‘Magic’ Service Might Patch Up Dings, Dents
You may religiously change your oil, check the air pressure in your tires and have it washed it each week. But nothing will affect the value of your car like the dents and dings you pick up in parking lots over the years.
Trying to keep up with this onslaught of cosmetic damage can be costly and probably isn’t worth the effort if you plan to drive your car into the ground. But if you intend to sell the car before it is fully depreciated, it may well be worth keeping the sheet metal in reasonably good condition.
The problem is that it can cost several hundred dollars to remove a simple ding the size of a quarter. And if you have dents on four doors and four fenders, you are looking at a major expense.
Most body shops grind down the sheet metal, fill in the dent with bondo, spray a prime coat over the repair, paint it and then clear-coat it. It can take a minimum of two days.
But a new alternative is available. It involves manipulating the sheet metal so that the dent is removed without ever affecting the paint. The result is supposed to be a fully restored body panel that does not need repainting.
The service is being offered by a franchise organization called the Dent Wizard, which charges $100 to $120 to remove a dent from a door or fender, according to Clay Smith, the firm’s Western division manager. The company operates in 22 cities, primarily serving dealerships that need to restore new cars that have been damaged in transit.
The price per dent drops if more repairs are required. For example, three dents in three body panels would cost $225 to $250, Smith said.
The company claims it can remove dents up to the size of a tennis ball without repainting, as long as the paint was not damaged when the dent occurred.
I was skeptical about the claim and asked to see an example. A planned demonstration did not take place, so I cannot personally vouch for the quality of the repairs or the service of the company.
But I contacted some dealers who use the service, and they reported good results. “It is like magic,” said John Smith, general sales manager at Bob Smith Volkswagen in Los Angeles.
The method is supposed to be a deep secret, but it is well known that small dents can be removed by carefully manipulating sheet metal with small hand tools, according to Ken Zion, a body repair instructor at El Camino College and owner of Automotive Collision Consultants in Long Beach.
Zion said, however, that such methods typically require an experienced body expert. The method has not gained more popularity, Zion speculated, because experienced body shop mechanics can make more money taking on big jobs than popping out dings all day.
The Dent Wizard can be reached at (213) 659-DENT.
Question: I have a 1989 Ford Tempo and have been trying to figure out how important it is to replace the antifreeze. The Ford dealership recommended that I change the fluid and flush the radiator every 15,000 miles. It seems like a profitable bit of service work for them. I suspect that my antifreeze will last indefinitely. What is your recommendation? W. G. W.
Answer: You are making a big mistake, because antifreeze service is so cheap and the consequences of ignoring it are costly. The antifreeze, particularly the anti-corrosion additives in it, begin to deteriorate after a year, and the dirty fluid can cause serious damage to your cooling system. This is particularly true of aluminum block engines and aluminum core radiators.
If you simply would do a visual check on your antifreeze, you would probably see that it has lost its clear green color and turned a milky opaque. If your fluid is two years old, change it now.
Vartabedian cannot answer mail personally but will attempt to respond in this column to automotive questions of general interest. Do not telephone. Write to Your Wheels, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, Calif . 90053.
