[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by Octane_Power

The unevenness will be there inside the layer of putty and paint

Yes, putty would just "cover up". If done properly, this would last for years.

[anandpadhye]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

Great that it worked for you. For removing this unevenness, you can take it to a paint shop that will: fill putty , make surface even and then apply a layer of paint.

This would cost approx 1.5 - 3k depending on brand / grade of paint used.

Yes, any idea what can be done to fix the unevenness of the side strip?

Originally Posted by Octane_Power

But directly filling in putty without removing the unevenness will be similar to that of pothole-filling right?

The unevenness will be there inside the layer of putty and paint, or are you talking about first making the surface even from inside(this again comes down to removing the rivets) and then doing the putty and painting?

-Bhargav

This guy was telling me they will have to polish the surface using sand paper before applying putty and it all depends on how well the polishing is done.

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

Yes, putty would just "cover up". If done properly, this would last for years.

But he was also saying that hammering out from inside will be required. I am thinking why! Now that 80% job is done, can't they do the rest using another (more severe) dent puller using magnet and heat - like this thread that you pointed to : http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/mumbai...li-mumbai.html

[anandpadhye]

I forgot to mention this incident (that happened before I started exploring the options and started this thread):
As a benefit of doubt, I decided to give the dealer/service center a chance to look at this dent (before I did anything with it). And they did not disappoint to disappoint.

The body shop guy looked at the door from many "scientific" angles, asked me for the key and operated the power window and then asked for the insurance policy. I told him to first tell me how they will repair this and what will be the cost "regardless of my insurance policy". Then with an amazingly blank face (now I am inspired to learn to make such faces at my own customers, I am sure it will do wonders) he says: "door badlave lagel" (door needs to be changed)
Me: "Repair, repair, repair, I am asking you how much time and money it will take to repair"
He: "nahi, repair honar nahi, damage jast aahe, and skoda allow karat nahi" (no, this can't be repaired, damage is quite high, and skoda will not allow)....
Me (now enjoying this conversation): "cost?"
He (typing a lot of things in his online part catalog, checking my VIN for 15/20 min): "Sir, side-strip baherun lavli aahe ka?" (you got the side-strip installed from outside)?
Me: No, it came with the car. There is no modification to the car at all."
He: "No, I can't find the part number for the side-strip for this VIN"
Me: <made a blank face at him, trying to mimic him>
He <called someone and asked that someone to call someone who would know the part numbers>:"Sir, found the part, door costs Rs. 20,000 and the side-strip is Rs.1655, labor 5000, total will be Rs. 28,000 something and you need to pay some advance so that we can order the door!

I walked out.

In fact, I got a message from GTO later on that Skoda saw this thread and wanted to help, I sent my contact details, someone from dealer called me next day, asked for all details and said they will get back. Needless to say that they did not get back.

Glad that he at least was speaking Marathi without forcing me to unnecessarily speak in English. At least Skoda dealers are learning to speak customer's language!

Cheers!

[ad3952n]

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

He :"Sir, found the part, door costs Rs. 20,000 and the side-strip is Rs.1655, labor 5000, total will be Rs. 28,000 something and you need to pay some advance so that we can order the door!

I walked out.

Dear Anand, You have been saved of unnecessary expenses. The end result as shown in the pics is really good. The right procedure has given the right results. You see, the dealers at any given opportunity will try to convince the owner to go in for a major expense because that is where they earn their revenue from. They do not get proper margins in selling a car so they take this route.

Really feel happy that the car has got back to it's shape. Drive safe buddy!

Thanks

[Gannu_1]

The waviness in the door is still apparent but the transformation is fantastic. And the charges were nominal. Kudos to the guy!

Anand, I must ask however, how did this dent happen in the first place? Looks pretty bad TBH!

I really wish we had an FNG like Trend Automobiles (Body Repair & Painting, Glass Repair, Detailing etc. - Trend Automobiles (Bangalore)) in every town. Look at some of the work they've undertaken. Brilliant stuff!

I have a tiny dent in the left rear quarter panel and asked the VW service center (during the 6-month/7500 km free checkup) if they could do something about it (like pulling it out using some suction cup or something) and they blatantly denied! A firm NO, it cannot be done!

[GTO]

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

Final result is quite acceptable, original paint is intact, and it's no more an eyesore when you look at the car casually.

Can you please create a new thread in the Team-BHP Directory for this gentleman? The end result is fabulous....and cheap!

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

In fact, I got a message from GTO later on that Skoda saw this thread and wanted to help, I sent my contact details, someone from dealer called me next day, asked for all details and said they will get back. Needless to say that they did not get back.

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

I continued to look for workshops and bumped into a "Paintless Dent Removal" option (posted by a lot of owners on other forums as well as on team-bhp)

Originally Posted by GTO

Can you please create a new thread in the Team-BHP Directory for this gentleman? The end result is fabulous....and cheap!i

@ anandpadhye - This is the related thread on Team-BHP: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...nt-repair.html

This is the specific post for Mr.Gaikwad's contact details: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...ml#post2426365

Also, apologies for not pointing you in this direction earlier.

@ GTO - There are several posts in the above thread by members who've used Mr.Gaikwad's services. Once the new thread is created in the directory, could you move them too?

Cheers,
Vikram

[anandpadhye]

Originally Posted by ad3952n

Dear Anand, You have been saved of unnecessary expenses. The end result as shown in the pics is really good. The right procedure has given the right results. You see, the dealers at any given opportunity will try to convince the owner to go in for a major expense because that is where they earn their revenue from.

Thanks

Thank you.
This dealer attitude leads to ever increasing insurance premiums. It's a loss for both - the customer and insurance companies.

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

The waviness in the door is still apparent but the transformation is fantastic. And the charges were nominal. Kudos to the guy!

Anand, I must ask however, how did this dent happen in the first place? Looks pretty bad TBH!

Yes, it's a job well done (even though the finish is less than ideal). Saved me a lot of money and I am happy with that. BTW, dent was caused by my own mistake. I brushed the gate of my building during a morning rush...

Originally Posted by GTO

Can you please create a new thread in the Team-BHP Directory for this gentleman? The end result is fabulous....and cheap!

Done.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/other-...oval-pune.html

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

@ anandpadhye - This is the related thread on Team-BHP: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...nt-repair.html

This is the specific post for Mr.Gaikwad's contact details: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...ml#post2426365

Cheers,
Vikram

Thanks, I created the thread and also uploaded his business card.

[jyobeb]

What you need is a body shop that has a dent removing system, for example the Miracle Dent remover. There however is no "miracle", in this.
We spot weld a number of clips onto the outside of the door that needs to be repaired and pull the dent and door back into shape, After the door is brought back into shape over 90%, we finish the rest with bondo and then paint it back to originality, without touching the door inners at all.

[anilntny]

Nice thread. It seems paintless dent repair,very popular in western countries.
There are lots of videos on youtube on this.

I got inspired and got myself a dent repair kit ,mostly from so called "pops a dent ".I am using an updated kit of my own. I use a nut with spanner for tightening/untightening.The kit may look cheap ,but it works.

The technique is very effective. It can correct a dent upto 90 to 100 % depending on dent type.

Recently a piece of wood fell on my father's then 2 weeks old polo.It made a dent of about 3 cm diameter on the bonnet.Naturally he got upset.He was planning to get it repaired from dealer.

I tried my kit .It removed almost 95% of dent . But it did take me several trials, before the desired result.

Unfortunately I don't have the original picture of damage. Now all that is left in its place, is a small dent of size below 0.5 cm.

How I wished we had professionals doing the same with better tools in India.We could have saved, some hard cash in dent repair.

[prakhar1998]

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

He: "nahi, repair honar nahi, damage jast aahe, and skoda allow karat nahi" (no, this can't be repaired, damage is quite high, and skoda will not allow)
Cheers!

This is bullshit. I have got my Skoda Laura TSI, fixed with worse damage. The cost came to around 8,000 bucks at Jai Auto Delhi.

The result was flawless and the work done was really excellent. This cost included the side strip. I think the dealer is taking you for a ride when he says that Skoda does not allow such a thing.

I have only good things to say about Jai Auto in Delhi, but get your car fixed at Skoda Noida and you sure will be in tears.

[Atif]

Originally Posted by anilntny

I use a nut with spanner for tightening/untightening.The kit may look cheap ,but it works.

I second that motion. I ordered "Dent King" from online store, and it did work for me, after several attempts.

Anil - could you just elaborate on how you have customised the kit. My heat gun did not work and I had to melt the gum using candle, and it was a bit time consuming, but the end result was satisfactory.

[anilntny]

Originally Posted by Atif

I second that motion. I ordered "Dent King" from online store, and it did work for me, after several attempts.

Anil - could you just elaborate on how you have customised the kit. My heat gun did not work and I had to melt the gum using candle, and it was a bit time consuming, but the end result was satisfactory.

The glue gun that comes with most of the ready to use kits are of very cheap quality.

I bought the glue gun from electronics shop.Glue sticks also can be purchased from shops that sell electronics spare parts.

I have tried using candle,but it won't give good effect as the glue tend take lot of black soot too.The melting also won't be adequate.

[Sunsh!nes]

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

I continued to look for workshops and bumped into a "Paintless Dent Removal" option (posted by a lot of owners on other forums as well as on team-bhp). And this is right here in Pune (Mr. Sudhir Gaikwad). I called him and he asked me to send pictures of the dent on whats app! I did that and he got back saying:
- will remove the black marks using a cream and brush
- will be able to remove 90% of the dent on the door
- won't be able to repair the dent on the running board
- work will be done at my place (he always work on customer's premises)
- estimate: Rs. 1500

I liked the candid and prompt feedback and decided to give this a try before doing anything drastic. We decided to meet today at 8AM and he was at my place at 7:40AM ! We took the power supply from my house (1st floor) and he started the work.

This is how it went:

The overall dent:
Attachment 1252356

A closer look at the dent:
Attachment 1252357

Removing the black marks using some cream:
Attachment 1252358

Attachment 1252359

Starting to pull the dent:
Attachment 1252360

The result:
Attachment 1252361

Attachment 1252362


He requested me not to take pictures when he actually pulled the dents out as that's his USP, so I agreed.

Overall, he could remove 80% of the dent, the side strip posed a challenge, some areas around it could not be restored fully. Also, as per him, when the door received the hit, the metal hit some parts inside (like the glass winder) and hence a couple of small spots around the side-strip got dented from inside. He used a plastic hammer to even them out, but said that only spot welding will restore them fully. Final result is quite acceptable, original paint is intact, and it's no more an eyesore when you look at the car casually. A closer look surely reveals the uneven surface at places. But I can definitely live with this and take my own time to study this whole dent-painting ecosystem, find a competent and reasonable garage that believes in minimizing wastage, has the right tools and most importantly, calls rivets "rivets" and not "ribbits"

Cheers!

Thats a wonderful result. Most part of the dent is not even visible, this definitely is a solution to paintless dent removal, I guess I know what they do to remove the dent and with what tools. I have seen couple of them in Bangalore as well. Have to figure out where they do it. This helps only when the paint hasnt cracked due to impact, if it has then this may not help much. But still a effort which is definitely worth the try.

[Sheel]

Curious:

Why is the floor running board so difficult to repair?