I recently got into a little trouble with a mailbox, yes a mailbox. I hit it when crazed it and now I have a nice dent in the fender of my volvo S60! There isnt any paint damage, just a dent. I was told that I should do a paintless dent removal job. Should I do this?? My car is a 2003 Volvo S60
Call me crazy, but it looks like there’s a long scratch from the top of the dent and all the way back at least to the passenger door, where it goes out of frame. If that’s the case, you need more than PDR.
The photo doesn’t show the dent very well. Another photo please, or better description. What looks like a long scratch may be just a reflection.
Perfect candidate for paintless dent repair. Google it near you. They can probably buff out the scrape and do a decent job on the dent. I had an aluminum ladder blow over, creased and scraped my hood and turn signal plastic. I think it was a $1200 repair at the body shop, $100 and looking good! If the mail box caused the uneven gap by the bumper, I would live with it. I see the dent directly above the tire.
If its not a scratch, get an estimate from pointless. If too much, live with it. I’ve got one in the garage with similar and been that way for four years.
I believe the long scratch is a reflection.
The dent looks to large for paintless dent repair.
Looks like the first step you should take is do some polishing and buffing by hand. Maybe at first use some heavier compound. You will be surprised how much of a scratch you can polish out yourself. Then see where you stand.
I would actually polish the whole car, should be done twice a year anyway, then let it be for a month or two. Maybe even till next spring. See how it looks. If it bugs you, go have the dent repaired, otherwise, save your money. It is a ten year old car, but it is also a Volvo, the S60 is rated 16 years/500,000 miles - with regular maintenance and taking care of the car, you should get 20 years out of it. That’s where the twice a year polishing comes in handy.
That looks like a wickedly long crease to me.
You should certainly contact those PDR guys.
However, they can’t always fix every dent or crease
You do realize it’s time for tires?
It might also be wise to pull over if you’re really upset.
That last bit of advice might prevent further altercations with mailboxes
In any case, you should be really thankful that you didn’t hit the mailman instead
There’s a long scratch, and where the dent is, the metal has been stretched too far.
New door and paint job.
Tester
Note the body panel fit at the fender/front valance and the fender/door along with the gap at the hood.
It’s difficult to tell and this could just be me and the way I’m looking at it, but the front tire kind of appears to be scuffed up. If this mailbox was a pretty stationary one made of bricks or an old plow sunk into the ground there’s always the possibility of suspension or tire damage.
I cannot see much in that picture, but I have had many dents removed by my paintless dent removal guy, and I am a believer in this technology.
The three main factors that make a dent a candidate for paintless dent removal are:
- Is the paint intact?
- Is the metal stretched (creased).
- Is the metal thick enough and not cold worked too much? BMWs and Mercedes are generally good candidates for paintless dent removal. Toyotas and Nissans are generally not good candidates. I don’t know about modern Volvos.
When shopping for paintless dent removal, you want a craftsman with good reviews, not just some guy with the right tools. Expect to pay $100 for a door ding to $150 for a larger dent. If you have several dents to repair at one visit, he should knock down the $/dent a little. A guy whose services are in high demand may not want to come to your house to work. You may have to leave your car at a dealer on his service route to be worked on there.