How To Find The Best Paintless Dent Repair Shop in The US (or World)
Let’s say that you own a valuable luxury or vintage car – or you own a fleet of valuable cars that need paintless dent repair (PDR). Finding the best paintless dent repair shop near you can be a challenge depending on your area, but finding the best paintless dent repair shop in the US (or the world) to just get the job done? That…is a bit of a challenge.
Here’s why.
There is no such thing as “the best dent repair shop in the world” – but there is the best dent repair shop for you based on your goals.
Even though we’d love to call EZ Auto Spa the best dent shop in the US or the world, we have enough customer experience, industry colleagues, and technical knowledge to say that we aren’t the best option for everyone.
Otherwise, here’s how to find & choose the best dent repair shop in the US for your needs.
1. Decide on Scope & Timeline for Work
Are you dealing with a single dent in a bad structural spot on a single luxury car? Or are you dealing with different dents across dozens of cars at a luxury dealership or driving club?
Are you in a rush or can it wait a few weeks? Do you have a hard deadline for an event or showing?
How you answer will help decide who is the best dent repair shop for your situation. Some good dent shops are the best at scaling up to effectively service hundreds of cars on a deadline while some are the best at diagnosing and servicing a vehicle on a deadline.
2. Decide on Technical Expertise Needed
You can leave the diagnosis and estimating to the PDR tech, but it is good to outline whether paint or structure has been damaged. Look at what panel has the dents along with the size and how accessible it is. It’s helpful to know the general structure and materials of your car (carbon fiber, aluminum, steel, etc).
3. Decide on Geography & Logistics
Can you remove and ship the affected panel or does a PDR tech need to travel with tools? Some dent shops have complex shops with access to advanced lighting and machines, while some dent techs excel with portable tools.
4. Look for Strong Portfolio of Diverse Work
Just because a dent repair shop has been around for a while does not mean it’s the best. Just like a real estate agent can makes millions selling $200k 3br/2ba – a PDR tech can do well looking at Hondas & Fords over and over.
That said, just because a PDR tech “only” does luxury cars does not mean they are the best for your job either. PDR is part art, science & craft so having a diversity of experience improves judgement and problem-solving ability.
5. Decide on Recommendations & Referrals
The paintless dent repair world is pretty small and close-knit. Most established dent repair techs will know other colleagues across the country and their capabilities. A good PDR tech with a solid network will also understand who their work compares to their colleagues. The best PDR techs will also be able to provide recommendations, review, and referrals.
Decide on how you value different referrals and recommendations and start by asking around.
6. Look for Quality Assurance & Work Processes
Since PDR is equal parts art, science, and craft – every PDR can miss something. Quality assurance and process is what separates the good dent repair techs from the best PDR technicians.
Ask directly about a dent repair shop’s quality assurance procedures and how their process works. Anyone who relies solely on personal judgement or expertise will not be the best every time.
7. Decide on Guarantees, Insurance & Future Work
Like any trade, a good PDR tech will stand by their work and will have planned for any contingencies. When working on a high-stakes or valuable job, the best PDR technicians will be clear about expectations, guarantees, insurance, and the need for future or follow-up work.
So Where Do You Find This Dent Repair Shop?
The PDR industry is both small and fragmented. There are a few directories and certification programs that are owned / operated by either the larger PDR shops or tool manufacturers. None provide true qualification audits or service audits. Here’s a few places where we’d find the best PDR for your needs.
If you want someone nearby, use Google & Google Maps, but don’t just call the ones at the top. Instead, force Google to show all your options. A lot of the best PDR tech do not spend time on marketing or optimizing their Google My Business profile. To find them, you’ll have to dig to get a few names, and then call to discuss their qualifications & skill set.
If you want someone nationally, check out some of the top PDR podcasts in the iTunes or Google Podcasts app. A lot of solid techs and tool companies run podcasts that host some of the better PDR techs on their shows. You can pull a list of names from their guest lists.
If you want some names right now, just give us a call. EZ Auto Spa’s founder, Matt Moore, has been on nearly every podcast, spoken at every conference, and knows all the tool manufacturers. We can say right now that we may or may not be the best fit, but we are absolutely happy to let you know who would be. Give us a call or submit a quote to our contact form – just indicate “custom project” and we’ll get right back to you.
