First door ding...done at dealership

[kannon]

I brought my car in today to have the airbag recall done and when I picked it up, there was this nice ding in the passenger door. It's pretty windy out today, so I'm guessing someone's door flung open during a wind gust. I pointed it out to the service writer and he said they can fix it if I drop it off next week. Anyone have experience with dealers fixing door dings like this? It's hard to tell in the picture but there is a slight crease above the ding that is about 4 inches long. The car only has 5k miles on it and the paint is flawless. No chips, dings, scratches, etc. Hopefully they can fix the damage but I'm worried that they'll botch the repair.

[toesuf94]

next week they can get the other door!

Most PDR guys can get those out pretty well without you even knowing it was there.

[kannon]

Do you what process they use for the repair? Do they just "fill in" the dent?

[jd10013]

dealership bodyshops are just like independent ones. some are good, some not so much.

[Dtrimpi87]

Originally Posted by kannon

Do you what process they use for the repair? Do they just "fill in" the dent?

A paintless dent removal guy will have tools to go down through the top of the door between the window and massage the dent from the inside until its no longer there. I just had 3 taken out of my doors a couple weeks ago. Took about 30 minutes to do all 3. Its as straight as can be. I was quite amazed watching them do it.

Sent from the rocket in my pocket, my all powerful DROID BIONIC.

[mcdoogle6969]

And thus why I stay away from dealerships. The people who work on the cars really just don't care.

[Lanzz]

I had the same thing happen to my Challenger at a dealer in NYC when it had 37 miles on it. They had some hack PDR guy attempt to fix it - but it was not a great job. I spent another $200 to get it done myself, and if I look hard, I can still see it. If ever in the market for a Jeep / Dodge / Chrysler avoid Eastchester Dodge in the Bronx.

Kannon, I hope it works out better for you.

[Dznts]

A good PDR tech should be able to get that out!

[Matic]

id shank somebody for less.

Lanz, why did you pay out of your own pocket for their mistake? If they cant get it back to brand new, they either replace the door or pay for somebody else to get it right

[Cam2011]

Originally Posted by Dtrimpi87

A paintless dent removal guy will have tools to go down through the top of the door between the window and massage the dent from the inside until its no longer there. I just had 3 taken out of my doors a couple weeks ago. Took about 30 minutes to do all 3. Its as straight as can be. I was quite amazed watching them do it.

Sent from the rocket in my pocket, my all powerful DROID BIONIC.

That is quite the process, you almost are stunned that it actually works, but it does.

[kannon]

Lol well it looks like this can go either way. I'll update this thread once they get a chance to fix it. Keeping my fingers crossed...

[Dtrimpi87]

Originally Posted by Cam2011

That is quite the process, you almost are stunned that it actually works, but it does.

Yea I've never seen it done before. The guy that did my dent removal made it look easy. Had all kinds of weird looking tools.

Sent from the rocket in my pocket, my all powerful DROID BIONIC.

[Ozzie RS]

Originally Posted by kannon

I brought my car in today to have the airbag recall done and when I picked it up, there was this nice ding in the passenger door. It's pretty windy out today, so I'm guessing someone's door flung open during a wind gust. I pointed it out to the service writer and he said they can fix it if I drop it off next week. Anyone have experience with dealers fixing door dings like this? It's hard to tell in the picture but there is a slight crease above the ding that is about 4 inches long. The car only has 5k miles on it and the paint is flawless. No chips, dings, scratches, etc. Hopefully they can fix the damage but I'm worried that they'll botch the repair.

Well you trusted the dealer enough to buy a car from them why don't you trust them to fix it? They did after all offer to repair it for nothing, basically admitting it was their fault. Dealers with body shops have better training in repairs on their type of vehicles than your independent shops would be my guess.

[kannon]

Originally Posted by Ozzie RS

Well you trusted the dealer enough to buy a car from them why don't you trust them to fix it? They did after all offer to repair it for nothing, basically admitting it was their fault. Dealers with body shops have better training in repairs on their type of vehicles than your independent shops would be my guess.

Have you read the dealer horror stories on this forum? Even the posts in this thread make it seem like it can go either way.