Can You Repair A Badly Dented Car

A dent in your auto never makes a adept impression.

Read on for our advice to help remove signs of bumps to your bodywork.

Are at that place mutual dent locations?

Although dents tin occur anywhere on your bodywork, some areas are more prone to prangs than others.

If you want to check your auto for whatever irregularities, pay close attention to:

doors – It'southward easy to swing doors open into closely parked cars or other obstructions when you're not paying attending. Make sure y'all cheque all the manner to the bottom of the door where high kerbs might take left a marking.
bumpers – Designed to minimise the bear on of collisions, bumpers are i of the commencement places affected by motoring mishaps. Take a look at the forepart and back of your machine for any dents that might need work.

How much practise dent repairs toll?

Repair costs depend on a number of factors:

the size and depth of a paring
its location on the panel
the make and model of the automobile
admission to the back of the dent (areas obstructed past crash bars and other parts will need more fourth dimension to prepare)

Repairing damage yourself may work out cheaper just should but be undertaken if yous're confident about taking on the task. Bodywork specialists tin can charge anything from £36 to £200 per hour for their expertise. The average toll for bumper repair comes in at £60 per hr.

Checkatrade offer some guidance on what to await:

Service	Low range	Loftier range	Boilerplate
Bumper repair	£300	£i,320	£810
Dent repair	£220	£450	£335
Paintless dent repair	£ninety

If repairs aren't possible or they work out besides expensive, you might want to consider buying replacement parts. In most cases, its best to visit a trustworthy garage for a car service to assess if the harm tin exist stock-still.

Can I repair a dent myself?

repair-dent-myself

Yes, simply you'll need to brand sure that the impairment isn't too all-encompassing kickoff.

Mensurate the dent and check that it's no bigger than three inches in diameter and that it's shallow, too. If the mark appears on a curve or a contour in the bodywork, a DIY approach probably isn't the best idea. Yous'll also need to exist confident about working on your car and accessing the back of panels.

Now it's time to choose your method. Our footstep-by-step guides beneath highlight some of the best ways to get the job done.

If you find the idea of a DIY fix too complicated, a body shop or RAC approved garage will exist able to help.

Recollect, damage to the paintwork will have to be repaired separately.

How to repair a dent with a hair dryer

Hair dryers may be better suited to salons than garages, just with the correct technique you lot might be able to save cash on bodywork repairs.

Once you've assessed the damage and decided y'all're confident about repairing the dent yourself, you'll demand a few things:

a clean soft textile
a can of compressed air
a hair dryer
insulated gloves

Step 1 – Ensure you can access both sides of the dent. This could hateful opening the bonnet or reaching underneath the automobile.

Step two – It's time to plug in the hair dryer. Concord it betwixt five and 7 inches away from the affected area on a medium heat setting. Later two minutes the panel should be malleable plenty to movement on to the next footstep.

Step 3 - Pull your gloves on and gently press the edges of the paring to test for movement. If the panel feels strong render to step two and utilise the hair dryer for some other minute or so.

Step four – While still wearing your gloves, take the can of compressed air and requite it a good milk shake. Plow it upside down and spray at the paring. Information technology should accept no more than a minute for the dent to pop dorsum into shape.

Step five – Take your fabric and wipe whatever liquid remainder away. Job washed.

Meridian tip: If this method doesn't work equally planned, you can repeat the steps for better results. Attempt leaving a day between exposing your car to extreme temperature changes.

How to repair a dent with a plunger

It may expect hopeful rather than practical, but with the right arroyo a plunger can provide enough suction for dents to pop out of place.

Be warned, this method should merely exist used on plastic parts of your motorcar.

You'll demand:

the plunger
boiling water
a clean soft material
insulated gloves

Step one – Pour the humid water over the dented area. This volition soften the surface and make it more malleable.

Step ii – Place the plunger over the dent, ensuring it'southward fixed into an air-tight position and pull.

Pace three – If the dent hasn't popped out of place try pushing it from backside, while wearing gloves.

Step four – The damage should have disappeared thanks to your plunging and pushing efforts. Simply wipe the surface dry with your fabric.

Summit tip: If you lot need to repeat the steps once more endeavour waiting 24 hours before exposing your auto to farthermost temperature changes.

How to repair a dent with a vacuum cleaner

This method relies on the ability of suction and is all-time used on flat surfaces to help create an airtight vacuum.

You'll demand

a bowl or bucket with a minor hole in the bottom
a powerful vacuum cleaner

Stride 1 – Encompass the whole of the dent with the top of your bucket or bowl in the same fashion you would do with a plunger.

Step two – Use your vacuum cleaner to encompass the hole in the bucket/bowl and turn it on.

Step iii – Listen out for a pop confirming that your bodywork has returned to its proper position.

Top tip: A powerful vacuum cleaner could brand all the difference. Endeavor hiring a professional model if your everyday apparatus isn't up to the chore.

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How to repair a dent with dry out ice

This method uses extreme changes in temperature and you'll need to wear protective gloves.

You'll demand:

aluminium foil
dry ice
a pilus dryer
insulated gloves
masking tape

Starting time by repeating steps one and two from the hair dryer method above.

Stride 3 – Gear up aluminium foil over the dent using masking tape to protect your paintwork.

Step four – While wearing heavy-duty gloves, pick up a cake of dry ice and rub it across the foil. You lot should hear the panel pop back into place in less than a minute.

Step 5 – Remove the foil and curiosity at your handywork.

How to repair a dent with mucilage and wood

If y'all want to set a larger or oddly-shaped dent, it could be time to describe for the mucilage gun. This method is effectively about creating handles to pull the dent out of place.

You lot'll need:

wooden dowels
screws
a gum gun
a drill

Stride one – Test the glue gun on an inconspicuous surface area of your car to cheque if it won't damage your paintwork.

Step two – Take the wooden dowels and drill two screws at one end and at either side of the cylinder-shape to create handles. Yous'll need one 'handle' per foursquare inch of the impairment.

Footstep three – Heat the glue gun and utilize the adhesive to the end of the dowels without screws. Fix your customised dowels on and around the paring and so they appear one time every square inch.

Footstep iv – Leave for 10 mins to dry. You might desire to employ your trusted hairdryer at this bespeak.

Stride five – Pull the handles outwards and the paring should follow. Echo the steps if necessary and experiment with placing the dowels in different positions.

Step half-dozen – Remove the dowels and wash away any leftover glue.

Summit tip: Try fixing the dowels to the edges of the damaged area commencement before working your way into the middle of the dent.

How to repair a paring with a repair kit

dent-repair-kit

Buying tools specially fabricated for the chore might be the most effective approach of them all.

There are 3 main types of dent repair kits:

Pulling – These kits use the same principle equally the wooden dowel technique and work by gluing tabs to the paring and pulling.
Tapping – Some kits use metal pens designed to tap the dent out of your bodywork. They normally come with a range of heads to ready all kinds of damage.
Pushing – Alternatively, yous could pick up tools designed to push dents outwards from the dorsum of a panel. The kits usually supply different-sized rods but they don't come cheap.

Information technology'due south important to read the instructions provided and if you don't experience confident near taking on the job you can ever contact an RAC approved garage for help.

How to set a dent on a door panel

Car door panels are typically thinner than other parts of your auto. This makes them easier to dent but they are easier to remove for repairs.

Use a screwdriver to detach whatever wiring or control panels in arm rests, yous'll probably demand to popular open spiral covers to unfasten everything.

When you pull the door panel away, try to go along the plastic canvass from the door frame completely flat. That manner it can exist used again.

Once the console has been removed, try pushing the dent from behind to pop your bodywork back into its rightful place.

Should I repair a dent myself?

The decision to repair a dent yourself depends on a combination of things:

Extent of damage – small dings should be like shooting fish in a barrel enough to fix yourself just more extensive damage will probably need the aid of an expert.
Budget – rates for bodywork specialists profoundly vary, in fact, you lot could pay betwixt £36 to £200 an hour for their assist.
Confidence – even the simplest repair job tin seem out of the question if yous're non comfy making repairs yourself, in which example you should accommodate for professional help.
Time – sourcing all the tools and materials tin can take a while, specially if you shop around for the all-time deal. That's earlier you've fifty-fifty started to primary the techniques for a high-quality repair task.

If you're unsure about how to do the job yourself, an RAC approved garage will be happy to assist restore your motorcar where possible.