PDR — a car with two hundred dents can often be returned to original condition without a single panel being refinished.
After a major storm the whole city queues at the same time. Get your claim opened early, book your assessment early, and be wary of pop-up operators who appear after a storm and are gone before the warranty matters.
How a paintless dent repair job runs
Same four stages every time, so you always know which one your vehicle is in and what happens next.
Assess
We document the damage and look past what is visible, so the scope is right before anything is ordered.
Quote
An itemised written estimate — parts, labour and timeline separated — in the format your insurer works in.
Repair
Parts ordered on authorisation, work carried out to the manufacturer's published procedure for your vehicle.
Return
Quality inspection, clean-up and hand-back with your repair file and warranty documentation.
- Often same dayTypical turnaround
- Kept intactOriginal paint
- No repainted panelsVehicle history
By area
Paintless Dent Repair where you are
Same work, written for the conditions and the run into our shop from each area.
Collision & Autobody FAQ
Questions about paintless dent repair
If yours is not here, call the shop — somebody who works on the vehicles will answer it.
Will the dent come back?
No. Once the metal is returned to its original shape it holds. A properly executed PDR repair is permanent.
Is PDR cheaper than conventional repair?
Usually, and often by a wide margin, because there is no filler, primer, paint or blend labour and no booth time. It is also faster — many repairs are same-day.
Does it affect my vehicle's history or resale?
That is one of its biggest advantages. The factory finish is never broken, so there is no repainted panel to disclose and nothing for a paint-depth gauge to pick up at resale.
Related services
Often needed alongside this
- 01
Collision Repair
Full structural and cosmetic collision repair for cars, SUVs and light trucks — from a parking-lot scrape to a major impact.
- 02
Auto Painting & Refinishing
Colour-matched panel refinishing, full resprays and clear-coat restoration in a controlled downdraft booth.
- 03
Bumper Repair & Replacement
Scuffs, cracks, tears and torn mounting tabs — repaired where sensible, replaced where it isn't.
- 04
Heavy Truck Collision Repair
Highway tractors, vocational trucks and buses — cab, hood, frame and body repair after collision, rollover or wreck.
Need paintless dent repair?
Free written estimate, no obligation. Send photos or bring it in.