A big ugly dent on a nice car is one of the worst things to see – especially if you’re the person who owns the vehicle. That is exactly what we had waiting for us at Next Gen Auto in Bowmanville. The owner of a 2021 Lexus RX 350 wanted us to take a look at a massive dent on the front right fender of his car. We were happy to help and got to work.

Using the Mobile Tech RX pricing software, we were able to prepare an estimate for the customer. Once we got the green light, we started the repair. The dent was about 6 inches and was over a body line. Initially, we thought we could gain access from the top but after removing the trim, we saw that there was a metal piece that would restrict our PDR tools. We knew we could gain access from underneath or we would have to use a thin tool from the top.

We first used pull-tabs to get the majority of the damage out. A slide hammer and a couple of pull tabs allowed us to get out about 70% of the dent. Because it was quite cold at 0 degrees, we needed to keep the panel hot all through the repair. Keeping the metal warm makes it easier to work with – especially when the temperature drops. We continued with a few more pulls before we needed to start with the PDR tools. To take off the pull tabs, we used 99% isopropyl alcohol which doesn’t leave any residue behind.

Most people don’t realize that the PDR lights we use are extremely important because it allows us to see the dent from different angles. In this case, we could see that there were quite a few high spots after the glue pulling. We knocked them down to smoothen the surface before we could start pushing from under the panel. One of the tools we used was quite sharp so we used some tape on the point to make it better to use.

For a dent this size, we have to take our time and push slowly and repeatedly to get the dent out completely. Keeping in mind, the panel needs to be heated constantly to make it easier to work on, we were able to take out 100% of the dent. Once finished, we put the trip back and buffed the damaged area. The customer was very happy with the results and so were we.