Dent Pullers...

[Gnome]

As some of you may know, I came back to my car one night in London to find a dent in the car, on the driver's side rear panel. The pain being that it was across the crease.

I took the car for a service yesterday (Monday), and didn't notice at first, but one of the lads has taken most of the dent out - didn't tell me, or charge me for it, so I ain't gonna argue!

There is now a dent about and inch in diameter left in it's place, but I'd still like to get rid of it.

Seen some dent pullers on the oh-so-wonderfull eBay, and am just wondering has anyone used these for minor dents before?

Otherwise, how easy is it to remove the inside panel at the back of a Yaris, so I could possibly gently tap out the rest.

Cheers

[Bizarra]

We have 2 franchises over here, so I'm sure you have them too. Dentsaway & Dentmagic. I believe that they drill a small(tiny)hole, put in something like a rawlbolt,pull,fill & touch up. They are supposed to be good.

I don't know if it would work, not having seen the damage, but have you tried a Sink plunger?. You throw a bucket of water over the dented area, get your common or garden sink plunger, compress it to get a grip and PULL. do it a couple of times till the dent is out to your satisfaction. It worked for me. If the metal is creased, it won't get rid of that. Good luck

[MarkMcQ]

For something as small as the dent you're left with, you'd be better either panel beating it out, or tryig Bizzara's suggestion. A dent puller is more suited to larger dents. Using it on that small one might even cause a bit more damage, as once the hole is drilled it will already almost be as big as the dent itself, and pulling it may just bend the metal surrounding it.

If you're deft with gas welding, or know someone who is, there is another method that would work on a small dent, but it carries the risk or warping the metal if not done right.

Basically you use the gas torch to heat a few concentric circle around the outside of the dent, then belt the centre with a soft hammer, and the dent 'should' pop up.

[dawesy]

we have dent master over here. they dopaint free repairs on most dents and are quite resonable

[Gnome]

I'll have to see about a quote from the local chips away fella. Think he is actually a mate of a mate, so I'll have to try and blag a discount. :D

[jay dh]

let us know the prices, i could do with using a service like that!

cheers

[BLiTZ]

Yea i had to have a dent pulled out - a local guy (actually went to see him when i was lookking for a car cos he had a yaris for sale) came round about 30-40 minutes £60 and got 95% out (the other 5% was across a seam in the metal and couldn't be got out)

[Gnome]

Ah...

That's where mine is - on the seam.

Will have to see what they say.

[JustJJ]

You cant generally easily get at the outer Shell of the yaris... mainly cause most of the car is double skinned... just makes it difficult...

We got this book in staffroom at work... things to do in case of every situation etc... like how to get out of a boring meeting... n how to diguise tattoos etc.. but one of em is how to get dents out of company car... and it goes on about dowel rods.. glue guns n stuff...

I'd stick to chipsaway :P at least they will let you know what they can do up front

[Gnome]

I'll get a quote - only thing is, it's more money that has to be spent. :(

[sotal]

One thing I saw for sale was a stick and some special gunk.

You heated the gunk up with a heat gun (or hairdryer) and stuck the blob in the middle of the dent, then you stick the stick in the middle. Wait 10 minutes for the stuff to cool down and dry, then pull. Once it's pulled get the heat gun out again and warm it up to remove it.

Sounds good, but again could so easily make a bigger mess of it!

[Gnome]

Seen that too Sotal - it's on eBay at present in a set. About £1, plus the £20 delivery charge! :D

[sotal]

I saw it in Halfords - not sure on price though

[Blue84]

Have you tried doing a google to see if you can find any sites with reviews on about them? It's a bit of a shot in the dark but just an idea...

If it was me I'd prefer to get a professional to do it, if MrT managed to get most of it out then hopefully the remainder wouldnt cost too much. Shame they didnt carry on and do the whole thing at MrT tho! <_< :)

[Gnome]

I'll have a butchers - wasn't a Mr T garage either.

Took it to a Toyota specialists in Northampton, and they just happen to do it when they did the 20K service for me. ;)

Cheers! :D

[Blue84]

*ahem* okay it's a shame the Toyota Specialists didnt remove the whole thing, have you had a word with them about them removing the rest?

[Gnome]

;)

No, haven't spoken to them actually. I didn't actually ask them to attempt to remove it, so was a bit suprised when I noticed it yesterday.

Did a google search on that "Pops-a-dent" (The adhesive one), and it's been given a few good reviews, but mostly bad ones or warnings, so think I'll be steering clear of that one!

[Gnome]

Blimey!

The chipsaway guy wanted £117!

That includes 10% discount with the AA....

Think I'll be living with the tiny dent for now....