[wtp]

Looking for alittle input on this buisness of pdr. Anybody have any experiance in it? Been talking with this company on training (xxx.nodents.com) and alittle concerned because I have to travel across the states to do the training and its $6000.00 for 5 to 7 days. Any info on this would be nice. if anyone does it and can point me in the right direction would be really great.

[Nigel]

A bodyman/painter I know took that course a few years ago and he never made a real effort to get the business going. I do know it takes a ton of patience to work on a dent for hours and the end result might not be much better than when you started. We used to get those people into our shop for certain work but to be quite honest if I was the owner of the car I wouldn't accept the finished product.
If you're a bodyman I would suggest you just stick with that and leave the headaches and uncertainty to others.
JMO.

[kable2]

holy shat $6000 for a course in that ??!!!?!?!?!?just stick with the filler and blend off the paint.remember the pdr is only good for very small dents and will prob still have a little wobble.wow $6000 wow, just wow

[Twostep]

We get lots of hail where I live, and PDR is a way of life in these parts. So much so that major insurance companies will not pay for conventional bodywork when it comes to hail damage - unless it's extreme (softball size) to the point where no PDR could ever effect a proper repair.

Crease-type dents caused by something other than hail are not easily PDR'd. But you'd be surprised what a good 'Dent Doctor' can do with hail damage. In most cases, you absolutely cannot see where the repair was done, not even under fluorescent lighting, which shows even the tiniest flaw.

A good PDR person can easily make 1000 bucks a day during hail season. Makes that 6 grand a little easier to swallow, however, for 5-7 days training, I'd say that's way too high. You can't become a competent PDR specialist in a week, anyway.

[foxx1600]

if thats the old dry ice trick of removing dents we consider it a scam around here busnesses pop up around hail seasion and remove dents cheep dissapear befor the problems arise usualy with either the dent repoping in later or the paint falling off the dent spot at a later time form the metal being streched then shrunk back lets face it once metal streches the only correct fix is to remove paint fix dent and repaint. if u plan to waranty it i wouldnt bother just my opinion.

[wtp]

Well this is all good advise. I had my jeep done about 3yrs ago and still have no complaints on the work. It did cost me $250.00 for 1hr of work. I do know 1 week is not enough training but thought it would be a good start to get the do's and don'ts. I just thought for me working at a car lot it would save us alot of money plus maybe bring in some work off the street.

[wasup]

My dad was a pdr until he passed. I learned it somewhat.
They use long tempered steel rods to push up on the dent from underneath.
My opinion is that you either work for years to get good and quick and you can make money during a hail storm if.... Your boss has a good commission for you and is in a perfect location. Get use to traveling ALOT. Sometimes set up shop and have to wait for insurance checks to be issued and maybe nobody repairs and keeps the insurance money.
If you can be the guy who sets up a shop and hires others, maybe you could do ok.
Insurance companies are catching on to the PDR and not giving as much money. Zoneing laws make it hard to find a place to set up shop and signs.
Paintless dent repair use to be a quick buck but is not new anymore, and there are alot of guys chasing storms and doing that now. The customers travel back and forth low balling the price until the work is cheap. Usuallly a PDR on every corner. Oh and you probably should get used to no air conditioner and working in a garage.
I would shop around for training. Its not a school, just some guy that agrees to get you some tools and allows you to watch him. No big deal. Get some tools and find a hood, build a frame and beat it with golf balls and practice in your house.
GL