How to fix a dent on your car

By  Ané Theron

Whether someone opens their car door too wide in the school parking lot, or whether you just didn’t notice that pesky pole behind you, a dent is sure to appear in your car’s bodywork at some time or another. Instead of taking it to the panel beaters and spending your hard-earned cash on pricey repairs, here are some DIY dent-removal tips.

1.Use a plunger

A sink plunger (aka a cup plunger) will do just fine. Wet the area of the car with the offending dent, wet the plunger ever-so-slightly, and start pushing and pulling until it pops out.

2.A hair dryer + a can of compressed air

Every household usually has a hair dryer – if you’re a singleton, borrow one from someone. Now, get your hands on a can of compressed air. Blow the hottest air the hair dryer will allow onto the affected area. This will expand the plastic (if it’s on your plastic bumper, for example). As soon as it’s hot to the touch, spray the area with compressed air. Science says that the cold air will make the plastic contract, and chances are that the dent will pop out.

3.Boiling water

If you have a dent in your car’s plastic bumper, the least invasive way of popping out the dent would be to pour boiling water over it, as it will make the stiff plastic more pliable. Once you have done this, reach behind the bumper and try to pop the dent back out. As the area cools rather quickly, you have to work fast. No harm in employing that hair dryer again you used in number 2.

4.Make your own suction device

In need of a dent puller? Make your own using your vacuum cleaner, and a smallish plastic pot, waste paper basket or plastic bucket (depending on the size of the area). Make a hole that will fit your vacuum cleaner hose, tape it with duct tape, and voila, you now have your very own dent-removing suction device. Place over the dent and hit ‘power’.

5.Use a specialty tool

There are dent removal kits available online, if you’d rather not try your hand at the methods above. There’s this dent-repair popper we found on Ubuy.co.za that may be your ticket to ‘dentlessness’.

This Power Grip dent-remover looks the business too, and it’s more affordable.

This Pops-a-dent DIY kit from Amazon is inexpensive, and they ship to SA.

Go to the pros

Some of the most competent and competitively-priced professional dent-removers are DentMagic. Where (and if) possible, they employ a paintless dent remover technique that ‘massages’ out the dings. They also offer mag wheel repairs, hail damage repairs, and are accredited by most insurance companies. Vist www.dentmagic.co.za to see what they offer.