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Last week, Mother Nature kicked up some serious Santa Ana winds here in LA/San Fernando Valley. Dumb *** me, missing my P Car after a week away from home (assisting a certain Destroyer get back underway after breaking down in the Panama Canal), decided to take a drive to the store.
Driving in the foothills north of the 118 Freeway, I never even saw the tree branch fall off the tree, but I damn well heard it hit the car. Initially, I thought I got away unscathed, but upon closer examination at the Gas Station, I was wrong. A crease half way between the A and B Pillars near the sliding glass roof (impossible to see in the image), and a sizable/deep ding right above the A Pillar (EASY to see). Sigh.
After doing some basic research here and on Google, I got depressed quickly. Even though there was no paint damage, just the two dents, A-Pillar damage is the worst location for a dent/ding given the material construction of the window frame and the inability to access the backside of the metal without drilling. I called Auto Gallery in Woodland Hills, and they said they knew a guy who was the best in the business at Paintless Dent Repair (PDR).
Yesterday I sat in the waiting room at Auto Gallery like a parent sitting in the ER waiting for news about a loved one. Ok, if you aren't OCD about your 911, then fine, maybe this reference is a bit extreme, but you get the point. I couldn't even bear to look while Steve went to work on the car. He initially scolded me for even suggesting that I'd be fine with him drilling into the backside of the A Pillar, but it got the point across at how upset I was about the two dents.
After about 90 minutes of work, the job was done. No drilling. No painting. Nothing. I go and look at the car, and my jaw drops. Even still 24 hours later looking at the job he did, I can't believe it with my own eyes. You CANNOT tell those dents were there. AT ALL. Incredible work. :lowdown:
So, as a very appreciative 1st time customer, I want to give a Big Huge Massive plug for Steve Brown, Dent Mechanix, Paintless Dent Removal. He can be reached at: dentmechanix@aol.com (seriously dude, you still use AOL?), and at 818-481-0839. 22+ years in the business. The guy is amazing.
That looks really amazing! I had a small parking lot door dent removed from my SLK, but that was a simple in the middle of the door location, not on the corner of the A pillar.
Awesome result... It makes me glad to see outcomes like this, and also to learn of another great PDR guy/company (outside my immediate neighborhood, though).
Looks great ! Will need a PDR guy in the near future for my old 928. If you don't mind...cost to remove those dents ? TIA T
Hi Tony - I paid Auto Gallery $200 for the repair. I would assume going direct to Steve would cost less, but I'm not sure. That said, Auto Gallery deserves something as well for the fine hook up, so I was quite happy with them too.
As was mentioned by LexVan, I would have indeed emptied my wallet to avoid a trip to the Body Shop so regardless of whether $200 is fair market value for two dents, I'm extremely satisfied with the cost vs. result.
Also for what it's worth, my expectation after the tree limb attack last Friday was the car would simply have a battle scar while I owned her because I was not going to paint or bondo the car over this dent. Still so happy it didn't come to this.
12-07-2016 | 01:22 PM
A Pillar Dent - PDR to the rescue!
