Minor hail damage- DIY PDR?

[CopperMtnGuy]

Got caught in a hail storm yesterday and couldn't get out of it quick enough. On my hood I have 7 or 8 small dings (about the size of a half dime) and 5 of them on the roof. I can't even get them to show up in pictures, but if I look hard enough they are there. They almost look more like paint imperfections but I'm pretty sure it's hail. Are there any DIY kits that can handle dings that small?

Thanks! I'd like to avoid a body shop if I can.

[Fast Eddie]

You can buy PDR tools, but 99% of the time when people try to do this themselves it looks worse than it did before (especially on the hood and roof). I would just find a good PDR guy and pay to have it done by a pro.

[VeloNYC]

I warn you don't attempt to do it yourself. I'm dealing with this thing on annual basis living in the city that I thought to buy DIY tools, NO. The guys who actually do it for living have the skills, eye and artistic precision very hard to replicate despite it looks so easy when they do it. Don't go to body shop just look for good and affordable PDR guy, those body shops sometimes pure scam regarding small dings, they pick up the phone and call their PDR guy anyway.

[GSKR]

I warn you don't attempt to do it yourself. I'm dealing with this thing on annual basis living in the city that I thought to buy DIY tools, NO. The guys who actually do it for living have the skills, eye and artistic precision very hard to replicate despite it looks so easy when they do it. Don't go to body shop just look for good and affordable PDR guy, those body shops sometimes pure scam regarding small dings, they pick up the phone and call their PDR guy anyway.
Agreed.

[AGPOL]

I totally agree with statements above.
Do not at all cost try to do it your self, hire a guy who can do it proffesionally!

[atgonzales]

First call your insurance company and see if you are covered, if so, they ask for a quote and i agree, don't do it yourself

[CopperMtnGuy]

Sounds good. I actually can't find any of the dings now, lol.

[VeloNYC]

Sounds good. I actually can't find any of the dings now, lol.

Call the body shop and find out how much it will cost to fix it, after you will get the answer you will forget about dings existence. How do you like this therapy?

[AZpolisher15]

Sounds good. I actually can't find any of the dings now, lol.

I've heard that if the hail dings aren't too bad that they sometimes work themselves out simply due to expansion and shrinking from exposure to sun and then cooling. Perhaps you got lucky?

[Toolhead]

I've heard that if the hail dings aren't too bad that they sometimes work themselves out simply due to expansion and shrinking from exposure to sun and then cooling. Perhaps you got lucky?

Very interesting and makes sense

[Dave_k]

Get a practice panel from a body shop/junk, get the tools, glue pulling isn't really that bad and we can all learn new skills. Drop golf balls from different heights to replicate hail dents and practice.
Mini lifters are dirt cheap compared to PDR guys, if your insurance doesn't cover you damage you can easily save yourself several hundreds. I have a buddy who does pdr, he gets on average of $25 a dent. If you aren't after perfection, you can get real close if you have the patience, steady hands and good eyes. Get a light board also or a make shift one.
While yes the pros are going to get better results, but they all start the same way, either on their own or a class, even with a class they start with the same experience as we all would.
I say go for it, if you don't feel like you like the results the potential 400 pdr job has now only gone up what you put into your tools.

[Fast Eddie]

I would say I'm at 100% with seeing people attempt PDR themselves and making it look worse, way worse. You cannot watch some youtube video and get good at PDR. It takes training first then practice what they taught you. If you go at it blindly just trying to figure it out, it's never, ever going to happen.

[VeloNYC]

I've heard that if the hail dings aren't too bad that they sometimes work themselves out simply due to expansion and shrinking from exposure to sun and then cooling. Perhaps you got lucky?

Only temporally, I have 2 dings I got from the passing truck in this July. I massaged the dings in the sun probably metal reached up to 130 degrees and surprisingly the dings became barely visible for a whole month. Now September, temp dropping at night to 60 degree and the dings started show up again.