Mobile car dent repair

proggy

Has anyone had any experience with them?

I'm thinking about calling them out to sort out a crease in the rear wing of my car that was done by some fucktard of a policeman. He threw a hissy fit and slammed the side of his fist down onto my car because he didn't want me to pull away from the lights because half a mile up the road a coach had got stuck trying to get around a sharp corner. The irony is he started to try to lecture me about being more patient and he was the one doing all the shouting, punching my car and throwing his toys out of the pram. I reported him to the metropolitan police complaints department and they have taken the matter seriously and listed it as police harassment and have told me that the officer will get a reprimand, but I've told them all I'm really interested in is getting some sort of compensation for the damage that has been done to my car. I've been chasing them up for 3 months now and every time I mention a repair bill they just shy away from it, so it looks like I'll have to foot the bill myself (no pun intended). What's really winding me up though is the fact that if I had done that to his car I would have been arrested for criminal damage, got a summons and fined, and all he's got is a slap on the wrist. Anyway enough of my ranting.

 Has anyone used one of those mobile dent repair companies and are they any good?

Cheers

Steve.

thomasross20

Haven't used one but independent garages tell me it costs them £30-40 per dent. 

proggy

thomasross20 said:

Haven't used one but independent garages tell me it costs them £30-40 per dent. 

That's not bad. Thanks for that.

Dominic

If you have a legitimate claim against the police or anybody else for that matter why settle for a' band-aid' solution ?
Surely you are entitled to take your car to an insurance approved coachworks and have the entire panel professionally replaced and repainted.
 It would be diligent to get 2 quotes for presentation of your claim.

Fretwired

I've used a firm called Chips Away in the past - first class job on a small dent.

EricTheWeary

Couple of years ago after I was hit by an uninsured driver and the insurance company weren't interested. I can't remember the figures but there were huge variations in the quotes, I think for all of them I had to email a photo of the damage. Work done was absolutely fine. 

Flanging_Fred

I'm just having my car sorted after a minor scape/dent on the drivers side and a couple of paint scrapes to the bumper.  The local body shop quoted me £1100 and Chips Away quoted £750.  The dents were really pretty minor as well.  To say I was shocked was an understatement.   I'd love to know where you can get them done for 30 -40 quid each...

proggy

Really, thanks for that info Dominic, I'll check it out. Although I've been driving for 30 odd years I haven't had to deal with anything like this before, I'm not sure what my rights are, I need to look into a few things.

thomasross20

These guys have guys in house that can do it. Also there are companies like dentdevils who do small dents for £75 each. I think only folk in the trade get £30-40 prices, that's the actual cost without markup.
I'm no expert, though!

FX_Munkee

Also, realistically you're going to need recommendations in your area as Chips Away et al are franchise operations. So you're not guaranteed that your operator is going to be as good/bad as one in a different area.

57Deluxe

I had a slight soft dent (50p dia) with no abrasion/cracks, to middle top door panel in a profile section. When my car was in for a MOT at the dealer a mobile dent man was there on-site doing a job with his levers and dies... I asked if he could look at mine whilst he was there expecting it to cost £15- £20... when the MOT was done he had done it but left and had said to garage  - no charge! I couldn't even tell you where it was now! God Bless him!

Iamnobody

Flanging_Fred said:

I'm just having my car sorted after a minor scape/dent on the drivers side and a couple of paint scrapes to the bumper.  The local body shop quoted me £1100 and Chips Away quoted £750.  The dents were really pretty minor as well.  To say I was shocked was an understatement.   I'd love to know where you can get them done for 30 -40 quid each...

I wouldn't trust Chips Away for anything significant. They can do small jobs like bumper scuffs and wing mirrors but even then you can see the repair if you are looking for it. 

I say that based on personal experience of my wife using them around 9 - 10 years ago. That was a silver car as well which are notoriously difficult.

Maybe some CA franchisees are better than others and maybe the paint matching technology has improved...

£750 seems far too expensive for CA. I always associate them with small small sub £200 jobs...

Foster

What i'd like to know is where is the dent located? You might get away with a few things depending on the area/material

1 - If it's a panel such as a wing you might find it's a bolt-on job, depending on the car you might find a good scrap wing that's the same colour (found a wing for my 2005 avensis, £35 on ebay)
2 - is the area plastic? If so a hairdryer may work and help pop the dent out

failing all that, ask for local independent body repair places. Some don't charge silly prices and do far better work than chips away and the like.

proggy

Foster said:

What i'd like to know is where is the dent located? You might get away with a few things depending on the area/material

1 - If it's a panel such as a wing you might find it's a bolt-on job, depending on the car you might find a good scrap wing that's the same colour (found a wing for my 2005 avensis, £35 on ebay)
2 - is the area plastic? If so a hairdryer may work and help pop the dent out

failing all that, ask for local independent body repair places. Some don't charge silly prices and do far better work than chips away and the like.

It's a mk3 Toyota MR2 convertible. The dent is at the top of the rear wing just a few inches away from where it meets the drivers door. It is a huge panel and it is metal. It's only a smallish crease but it's the only blemish on what is otherwise an immaculate car that I've owned and looked after for quite a few years.

EricTheWeary

Just buff it out...


https://bobblepic.com/images/2017/04/11/IMG_1162.jpg

strtdv

I used dent devils (don't know if they operate on the mainland. It was £60, interior panel needed taking out to get at it. It was a good job, unnoticeable afterwards. Friend of mine had a dent in his door taken out by them too and they did a good job.

Paintwork is much more expensive. I had a bumper filled and resprayed, it was £240.