How to read these photos
What a good paintless dent repair result actually looks like
Dent repair results are easy to photograph badly and easy to judge wrongly. These are the four things we check on every vehicle before it leaves the shop, and the same things worth looking for in any PDR gallery.
Contour, not concealment
The panel should follow the same curve as the metal either side of the repair, with no low spot left sitting under the paint.
Factory finish still on the car
Where paintless repair is viable there is no filler, no sanding and no respray, so the original paint and its warranty stay intact.
Reflections that run straight
Under a light board, the lines of the reflection should flow across the repaired area without kinking, waving or bunching up.
Body lines left crisp
A repair that crosses a body line should leave that line sharp and continuous, not softened or rolled over.
Before and after
Four repairs, side by side
Each photograph below is a single frame showing the damaged panel and the same panel after paintless dent repair. Switch between damage types to compare.
Hail damage: roof and hood panels
Results gallery
Denver dent repair results by damage type
Hail damage, door dings, creases along body lines and larger impacts. Every image here is our own work photographed in the shop.
Hail damage repair before and after
Colorado hail rarely leaves one dent. It leaves dozens across the hood, roof and trunk. When the paint is intact and the metal has not been stretched too far, those impacts can usually be worked out while the original finish stays on the car.
Meet the owner
Alec Todd
A Local Denver PDR Shop With a Real Person Behind It
Colorado Dent Solutions isn't a faceless website or a national call center.
Alec Todd is local to the Denver area and directly involved in the business.
When you have questions about your dent, a PDR estimate or an insurance claim, Alec is the person you can actually talk to.
He explains what he sees, what the repair may involve and what your options are without making things more complicated than they need to be.
When you're handing someone your vehicle, it helps to know exactly who you're dealing with.
Alec knows Denver, knows Colorado roads and knows PDR.
Have a question? Ask him.
Colorado hail damage repair
Hail is not one dent, it is a whole panel of them
A single storm can leave dozens of impacts across a hood, roof and trunk lid. Because those dents are usually shallow and the paint is usually unbroken, paintless repair can often restore the panels while the original finish stays on the vehicle. Deeper impacts, cracked paint or heavily stretched metal can change that, which is why every panel gets read individually.
The four photographs above are assessment images of hail-damaged panels. They are shown as repair photography rather than pairs, because no matching finished frame was taken of those same panels.
Paintless versus conventional repair
Why PDR results look different from conventional body repair
A body shop repair rebuilds the surface. A paintless repair rebuilds the metal. That difference is visible in the finish.
No body filler when PDR is viable
The shape comes from moving the metal itself, so nothing is packed into the low spot to level it.
No sanding of the surrounding paint
The area around the dent is left untouched, so there is no feathered edge to blend.
No repainting, so no colour match to chase
Keeping the factory paint avoids the slight mismatch that even a good respray can leave on a metallic panel.
Worked from behind the panel, or glue-pulled
Access decides the method: rods behind the metal where we can reach, glue-pull tabs on the outside where we cannot.
Factory finish preserved where possible
On most dents the original paint and its warranty stay intact, which matters at resale and on a lease return.
Reading the panel
Photos understate dents, reflections reveal them
A phone photo taken straight on in flat light can hide damage that is obvious in person. That is why our assessment and finish photos are shot under reflected light.
Under a reflection board, a dent shows up as a distortion in an otherwise straight line. It is the same tool we use to judge whether a repair is finished, and the reason a result photo taken under that light is worth more than a glamour shot in the sun.
If you are sending us photographs, crouch down, shoot at a low angle, and get a straight edge such as a roof line or a window frame reflecting across the damage. That single trick tells us far more than a dozen flat photos.
Denver and the surrounding metro
Have a dent like this? Send us photos for a PDR assessment
Upload photographs of the damage and we will tell you whether paintless dent repair is the right method, and what the finish is realistically likely to look like on your panel.
We work from one shop in north Denver and look after drivers across the metro, from Aurora and Lakewood to Arvada, Thornton, Westminster, Centennial and Boulder. Vehicle pickup and return is available on many jobs.
Send Us Photos for a PDR Assessment
Tell us where the damage is and attach your photographs. There is no charge for the assessment.
Complete Our Free Dent Repair Estimate & We’ll Reach Out
Step 1 of 5
Before and after questions