First Door Ding - sigh

[yakuza70]

Got my first door ding on the passengers side rear door a bit smaller than a dime. It's not that bad but I can see a small indentation from an angle on what was a perfectly smooth side panel.

I'm considering getting paintless dent repair done. Has anyone used paintless dent repair before? Will it remove the dent completely? Just looking for some advice, thoughts, and experiences.

 

[dkennedy]

Got my first door ding on the passengers side rear door a bit smaller than a dime. It's not that bad but I can see a small indentation from an angle on what was a perfectly smooth side panel.



I'm considering getting paintless dent repair done. Has anyone used paintless dent repair before? Will it remove the dent completely? Just looking for some advice, thoughts, and experiences.

I had the same type of ding on my driver’s side rear door & had PDR done at my dealership (part of my extras package). No complaints at all, they did a great job.

Here’s what it looked like before:

I’ll take one of the after result. Best of luck on your PDR.

 

[KevinC]

If the paint's not broken, PDR will be able to make it look like it never happened. Definitely worth it - do it.

 

[launchd]

Echoing what KevinC said, if there is no damage to the paint itself, paintless dent repairs should (read reviews, make sure you do it somewhere reputable) make it look as if it never happened.

 

[Tooly]

I have a dent on my rear passenger quarter panel, right on the flat part of the wheel arch. The PDR guy I talked to said that because there was no interior panel to remove to get to it, he'd have to drill a hole on the flat surface that's exposed when the rear passenger door is open and plug it after he was done. Needless to say the dent is still there, drilling and plugging is not something I'm willing to have done.

 

[9uns]

Wait till you get more dents on that panel since it's bound to happen again. From my understanding, you pay per panel, not per ding.

 

[Golfs everyday]

Got my first door ding on the passengers side rear door a bit smaller than a dime. It's not that bad but I can see a small indentation from an angle on what was a perfectly smooth side panel.

I'm considering getting paintless dent repair done. Has anyone used paintless dent repair before? Will it remove the dent completely? Just looking for some advice, thoughts, and experiences.

While unlucky you're lucky you did not get the ding on the quarter panel on the arch line like I did on my GTI 3-4 weeks in since taking ownership. People suck.

PDR should fix it no problem given the ding is not sharp and accessible from inside the door (tech may opt for the glue puller). I do PDR myself on my cars (I don't do this professionally, but was trained to be a pro and use pro tools) and have done literally thousands of repairs. Most come out perfect.

 

[SRGTD]

I had some kind considerate soul put a parking ding in my rear left hand side wheel arch. Because of access problems from behind the panel, the PDR guy used the glue puller method to remove the ding.

He removed 100% of the ding and the repair was perfect. Very pleased and impressed with the result, and I’d defy anyone to ever find where the damage was.

 

[cruzmisl]

If it makes you feel any better, I dinged my rear quarter panel with our baby's car seat. Got it pretty damn good. I'm not really sure if I'll have it PDR'd soon. The paint wasn't affected but it's there and I see it every time

 

[imthanick_a]

Find a small shop, they will almost always be cheaper than a body shop chain and they do phenomenal work. The guy I took mine to let me hang out in the shop with him while he worked, and offered to fix a few paint chips for me for free if I brought my car back with the touch up paint. I had a chip that I painted and wet sanded but couldn't quite get all the scratches out since I don't have a buffer and he buffed out the wet sand marks for me.


Yes - take it in and get it done. It's not horribly expensive and well worth it if you care about your car and paint. And start parking far away from people.

 

[imthanick_a]

If it makes you feel any better, I dinged my rear quarter panel with our baby's car seat. Got it pretty damn good. I'm not really sure if I'll have it PDR'd soon. The paint wasn't affected but it's there and I see it every time

My big door ding was from myself. Opening the door to my winter car to swap my work briefcase into the GTI so I wouldn't forget it in the morning and a big gust of wind blew into my garage and flung the door out of my hand right into the GTI. That one needed some touch up paint on top of the PDR. My other was from a rock hitting my fender above the driver side wheel arch.

I had another dent that I fixed myself, right on the inside of the driver door where it transitions into the weather stripping between the front and rear doors. Some chick decided to purposely ding my door while I watched from inside Subway waiting in line for lunch. She pulled in, dinged my door on purpose, then pulled out and drove away. No idea why.

 

[yakuza70]

OP here - thanks everyone for your advice. I'll probably get it fixed soon.

Actually, it was my niece that inflicted the door ding. She was trying to get their dog into her mom's car that was parked right next to mine on the driveway and the door got away from her. Total accident.

 

[chillax]

OP here - thanks everyone for your advice. I'll probably get it fixed soon.

Actually, it was my niece that inflicted the door ding. She was trying to get their dog into her mom's car that was parked right next to mine on the driveway and the door got away from her. Total accident.

I recently had quite a few dings removed from multiple panels including the doors, rear hatch, and a fender. All of them came out perfect without any drilling required. I think my car had a couple of them when I bought it used, the rest were probably from parking in a bad spot at work where utility trucks come and go. Now I am being super careful but I also feel a lot less worried about it after finding someone I trust to fix them for a reasonable price.