Dent - what next?

[acer]

Someone’s length of wood toppled over and banged my van today in the Wickes car park. Both vehicles were stationary. I was in the van just preparing to leave. Obviously the man admitted it was his fault – he could do no other. He apologised and we exchanged details.

I’m dreading the forthcoming admin. He suggested that he would just pay for it, rather than involve Insurers - we weren’t driving. I do hate the thought of losing my no claims discount for something that’s not my fault, but I’m not sure about this as a way forward.

Maybe it partly depends on how much the repair would cost. Does anyone have any ideas? I guess I’ll be going back to VW too so as not to invalidate the warranty.

How depressing. Here’s a picture.

 

[Jw155]

Ask a paintless dent removal company to have a look at it if the paints not damaged

 

[andyinluton]

That looks as if the paint is still ok so as Jw155 said a dent removal co should be able to sort that quickly. Waste of time taking to VW they will just sub it out.

I would only involve VW if it actually needed a panel replaced or whole panel spraying to maintain the warranty.

I wouldn't even mention it to the insurers if using dent removal co.

 

[acer]

Thanks guys, so a simple job? I was a bit worried about the fact that the dent is close / on the contour. There are a couple of scratches too.

 

[Alan Andrews]

Remember that if you involve the insurers then you will have to declare a claim for the next 5 years....and your insurance premium will increase too!

I'd go with a cash arrangement whereby you engage a paintless repair guy (or lady).

Make sure that you find someone with good references, as this type if business does attract novices!

 

[Lee.Van.Cleef]

I had my holiday somewhat spoiled by a door ding picked up in a Swiss car park last year. I ordinarily avoid car parks but there was no alternative on the this occasion. Bah.
Anyway, on returning home I had the Cali ding plus two others on my main drive fixed by the pointless repair man for around £200. None were major but all enough to be annoying.
If you weren't actually driving the car I don't suppose the insurance would need to be informed.

 

[Hawthorn37]

Many years ago I had an M20 bolt hit the bonnet of my car whilst travelling - it had come off a flat bed trailer. I say M20 as I was able to approximately measure the diameter from the indent! I took it to a paintless repairer and was really gobsmacked by the quality of repair. The scratches were buffed out and it disappeared 99%. The best result comes when you can access the back of the panel with the dent in.

 

[Lee.Van.Cleef]

Many years ago I had an M20 bolt hit the bonnet of my car whilst travelling - it had come off a flat bed trailer. I say M20 as I was able to approximately measure the diameter from the indent! I took it to a paintless repairer and was really gobsmacked by the quality of repair. The scratches were buffed out and it disappeared 99%. The best result comes when you can access the back of the panel with the dent in.

Rear panel access is tricky on the side of a Cali. The chap that fixed ours uses the 'glue pulling' technique, and magic hammer. Excellent result though, much to my relief.,

 

[JohnCalifornia]

I would also go down the route of cash from the other person and the pointless dent removal. They can do great things for not a lot of money. I wouldn’t even call the insurance company to see what t you should do. I’ve heard horror stories of people asking for advice from insurance companies about potential claims then not making a claim but they still added a % to the next years premium as they see you as more of a risk as something as actually happened to your vehicle even though there wasn’t a claim from them

 

[TripleBee]

I know this company: UK Dent Masters. They are situated south of London.
Maybe give them a call?

James Ford UKDentmaster

James Ford UKDentmaster. 320 likes · 5 talking about this. Paintless Dent Removal (PDR) is a process that removes minor, medium or hail stone dents on cars

www.facebook.com

Paintless Dent Removal in Kent, Sussex & Surrey | UK Dent Master

We offer a no fix, no fee service - We repair dents most customers thought were impossible to remove.

www.ukdentmaster.co.uk

 

[acer]

Thanks everyone for your comments and advice. I had a very amicable meeting with the man that caused the dent today. He has paid me £500. If the eventual repair turns out to be more than this, he will pay the balance, and if it is less, I will refund him. Straightforward and decent.

Despite this, I’m still not feeling much better. I hate dealing with this sort of rubbish. I’m sure I’m not alone. Ah well! It’s not a mental health forum is it? I’ll feedback how the repair goes and the price. Still a bit worried about the dent being on that contour and the inability to access the dent from the inside.

 

[CannellWalker]

We can still see a dent on the passenger side of our van where the mirror glass hit it after being smashed off by a French motorhome in the Alps. As the paint wasn’t damaged we’ve kind of ignored it, although admittedly it is a bit smaller than yours. I’m sure all will be fine and you get sorted.

 

[Barry Chuckle]

Thanks everyone for your comments and advice. I had a very amicable meeting with the man that caused the dent today. He has paid me £500. If the eventual repair turns out to be more than this, he will pay the balance, and if it is less, I will refund him. Straightforward and decent.

Despite this, I’m still not feeling much better. I hate dealing with this sort of rubbish. I’m sure I’m not alone. Ah well! It’s not a mental health forum is it? I’ll feedback how the repair goes and the price. Still a bit worried about the dent being on that contour and the inability to access the dent from the inside.

If you find a local bodyshop that repair is likely to be significantly less than £500. I had a big dent scrape on my Range Rover about the size of my hand and they repaired it invisible to the naked eye for much less.

Good luck it's a real headache I know!

 

[Lee.Van.Cleef]

Thanks everyone for your comments and advice. I had a very amicable meeting with the man that caused the dent today. He has paid me £500. If the eventual repair turns out to be more than this, he will pay the balance, and if it is less, I will refund him. Straightforward and decent.

Despite this, I’m still not feeling much better. I hate dealing with this sort of rubbish. I’m sure I’m not alone. Ah well! It’s not a mental health forum is it? I’ll feedback how the repair goes and the price. Still a bit worried about the dent being on that contour and the inability to access the dent from the inside.

Don't worry about the dent not being accessible. The one I had was behind the kitchen which wouldn't have been accessible even via the sliding window. I stewed over it for the rest of the holiday. The glue pulling method fixed it no bother at all. Probably best to look away when he gets the hammer out though.

 

[acer]

Probably best to look away when he gets the hammer out though.

Oh don’t

 

[matt-k918]

I had a dent which was similar on the lower swage line (hockey ball!) and the person responsible offered to pay. I had one of the guys who work for me try pulling it with one of the glue kits, but it wouldn’t shift. Turns out it was right on one of the structural “top hats” behind the panel. I contacted a few paintless repair companies. One wouldn’t even try it. Another managed to get in with rods behind and improve it a lot, but couldn’t make it perfect due to access. He only charged me half price because he wasn’t happy with it. However my only remaining option would’ve been to have the whole passenger side b pillar backwards repainted. In the end I decided I preferred original paint and a tiny dent that only I would notice (it’s very low down) vs a respray.
I’ve seen them work wonders on far worse dents, but being able to get to the back of it if it’s a strong panel definitely helps. Most of them won’t charge you if they can’t make it pretty much invisible!

 

[acer]

View attachment 131122
I had a dent which was similar on the lower swage line (hockey ball!) and the person responsible offered to pay. I had one of the guys who work for me try pulling it with one of the glue kits, but it wouldn’t shift. Turns out it was right on one of the structural “top hats” behind the panel. I contacted a few paintless repair companies. One wouldn’t even try it. Another managed to get in with rods behind and improve it a lot, but couldn’t make it perfect due to access. He only charged me half price because he wasn’t happy with it. However my only remaining option would’ve been to have the whole passenger side b pillar backwards repainted. In the end I decided I preferred original paint and a tiny dent that only I would notice (it’s very low down) vs a respray.
I’ve seen them work wonders on far worse dents, but being able to get to the back of it if it’s a strong panel definitely helps. Most of them won’t charge you if they can’t make it pretty much invisible!

Thanks for sharing this. Interesting. Is your picture before or after?

 

[matt-k918]

Thanks for sharing this. Interesting. Is your picture before or after?

Before!!

 

[acer]

Before!!

Phew!

 

[acer]

I’ve done some measuring to see if my dent is going to be accessible from the inside. I think that it’s just below the highlighted region in the wardrobe.

I’ve got no idea if removing this panel will then provide the necessary access. Can anyone advise? Also, is there much chance of me regretting removing the panel? It looks to be just 3 small hex screws and therefore within my limited range of ability. Apologies for the basic question.

 

[Alan Andrews]

Those are just 3 plastic popper fasteners. The central portion simply prises out from the outer studded portion. I have removed these fasteners multiple times.

 

[acer]

Those are just 3 plastic popper fasteners. The central portion simply prises out from the outer studded portion. I have removed these fasteners multiple times.

Does removing it give access to the outer skin of the van enough to assist in making a repair from the inside?

 

[Alan Andrews]

The problem is that the skin is likely to be covered in insulation and soundproofing materials. There are also some cables behind there. It will literally take 2 minutes to pop those plastic studs off. The central pin prises out. You can try using an allen/torz key but I had no success, because the material is plastic. You can reuse the pins and studs.

 

[Alan Andrews]

The paintless dent removal person, will prefer to get behind with their tools, if not, then they will use sucker pads to pull the dent out. I would remove that plastic panel then get your paintless dent removal person in to sort it.

 

[acer]

The paintless dent removal person, will prefer to get behind with their tools, if not, then they will use sucker pads to pull the dent out. I would remove that plastic panel then get your paintless dent removal person in to sort it.

That makes good sense. Thanks. I was expecting to be asked if access to the dent can be gained from inside when I make the enquiries with dent repair firms, hence my interest in removing that internal panel now.