No matter how you got it, a dent in your car is a pain in the proverbial behind. Sometimes, when it’s a minor dent, you might be tempted to treat it as a do-it-yourself (DIY) project. After all, there are many home repair kits available in the market, and YouTube is full of tutorials for DIY car repairs.
These DIY car repairs look exciting and easy on all these videos, and you might be tempted to try them yourself. However, if you don’t have training or experience doing repairs to cars, we highly suggest not to do them.
Attempting DIY car repairs dents may end up doing more damage to your car and costing you more money to fix in the end.
There are many DIY repair ‘hacks’ on the internet and on YouTube. Let’s discuss some of the most popular ones and the reasons why you should NOT do it.
DIY Myth 1: The Hairdryer
This hairdryer method involves heating the dented area with a hairdryer. After it’s heated, you spray it with compressed air to pop it back up. It looks legit, but the reality is hairdryers don’t give off enough heat to do this. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be safe for it to dry your hair.
And even if you use a heat gun in place of a hairdryer to heat the metal, there is a big possibility that you can damage the paint. Remember, once the paint is damaged, moisture can get in and cause rust. Depending on the damage, you might need the entire panel repainted, or worse, replaced.
DIY Myth 2: The Dry Ice Method
Using dry ice is another popular method of supposedly doing a DIY fix on a dent. This method involves heating the area first then applying dry ice to ‘pop’ the dent back out. This method rarely works for a few reasons.
First, vehicle dents don’t just pop back out. Remember that automobile body panels are flat steel that passes through a press formed to its predetermined shape. The sheet metal is flexible to prevent any warping when you drive, and once the dent forms in the metal, no amount of heat or cold will put it back.
On top of this, dry ice is solidified carbon dioxide and is very, very cold (-109.3 degrees Fahrenheit). If you’re not careful and it touches any part of your body, you can get instant frostbite.
DIY Myth 3: The Plunger
In this method, a plunger is used to pull the dent out. The plunger is sealed around the dent using anything from hot water to Vaseline to create suction. The process looks simple enough, but a lot of things can go wrong.
If you apply the incorrect pressure, you can increase your car’s dent. Also, depending on what your vehicle is made of, it might not work at all. Nowadays, cars can be made from carbon fiber or fiberglass and not steel.
Repair Your Car Dent With the Experts at Valley Collision
Unfortunately, car dents can happen no matter how careful you are. If you do get a car dent, avoid the temptation of fixing it yourself. Sure, it looks easy to do on YouTube, but if you don’t have any expertise in car repair, you can end up damaging it more, nulling your insurance claim, or even injuring yourself.
If you’re in Salt Lake City, our expert team in Valley Collision can help! Come to any of our five locations in Salt Lake Valley or head online to get a free online estimate. We are affordable, and our I-CAR Gold Class Certification guarantees quality work on your car.
