Star Apprentice Pushing to New Heights

David Eves, Director - The Dent Pusher.

David Eves has fulfilled a long-held dream since being awarded MTA’s Apprentice of the Year in 2015. Just over three years ago David opened his business, The Dent Pusher, which recently became a MTA member.

“The business is paintless dent repairs,” said David. “It’s fully mobile, so we can travel to a customer’s house and repair their car in front of them… they don’t have to wait around.”

David has been in the panel industry for 15 years and is a fully qualified panel beater and spray painter. His father is a mechanic, and David grew up in wrecking yards, so his life has always been synonymous with cars.

When David finished high school, he initially thought about doing an auto electrical apprenticeship but at the time, in Western Australia, that area was particularly competitive. Instead, David walked into a panel shop and asked for an apprenticeship.

“They said yep, you can start tomorrow,” he recalled. “I went in there and said ‘Okay, what am I going to be?’ They chucked me in the panel side, which I ended up loving from day dot.”

The idea for The Dent Pusher came to be once David’s daughter was born and he wanted to embrace a new opportunity.

“I love working on cars… so I focussed on paintless dent repairs,” said David. “Instead of automatically thinking, you have to go to the panel shop for that… it gives another option. They [customers] don’t have to lose their car for so long. It’s something different.”

The business offers repairs for small to large dents, as well as shopping trolley dents, and storm damage repair. If the dent doesn’t come out, David doesn’t charge.

David is extremely proud of The Dent Pusher recently becoming a member of the MTA.

“That’s really when I first knew about the MTA and what they do,” said David. “I thought it was a great organisation … the support they offer … it shows customers that you’re a trustworthy business.”

The Dent Pusher’s focus on paintless dent repairs is a passion of David’s.

“It should be the first thought for minor damages to do with vehicles,” he said. “I believe there should be more education out there instead of hiding it away in the shadows.”

The business is also a way for him to continue doing what he loves— working on cars. David has big dreams for The Dent Pusher in the coming years. He would love to open a shopfront to service more vehicles.

“My life is just cars really,” he said. “I love working on them, I love playing with them… being able to work on a variety of cars from the luxury to the rare, it’s just amazing.”