Another respone just now from a email :

 

"Hi re dent , 

Yes we can repair this , we would have to blend the colour onto your door to ensure a perfect colour match , you are looking around the £340 price range "

 

Ive been advised to pay no more than £150, and to make sure a thin layer of filler is used

 

"All dents are pulled out via weld on dent puller then a small skim of filler to even ripples out , you will find it very hard to get a good quality repair done by a time served person  for £150 bud , most places want more than £150 just to repaint 1 pannel then you have the added repair time and materials good luck though"

I was a car repairer and spray painter.  Time served, done it for a long time. & know how to estimate, price, earn and still pay tax. ie, Not 'Kerb Side Autos'.

 

Now you at least know what professionals want in your area to do the repair

 

post #48 . Describes perfectly how most will do the job, 

when then can not tack a rod on to pull the panel.

 

PS

I certainly did not advise that you to 'pay no more than £150'.  or about a thin layer of filler.

I said go get it fixed for £150.  & without loads of filler,  Big difference.

post# 47

I know its hard to appreciate how the repair could be impacted by simple kits, but listen please.

 

I had golf ball hole sized dents in my a pillar, as my father said who helped repair, they would want like a grand for that kind of work. To be honest it would probably make yours look like light work !

Its very difficult there because not only is a 3d curve of the pillar and a slight curve horizontally too, but actually 2 different completely lines meeting together i.e. roof and side of the car !

And I fixed this with a glue on puller kit and hardly any filler really as the puller had done the majority of work, finished off with lighter fillers/primer to get into the smaller holes. Completely DIY repair, pity I don't have some old pics of if somewhere, I probably do in my galleries.

 

It was cosmetic like yours is really mostly, doesn't affect the car, but looks like hell. So you want to do something about it don't you?

 

Look, its just time, effort and materials to repair, I guarantee you its not rocket science just a good eye and a careful hand. Almost anything is possible to repair it just depends what skills you have, what tools or parts you have any an open mind (e.g you could have hole in metal, some would use a mig and weld over the panels!!). This is obviously yet another degree of skills altogether

 

As mentioned above, summing it up in my words you either spend this effort yourself, this effort is infinite, or you pay someone else, but this is finite and dependant also on their skill and time prepared to spend on the job. The important thing is whether you have a keen eye, and able to understand the impact on metal of forces and where feature lines are......

 

If you use care you can have a go without making it worse and probably better, you might even surprise yourself like I have in the past and get a very nice result and very pleasing to realise you did it all yourself.

I know its hard to appreciate how the repair could be impacted by simple kits, but listen please.

 

I had golf ball hole sized dents in my a pillar, as my father said who helped repair, they would want like a grand for that kind of work. To be honest it would probably make yours look like light work !

Its very difficult there because not only is a 3d curve of the pillar and a slight curve horizontally too, but actually 2 different completely lines meeting together i.e. roof and side of the car !

And I fixed this with a glue on puller kit and hardly any filler really as the puller had done the majority of work, finished off with lighter fillers/primer to get into the smaller holes. Completely DIY repair, pity I don't have some old pics of if somewhere, I probably do in my galleries.

 

It was cosmetic like yours is really mostly, doesn't affect the car, but looks like hell. So you want to do something about it don't you?

 

Look, its just time, effort and materials to repair, I guarantee you its not rocket science just a good eye and a careful hand. Almost anything is possible to repair it just depends what skills you have, what tools or parts you have any an open mind (e.g you could have hole in metal, some would use a mig and weld over the panels!!). This is obviously yet another degree of skills altogether

 

As mentioned above, summing it up in my words you either spend this effort yourself, this effort is infinite, or you pay someone else, but this is finite and dependant also on their skill and time prepared to spend on the job. The important thing is whether you have a keen eye, and able to understand the impact on metal of forces and where feature lines are......

 

If you use care you can have a go without making it worse and probably better, you might even surprise yourself like I have in the past and get a very nice result and very pleasing to realise you did it all yourself.

I appropriate that, but there are a load of methods, so diy pull it out kit cost £30, knock it out ... i guess more skill involved, but when all these companies tell me it cant be done why would i go and buy some specialist tools..

 

So i could gamble £30 on a pulling kit, but when all these companies tell me its in a bad spot and contore lines this and metals to thick there etc. Im not so sure its wise to waste £30 then need to pay for professional repairs anyway.

Which is why when i served my time we drilled a small hole, put in a self tapper and pulled with a light slide hammer.

As was done on Bike Petrol tanks etc, because we never welded to the dint and pulled it back in the day.

 

You are as well to flash your cash then and get the repairs done by someone that has quoted to do the repair top a high standard.

 

Its been well over a week and you have had the advice and quotes from all those professionals and not one has got the job yet.

Why quoting can be  are a PITA for people that shop around endlessly.  So you quote high and hope they go to someone else,

or if you do the job you are sure it pays and earns you to feed and clothe your family.

All fair enough.

Just the pics I've seen doesn't look that bad at all and I'd certainly give it a stab! Not the best pics in the world so its hard for anyone to fully comment at the moment.

 

As for the "industry" - well its the same as when you walk into estate agents, of course they are going to rub their hands and decide how much they want to earn out of it, and to some degree you expect to get fleeced a bit (or a lot depending on your outlook). Nature of the beast.

Same as servicing your car, interim service minimum £150 at dealers, for a quick check over and £30 (retail - probably costs them more like £10) in oil and £5 filter.

 

That is why you are now getting all those alternative "sell your own house" etc cos people are sick of spending thousands.

 

The guys that do it of course they are experts and can guarantee a decent job. Just seems that in this country we have lost some of the spirit of being prepared just to try things (to some degree due to scaremongering about new cars) which is a bit sad. I'd not be bothered by the scaremongering you have nothing to lose basically, give it a go as chances are you certainly can't make it worse.