PDR 101 – What You Need to Know with Appearance 1st Automotive

Have you heard of Paintless Dent Repair or PDR?

If not, then you are at the right place to learn and you will be surprised by the benefits and results of Paintless Dent Repair (PDR) compared to a traditional dent repair. But first, let’s discuss what Paintless Dent Repair is and how you can determine if the dents, dings or creases on your car qualify it for a PDR.

Determining if your dents and dings qualify for a PDR is important because, as you will soon learn, PDR is your best option to repair any dents, dings, creases or hail damage on your car’s body.

Let’s dive right in and discuss the basics of PDR.

PDR 101 – What Is Paintless Dent Repair (PDR)?

PDR is the latest and most innovative dent repair method that involves various PDR techniques to repair dents, dings and hail damage. Only a certified PDR technician fully understands these techniques and is qualified enough to professionally practice on commercial cars.

If you are in or around Jacksonville, Florida, Appearance 1st Automotive (A1A) is the best place to find well experienced and certified PDR technicians.

PDR 101 – How to Determine If PDR Is an Option for Your Dents & Dings

Here is how you can determine whether the dents, dings, creases or hail damage on your car can be repaired using PDR.

  • Inspect the dents for paint damage. If there is no paint damage, even in dent clusters of hail damage, PDR is the best option for your dent repair
  • If there is slight paint damage, PDR may still be the best option because it is capable of correcting minor paint damage
  • Lastly, consult an A1A certified PDR technician to best guide you on your options. You can even get a quick quote through call or text
PDR 101 – Benefits of Professional PDR

A professional PDR is better than traditional dent repair in every aspect. It provides superior results and great benefits, especially if you opt for the certified PDR technicians at Appearance 1st Automotive in Jacksonville, Florida.

Here’s why.

Time

You do not have to spend days waiting for your car with PDR. Unlike traditional dent repair, which involves disassembly, fillers, repainting and drying, PDR has no such processes. You can get your dents, dings and hail damage repaired in just a few hours on the same day you bring your car to A1A.

Money

Since there are no fillers or paint involved, you save money on these material costs and only pay for the skills of an A1A certified PDR technician. This makes PDR much more inexpensive than traditional dent repair.

Insurance

You do not need to file insurance paperwork because PDR is so inexpensive that you can pay out of pocket. Your insurer will never be able to tell the difference once Appearance 1st Automotive is done repairing your car using PDR.

Resale Value

PDR immensely saves the resale value of your car because, unlike traditional dent repair, PDR does not tamper with, scrape or repaint the dented body parts of your car.

Why Use Appearance 1st Automotive?

A1A only has the most skilled certified PDR technicians that are well experienced at repairing dents, dings, creases and hail damage on classic, rare, exotic and common cars alike. You will not see better results in or around Jacksonville, Florida, than from the experienced professionals at Appearance 1st Automotive.

For more information on PDR, its benefits, Appearance 1st Automotive or to get a quick quote, please visit our website today.

Dents from Hitting a Deer? PDR Can Help!

Dent Removal

While hitting an animal with our car or getting in their way is the last thing any of us would like to happen, sometimes it’s inevitable and you can’t hold yourself responsible. Getting a dent on your vehicle can be annoying when you have to rely on traditional methods of dent repair. The old-fashioned way of repairing the dents on your car can take up a lot of your time and can become quite expensive. 

But are there any substitutes? Even though the traditional method has stuck around for years upon years, it isn’t exactly the perfect solution for all your dent-repair needs. It ends up damaging your car in unimaginable ways, and if you get damage more than once on the same car, you’re going to have a car that is extremely vulnerable to dents and dings on the road. 

You might be wondering the reason for that. Keep reading to learn why.

The Traditional Repair Process

If your car got hit by a deer and the incident left a dent or a ding on your vehicle, you’d immediately start thinking of a dent repair service that could help repair your car. But the few of us who do make the mistake of opting for the traditional process end up damaging the car. 

This is because when our car goes for an auto body shop repair it goes through a painful process of dent removal. The PDR technician uses tools to drill two holes around the dent. Afterward, they fill the dent with body fillers, and then the dented space is painted over with body paint. This makes it look like the dent on your car has been repaired when actually something terrible has happened to your car. 

What’s Wrong With An Autobody Shop Repair

Here, we list some reasons why you should reconsider getting your car repaired from an auto body shop.

  • The traditional way of repairing dents is expensive because the dent repair specialist uses several materials to repair the dent
  • It’s not environmentally friendly because when your car is painted with car paint, it releases harmful chemical fumes into the air
  • Your car comes with a protective coating that saves it from dent and dings. When your car goes through a traditional repair process, this coating is removed. 

Paintless Dent Repair

Paintless dent repair is the modern way of repairing the dents on your vehicle. Unlike the traditional method of repairing dent, PDR does not take away the protective coating from your car and is affordable as well. Because PDR offers such mind-blowing advantages over the traditional method, car insurance companies recommend their clients to get a PDR because it increases the longevity of the car’s body. 

This can also mean that the insurance company will pay for the damages that your car has suffered. If you’re looking to get a PDR repair completed due to deer damage, contact Appearance 1st Automotive.

Why You Should Get a Dent Repaired Quickly

Trunk Dent

If you’ve owned a car in Jacksonville, Florida – a dent has probably popped up on your car somewhere. It happens to the best of us, and there’s no reason to feel ashamed! No matter how carefully we drive, small damages happen here or there.

The dents and dings that happen to our vehicle can occur for many reasons. Someone could open their car door close to your car. A reckless driver could bump into the back of your car during a traffic jam, or perhaps, someone might throw a baseball that might hit your car to cause a dent. 

Often, people have no idea how a dent happened. They walk out of an exhausting day at work and notice the ugly sight when it’s too late. You might think of putting it off because “it’s just a dent,” but do you know what’s happening under? 

Get Dents Repaired Quickly

Getting a dent repaired from a professional dent repair shop like Appearance 1st Automotive is the best decision you can take. This way, you won’t have that little voice in your head nagging you to get the dent repaired. Here are a few reasons why you should get that repaired ASAP.

Rusting Problems

Dents cause blemishes on your car that are not pretty to see. But one of the most prominent damages a dent can cause is to the paint. The cracks on the paint of your car can cause the water to seep through to the metal of your car. This part of your car is unprotected and will soon to oxidize and rust. 

When the dent is small, you might not notice this at first. But as soon as the metal starts to rust, the damage on your vehicle becomes a lot more apparent. 

Long-Term Damage

Dents don’t only cause damage to the body of the car. If you don’t repair a dent long enough, you’re going to get your car repainted as well. Since you’re going to need a paint expert and a dent repair expert to repair the damages on your car – you’re going to have to wait until you find the person for the job. 

This wait will worsen the damage. Weather conditions and everyday wear and tear slowly chip off more paint than the initial damage your car sustained, and with time, you’re only letting the repair cost go further up! 

Reduced Value

There are no arguments that a dented car is going to sell for a much lesser price – but that’s not the point we’re trying to make. After your car has got a dent, there’s only a limited amount of time that you can take it for a paintless dent repair. Even though we at Appearance 1st Automotive want to fix every dent with PDR – our hands are tied in some situations. 

Once your car has been repainted, and a body filler has been used on it – it will sell for a significantly lower price. 

So don’t wait around! Drop by Appearance 1st Automotive and get your car repaired today! Or call us for a free estimate!

PDR Hail Damage Estimate Process

PDR on hail damaged car

We can all agree that Jacksonville, Florida, has unpredictable weather. We’ve all come to befriend rainstorms with the passage of time, but the one kind of weather we’re still trying to accept is a hailstorm. Being stuck in a hailstorm is one of the most helpless situations you can find yourself in. Not only can hail damage your home, but it can also leave devastating effects on your car. 

Quite normally, a car is one of the first few things we check after a hailstorm hits our area. Seeing several dimples on your car after a hailstorm is a heartbreaking experience – to say the least. You automatically think of getting your hood replaced, or your car door replaced because when damage is that catastrophic, you think of spending a lot.  

But is that the only way?

Paintless Dent Repair

Paintless dent repair (PDR) is the modern way of repairing a dent. When a certified technician at Appearance 1st Automotive uses PDR to repair the dents and dings on your vehicle, they massage the dents from the back until the shape of your car restores to its original shape. 

The Advantages of PDR

  • When your car is shipped from the factory, it comes with a protective coating on top of the paint that keeps the paint from scraping off. When you opt for an auto body shop repair, the technician drills two holes around the dent and then fills that space with body fillers. They then paint over the dent to make it look like your car has been repaired. But when you opt for PDR, this protective layer isn’t compromised.
  • PDR is a lot quicker! Most cars that come into the shop with small dents and dings leave on the same day, depending on the damage the car has sustained. This is also because the PDR process is a lot simpler than a traditional dent repair. 
  • Since PDR requires few materials to repair the dent, it is a lot cheaper, too. 

But one should also bear in mind that not every dent can be fixed with PDR. If a dent is too big, and if the metal of the car has a tear, there isn’t much that can be fixed by PDR. 

Estimating the Price of the Repair

To give an accurate price quote for every repair, a PDR technician follows a process that gives them a price for your repair.  This is usually a process, rather than simple guesswork. 

Cleaning the Vehicle

The vehicle is first cleaned so the dents can be visible. A dirty vehicle might hide dents on some occasions.

Lighting

The appropriate lighting is crucial for the repair process. A PDR technician usually uses a light strip of LEDs for this task. Fluorescent bulbs can also be used. 

Dent Size

PDR technicians usually use the US coin estimate to calculate the size of the dent. The sizes can be:

  • Dime
  • Nickel
  • Quarter
  • Half dollar

Please call us for a free estimate today at 904-664-9088.

Can Paintless Dent Repair Fix It?

PDR on car

Even the smallest dent or ding in your car’s body can ruin its appearance. Dents not only make your car look ugly, but they also lower the resale value of your car. But realistically, not getting any dent on your vehicle in Jacksonville, Florida, is an unlikely scenario. Unless you wrap your car in bubble wrap and never drive it, dents will happen. 

Random objects, hail, or auto collisions cause all kinds of damage to vehicles every year. Getting a dent repaired in the traditional way can be costly if a dent repair is a frequent occurrence. So what can be the solution?

Paintless Dent Repair (PDR)

Paintless Dent Repair (PDR) is an economical and environmentally friendly way of repairing a dent. Compared to a traditional dent repair, a PDR is much less time-consuming and a lot more affordable. Getting a dent removed with PDR can have several advantages, some of those are:

Protects the Body Of Your Car

When you buy a new car from a showroom, it comes with a protective coating from the factory over the paint. This protective coating keeps the paint from feeling off and protects the structural integrity of your car. When you get a traditional dent repair, the technician uses fillers, which destroy this coating. This can be bad for your car’s body in the long run. 

However, when you get a PDR, the coating isn’t compromised. The technician massaged the dent from the back, and the dent is removed without using any additional fluid. 

It’s Quick!

Depending on the dent or ding your car has, the PDR process can be relatively quick. Most of the cars that come into the shop can leave the same day. We understand how important it is to have your car with you at all times in Jacksonville, Florida. That is why our expert technicians make sure every repair is done at the earliest. 

But with that being said, it is also worth noting that not every dent can be fixed with PDR. 

What Can PDR Fix?

Round Dent

A hail storm, football, basketball, or baseball often causes these dents. When these objects collide with the body of your car with force, a dent can form. Since this isn’t serious damage, a PDR can fix this dent in no time. 

Car Dings

These types of dings occur when your car is parked in a parking lot or from objects flying on a typical windy day. Most of the damage caused by these situations is relatively easy to repair, even if it’s a scratch, crack, or chip in the paint. A PDR can preserve the value of your car. People often expect used cars to have dents or scratches, but if your car looks new, it can sell for a good price. 

Creases

This dent can typically be more time-consuming. While it can stretch the metal of your car, it can still be repaired with PDR. 

If your car has received any of the damages that we’ve listed, do not hesitate to call Appearance 1st Automotive! We can also give you a free estimate for your repair needs. Call or text us at 904-664-9088.

Increasing Your Car’s Value Before Selling

PDR on a blue car

If you’re looking to get rid of your old car in Jacksonville, Florida, you’re going to find many buyers who are willing to take your old car off your hands. It is also worth noting that several people undersell their vehicles. You can easily sell your car for a much higher price if you take some time to give it some small repairs. 

Not only does this process have several advantages for you, but it is also fair to the buyer. But before you consider the advantages of getting some work done on your vehicle, what kind of repairs do you exactly need?

Washing And Detailing Your Car

Your vehicle can easily make a good impression if it is clean from the inside and the outside. If your car is clean, it is likely that the dealer will think you’ve taken good care of your vehicle and will give you a good price. If you’re taking this into your own hands, make sure you use soap that is meant for a car wash and not dishwashing soap. 

It would also be best to use a sponge that is made for a car wash. If you can’t find a relevant sponge, you can use a towel. 

Dents And Dings Removal

Appearance 1st Automotive in Jacksonville, Florida, is a specialist for the job. We specialize in using PDR to remove dents from vehicles. If your car has several dents, then you should consider getting a paintless dent repair. A paintless dent repair is cost-effective and environmentally friendly. Unlike a traditional repair, a PDR first isolates the dented part of your vehicle. 

Then, a professional technician massages the dent from the back until the body of the car returns to its original state. Not only is this way of repairing a dent quick, but it also preserves the protective coating on your car.  This prolongs the life of a car’s body and makes your car look brand new. 

Chipped Windshield Repair

A chipped windshield can take many dollars off the selling price because it’s a damage that is very easy to notice. Not only is it a kind of damage that looks bad, but it also puts the buyer of the car in danger. The worst part is, the chipped part of your windshield can spread and turn into a crack without you knowing; that is why you should get this repair done at your earliest.

Getting repairs done on your vehicle can have several advantages for you too. 

You Can Get a Better Deal

Of course, once your car looks fresh – any dealer would be willing to give you a better price for your car. A fresh car also shows the dealer that you were on preserving the health of your car, so it might not have suffered any damages.

Ensures Safety

Even though this might not benefit you directly, but a repair can also ensure that the next person buying the car will have a safe driving experience. No one would like to hear that a person who bought a car from them got into an accident because of a chipped windshield. 

If you’re looking to get a windshield repair or to get some dents removed – call Appearance 1st Automotive for a free estimate.

Here’s Why You Should Get A Windshield Chip Repaired

A chipped windshield is one kind of damage people often ignore. While it may look like it’s something you can ignore, often a windshield repair is truly necessary. Even though your car’s windshield was damaged by something as little as a stone, not getting it repaired can get you into some serious trouble. 

Quite simply, your windshield is one of the important parts of your car. A chipped windshield can put your life in danger; therefore, it might be best to take care of it right away. Even though the repair can look small at first, if ignored, it can gradually develop into a costly repair. A chip can grow if pressure is applied, and this can come from several sources. 

Here are some of the most prominent reasons why you should get a chipped windshield repaired:

They Can Quickly Turn Into Cracks

Unlike a dent or a ding that your car gets, a chipped windshield is a completely different ball game. Dents tend to stay in the same position, but a chipped windshield gradually begins to spread. When your car moves, extra pressure is applied to the chipped area. This forces the chip to turn into a crack – and once you’ve got a crack, your windshield might not be repairable. 

A cracked windshield has to be often replaced entirely, and this can drive up the costs by a great deal. 

A Chip Can Be Repaired Easily

When you hire a professional like Appearance 1st Automotive, you hire an expert for the task. Our certified technicians in Jacksonville, Florida are ready for every job with the appropriate tools. For our professionals, repairing a chip is a relatively easy process that can be done in 10 to 15 minutes. This process can also be free for you if you have car insurance!

Your Insurance Won’t Cover A Crack

As we mentioned earlier, your insurance can cover something as small as a chip. It’s an easy repair, and even if it isn’t covered, it won’t cost you a lot of money. But if that chip turns into a crack – no policy can save you. That is why it is vital that you get that chip repaired quickly. Not only is it compromising your safety, but it is also compromising your financial wellbeing!

Chips and Cracks Obstruct Your Vision

Apart from the literal shards hanging off your windshield, a windshield can also make it hard to see the road. The chip might be easy to ignore if it’s in the corner, but trust us – it won’t stay there for a long time. As pressure is applied, it will slowly spread and reach parts of the windshield that are necessary for you to see. 

When this happens, you won’t be able to see what’s on the road, and we do not recommend driving in a situation like this. If your windshield has been chipped, it’s essential you get it repaired quickly. 

Call Appearance 1st Automotive for a free estimate, or get an appointment scheduled for a windshield repair today!