It takes a lot of hard work to run a successful PDR business. From answering house calls to visiting car dealerships and everything in between, a day in the life of a PDR owner is far from laid back. Tyler DeCarlo from Premium Dent Repair takes us through his daily routine and gives us an idea of what his job is all about. Premium Dent Repair is a full-service auto dent and ding repair company which means they get all kinds of clients – from tiny dings to massive dents.

Today, Tyler has quite a few locations to visit including a few dealerships, a few residential clients, and a quick check on one of the best technicians he’s got. Let’s get started.

At around 8:30 A.M., Tyler reaches the Clarington KIA dealership in Bowmanville where he has already been pre-approved to work on a couple of cars. The first thing is to get the stock numbers and the keys so we can get started on the work. Fortunately, the weather is nice and warm which means the panels on the car will be easier to manipulate. When it is cold, the metal tends to harden and we spend more time trying to heat the panels rather than getting the dents out.

The first car we worked on was a White Volkswagen Beetle with a couple of dime-sized dents in the body line, a dime-sized dent in the door, and quarter-sized and dime-sized dents in the wheel fender. Thankfully, Volkswagen tail lights are easy to remove, so we could easily access the damaged panels. The most important thing is to keep the panel warm and continuously use small pushes to push the dent out gradually. Another thing we have to do is release the pressure around the crowns and edges so that the dent can come out easily. The dents on the body line are a little tougher to get out because the metal is usually stronger there but with experience and patience, it can be done just as easily.

The second car on the lot that needed fixing was a 2015 Volkswagen Tiguan that had a few small dents. Using a blending hammer, we were able to knock down all the crowns and slowly get all the damage out. It looked as good as new in no time.

A helpful tool that we at Premium Dent Repair use is Mobile Tech RX. It is software that lets us create estimates for our clients within minutes. It is used and approved by all the major insurance companies and has our entire customer’s information, our price guides, and other factors that determine the cost of a PDR job. Once the dents are removed, all we have to do is enter the details and create an invoice which we can send to the customer or the dealership.

After completing three cars in the Clarington lot, we had to sit in on a call with Cory Kleinfeldt at around 10:30 A.M., better known as the PDR Coach. We discuss how to better the business going forward and how we can grow as a PDR business. The PDR coaching calls are a major factor behind most of the successful PDR owners and Cory does an excellent job at it.

A quick drive down to Port Hope where we are meeting up with Vijai at Quantrill Chevrolet. It’s only 11:00 A.M. but Vijai is busy as always fixing cars. Vijai has grown a lot over the last year and says he feels more confident and his skill levels have gone up. He is one of the best technicians in the Premium Dent Repair family and has a lot to offer the PDR industry.

Our next stop is a residential client in Peterborough at 1:00 P.M. They have a 2018 GMC Acadia that they wanted us to take a look at. It had a dollar-sized dent in the hood, which they wanted to be fixed. For the repair, we had to remove the headliner to see what kind of access we could get to the panel. While the dent was located under a brace, it wasn’t difficult to work on. With the help of a tool called the “Whale Tail”, we were able to get between the brace and the panel and push the metal up gently.

Another very useful tool we use is the PDR lights, which help us, view the dent from different angles, and get it out very precisely. Initially, the dent came out a little high but we were able to knock it back down and get it fixed. After a quick buff, the work was complete and we just had to put everything back and prepare the invoice for the customer to pay.

Next, we had to stop at Trent Valley Honda in Peterborough at around 3:30 P.M. where we had two Honda Civics and a Honda HR-V to fix. Unfortunately, because the sun was setting quickly, we were able to fix one Civic but we returned the next day to complete the job.

At 5:00 P.M. we had our final stop for the day, which was to go and see Sharon, our Administrator in Peterborough. Sharon takes care of all the back-end business including the estimates, invoicing, etc. Sharon says that Tyler keeps her on her toes and always wants to incorporate something new into the business and communicates that well to make sure everyone is comfortable with any changes.

If you have a dented car that needs fixing or want to get a residential repair done, feel free to visit our website. All you have to do is fill out a form, add a few pictures of the damaged area, and share some information about the vehicle and we can have an estimate drawn up in 24 hours. Once that’s done, we can set up an appointment within a week or two and have your car back to the way it was.