Video of PDR process

Here's a video that shows how paintless dent repair can be performed. The video doesn't explain the process but is entertaining and can give you a general idea of how it works. But before you go trying this on your own car, watch other videos and learn as much as you can about all the details. It's not as easy as this guy makes it look!

Profitability of PDR as a Business Opportunity

Is PDR a profitable business opportunity? Well, that's why I'm learning how to perform paintless dent repair!

Let's take a look at the numbers on this. Here's a profitability chart from dentmagictools.com 

These numbers are pretty attractive if you consider that PDR technicians can operate with very little overhead. In fact, if you have a car and a couple hundred dollars to invest in some specialized tools, you can run a mobile PDR business from home. Of course you'll need to spend time learning how to use the tools and perfecting your craft... But most of it can be learned by watching Youtube videos and through practice. And there is no shortage of beat up old cars that you can practice on.

Another attractive aspect of the paintless dent repair business is that many car dealerships will hire PDR techs to preform dent removal on trade-ins before placing the cars on their lot. This can generate a lot of repeat business for a trusted PDR specialist. In fact, most PDR companies do very little advertising and stay busy by working closely with car dealerships and used car lots.

But the market is much bigger than trade-ins. Some PDR pros are basically storm chasers. They travel to areas after a major hail storm, set up shop for a few days under a large tent, and can generate a lot of income in a short amount of time by fixing hail damaged cars. I witnessed this in Nashville not long ago and that's what peaked my interest in pursuing this business opportunity.

And from my research, it seems the retail market for paintless dent repair services is wide open. By networking with other dent repair technicians in non-competing markets, it seems like a lot of leverage can be created.

What is PDR (Paintless Dent Repair)

PDR, also known as Paintless Dent Removal or Paintless Dent Repair is the process of removing small dents, door dings and creases from the body of a vehicle. The process involves using specialized tools to slowly massage and flex metal back into it's original shape and form from behind the dent. Many PDR pros call it an art... And I agree with them that it is an art. It's a simple process but it can take years to master!

There are many benefits to using PDR over a conventional body shop. I'll detail a few of them here...

1. First, PDR is much cheaper than what body shops charge for dent removal. In fact, in most cases it's far less than half what would be paid at a body shop. The cost savings alone is worth looking into PDR before taking a car to a conventional body shop. 
2. Second, and probably more importantly, PDR protects the resale value of a vehicle by maintaining the integrity of the original paint finish. After market paint jobs are easy to spot and can greatly reduce the trade in value of a car. But with PDR there is no need for paint or fillers! That's why it's called "paintless" dent repair. 
3. Third, without the need for toxic paint and chemicals being used makes the process better for the environment.

Now, the specialized tools for dent repair are inexpensive and you can purchase them from a number of places like AutoZone. But as mentioned, the paintless dent repair process is a bit tricky and an inexperienced person can easily damage the paint by trying to remove a dent without the knowledge and experience that professional PDR technicians have.

This blog is going to document my attempts to learn the art of PDR. I have a few old beat up cars that I'll be practicing on and I'll share my experience here. I'll post lots of videos and photos for the experts to critique. This should be fun for me and amusing for others too. So stay tuned...