PAINTLESS DENT REPAIR
HIGH DEMAND DO’S AND DON’TS THIRD-PARTY AND IN-HOUSE PDR SERVICES USHER CLIENTS THROUGH THE DOOR. WHICH STRATEGY IS BETTER?
By Ros Macdonald
O
nce considered a sort of “wild west” of auto repair, the PDR (paintless dent repair) sector has been rapidly evolving from an experimental trade to a mainstay in collision repair facilities. Now, service providers must navigate an increasing demand for this still-developing sector of the industry. Collision repair facilities face the dilemma of whether to train in-house PDR technicians or to work with a third-party subcontracted PDR provider. Few trades have undergone a transition as interesting as the PDR sector’s swift rise throughout the past three decades. Beginning as an underrepresented but innovative technique to mend car dents, PDR technicians have worked hard to shake off the
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trade’s reputation as an underdog in auto repair. An initial lack of available tools, an experimental workflow, and a lack of familiarity set the trade on a difficult but rewarding road to success. “We had to prove ourselves,” PDR Canada President Domenic Serra says of how he and his crew began. “If we got a job from a dealership or a used car lot, we would repair a car for free just to show them what we could do. We slowly started making headway”. To put it bluntly, “I did this trade scared until I did it skilled.” However, the benefits of PDR quickly began to outweigh its initial risks. The process became increasingly rapid, efficient, and eco-friendly. Not to mention, it allowed technicians to preserve the car’s original
paint job. “The PDR techniques and tools today are phenomenal. We’re able to fix very complex dents, glue pull deeper dents, and fix large oil-can dents with all of the improvements over the last decade,” asserts Director of Hail Specialist Canada, Ricky Chin. His Calgary company was founded in 2009 and has established temporary repair centres across the Prairies and into Ontario that can perform up to 200 repairs a week at peak capacity. Repair facilities offering PDR are also able to tap into an additional market— damage from weather-related issues and small dents unrelated to collisions. “They can offer discounts on dent repair while having collision repair done. Most vehicles have door dents on them, it is more con-
