Yesterday I had some paintless dent removal work done to my 91 940. Below are two pics of the front right hand side guard (fender) on my car. It's a little difficult to tell but the dent is all but gone. There is only an extremely slight imperfection in the panel which you wouldn't see if you didn't know it was there. There is also a small scratch that gives a clue as to where it was. I had five dents removed from the car (none of them done by me) - the one shown here was the worst. It's impossible to tell where the other dents were.
Total cost was $330 (Australian) and about two and a half hours time. Cheaper and quicker than having it done by a panel shop and it retains the original paint. I'm very happy with the results.

Brad

Great to hear of your success! I had a similar experience years ago on a full sized wagon. There was a very large dent in the side caused by CWWS(careless wife while shopping.) The body shop quoted me $4500 for repair and paint.

I know something about metal, and believed that as metal has a "memory" when formed, it could be carefully encouraged to assume its former shape. I took the interior panels off myself, and very gently pushed on the inner most point with a rubber mallet. TWANG! The entire panel popped back exactly into shape, with absolutely no trace whatsoever of the former dent. I Couldn't believe it!

I believe the same to be true of repainting. We had a twelve year old GMC van with a very faded finish. Again, several reputable paint shops quoted thousands for a repaint. I know that a paint finish is atleast 2mm thick, and that given the titanium flakes, a metallic paint is a very good finish. So, I bought NAPA wax and grease remover and rubbed down the entire painted surface. Second, I used a random orbital polisher with 3M coarse rubbing compound. Next, I used the polisher to apply two coats of liquid glass synthetic polish. The van looked like new. This is the same approach I use with my Volvo's. My friends can't believe how good it looks as a ten year old car. I attach some pictures below of the van to show the difference.

A smart consumer is a smart individual!

Amen, it's a great service. Dave gave a very complete list of info about it.

I had this service done to my 94 854 on several panels. I was very pleased with the results, and am so happy I didn't take it to a body shop. It was done right in my garage at home. In a couple places, they had to drill small access holes for their special tools to reach behind the dent. The holes were placed in the door jamb, where they are hidden once the door is closed, and were plugged with small black plastic caps afterward. Looks fine, and no problem with the access hole or cap.

I found this guy by contacting a major local car dealership and asking for references, as Dave mentioned.

Yes, I've had similar very good results with paintless dent removal. It is definitely preferable to standard auto body repair, although you do pay for the privilege. They can't fix everything -the dents can't be so big that the metal is severely stretched, the dent must be accessible from inside the body cavity and there must be some clearance directly behind the damaged area. The dent can't have creases in it and shouldn't be near a molded edge nor should the paint be broken nor should the area have had previous body work done.

There are a number of franchise operations, but you still need to find the ones with experience and make sure the job is done by or at least supervised by one of the master dent specialists. Many operations run mobile service only and cater primarily to car lots plus whatever insurance business gets thrown their way. Sometimes shops break away from the franchises and become independents. These can be the best shops and a local top end car lot can often point you toward them. I was told it is a skill that requires many years to perfect and there are always new tricks to be learned. There are special tools of the trade shaped to access the backside of dents from inside the body without removing body panels, door panels, windows and the like. These tools also have special tips for different purposes. The general idea is to massage the dent out while reducing the stretched area by starting at the outer areas of the dent. As needed the dent can be massaged in and out each time reducing the stretch until it is near perfect then finished flat with a small mallet. It's fascinating to watch and they make it look so easy. The apprentices at the shop I visited practiced on an old hood that was repeatedly beaten all over with a golf ball in a stocking to simulate severe hail damage -the result was to be a perfectly restored hood.
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Dave

330AUD = 237USD. Seems fair if the cost is similar in the US. Is this how they did it? http://autos.msn.com/advice/article.aspx?contentid=4018966&src=News
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Tom F. Couple of Volvos Mods, RainX & cup holders.

That's pretty much how it's done. Preferable, in my opinion, to having the panels repainted after being sanded etc.

Brad