Hail season is upon us, at least in some parts of the country, so you may have to get some dents in your car repaired. Although, even if you don’t live in an area that sees hail during the springtime, your pristine set of wheels may have a few dents in it, thanks to wandering shopping cars in the grocery store parking lot. Fortunately, there are shops that can perform paintless dent repairs on your car. But what is that, and how much does it cost?

What is paintless dent repair?

Paintless dent repair (PDR) is exactly what its name describes – dent repair that doesn’t require any painting. The process is non-intrusive, less expensive, and more environmentally friendly than normal dent repair. To remove dents from a car, the PDR specialist uses certain tools that look like oversized dental instruments to massage out the panels and remove the dents.

The car’s inner door panels, fender liners, and other interior parts often need to be removed to gain access to the dent. Although this may sound labor intensive, it’s typically easier than removing the body panel and sanding, filling, and painting it to fix a dent.

How much does a PDR job typically cost?

As with any repair job, the cost for a paintless dent removal job can vary. According to The Dentologist, “a body shop will charge approximately $600 on average per panel to paint and fix a one-inch dent. Paintless dent repair will charge roughly $125. The cost saving for a one-inch dent is about 80%. This estimate does not consider the overall cost savings in the long-term resale value of the vehicle.”

As you can see, there are a lot of cost savings when going with paintless dent removal over the normal procedure. There’s also less time involved as a paintless dent repair job can take a matter of hours as opposed to days to complete.

Does your auto insurance cover paintless dent repair?

Fortunately, yes. If your car has suffered a barrage of hail stones and needs extensive dent repair work, your car insurance’s comprehensive coverage should include it. You will need to pay the deductible first, but having insurance will prevent you from having to potentially pay thousands of dollars for the job.

Additionally, if the damage done to your car is due to hail, the comprehensive insurance claim should not increase your monthly insurance rate. Ultimately, paintless dent repair is a lifesaver during hail season if you live in an area that sees that type of weather every year. But even if you don’t, a paintless dent repair job can save your car when the worst occurs in the grocery store parking lot. After all, those wandering carts always seem to have a mind of their own.