Paintless Dent Repair

[Lex Luver]

I recently purchased a certified ES330 2004 from a Lexus dealer less than 1 month ago. I just noticed a small hole on the body of the car visible when the right rear door is opened. It was rusty. I am concerned that there is water damage inside. The Dealer's response is that they will fill the hole. I took it to a reputable body shop today. They said it was a hole for "paintless body repair" and that it is part of the car's main frame. He noticed there is already slight bubbling. He said the Dealer should give me another car. It is not repairable and there is no way of knowing what damage is inside. Does anyone have any experience with this?

[Gryphon]

Paintless dent removers do drill small holes in inconspicuous locations, often near the bottom of the doors. But they also install a plug after the work is done. I don't know what "part of the main frame" could mean unless they were inexperienced and drilled at the wrong spot. I think the only way you can be assured of the integrity of the door is to ask the dealer to remove disassemble the door for you to inspect.

Frankly, with modern metals and coatings, I doubt you need anything more than a new plug.

Tom

[ArmyofOne]

Paintless dent removers do drill small holes in inconspicuous locations, often near the bottom of the doors. But they also install a plug after the work is done. I don't know what "part of the main frame" could mean unless they were inexperienced and drilled at the wrong spot. I think the only way you can be assured of the integrity of the door is to ask the dealer to remove disassemble the door for you to inspect.

Frankly, with modern metals and coatings, I doubt you need anything more than a new plug.

Tom

I believe he is saying the drilled a hole in his rocker panel, or im his support structure behind the door, near the hinge on the a/b pillars. if this is the case, then simply sanding and filling and painting is a perfectly acceptable solution. paintless dent repair however, never is, as you can clearly see. LOL. I always prefer to do something right. and PDR is one of those things that is almost never gonna be right. its only suitable for LARGE surface area repairs, like hail damage, where an entire roof panel needs repaired. doing spot repairs with PDR is EXTREMELY Noticable, because its so hard to do correctly. i can usually spot it from a mile away.

[SW03ES]

paintless dent repair however, never is, as you can clearly see. LOL. I always prefer to do something right. and PDR is one of those things that is almost never gonna be right. its only suitable for LARGE surface area repairs, like hail damage, where an entire roof panel needs repaired. doing spot repairs with PDR is EXTREMELY Noticable, because its so hard to do correctly. i can usually spot it from a mile away.

This isn't true at all. I have had several dings and dents on my car repaired with paintless dent repair and the result has been perfect every time. Yes two times they had to drill small holes to get access that were plugged but the benefit has been a dingless car. I've had absolutely no problems with rust and my ES is older than this one. If you have competent professionals do the PDR, it is completely invisible.

Pray tell, how would you repair a ding "right"? Would you sand and paint the panel costing you $1,000 and devaluing the vehicle by that much or more? Or would you spend $150 on PDR and get a perfect result without devaluing the vehicle?

PDR is absolutely a legitimate way of repairing dings, and is actually PREFERABLE to paint work since the original paint film surface is left untouched thus protecting the vehicle's value.

As to the OP's post, I doubt theres a problem. The body shop's solution that they should "give you a new car" is laughable.

I'd just have him address the rust and properly plug the hole.