As far as body damage goes, shallow dents are really no big deal. They affect the outermost layer of the car only and their negative repercussions are mostly aesthetic. That's, obviously, assuming the impact was soft enough that the paint remained intact -- and that's the assumption we'll be working with for the remainder of this article. If your car's paint was chipped or cracked as a result of whatever unfortunate incident occurred, it's not just a candidate for paintless dent removal. (Paint repairs are much more involved, and may become much worse if the exposed metal isn't fixed quickly.) It's not unusual to have dents that don't damage the paint surface, because modern automotive paints are formulated to be extremely hard and resilient.
Like most car repairs, you've two options: Bust out your toolbox or hire a pro. This job will require special tools, although they aren't expensive. At least initially, that's ... and assuming you utilize them right. But if you're the sort who regularly dings up the household car or has bad luck with stray shopping carts in parking lots, understanding how to perform paintless dent removal might be worth the investment over time and money. Maybe you'll even find out you've got "the magic touch" with sheet metal.
Who knows? Maybe you'll get so good you can moonlight as a mobile paintless dent removal technician, showing off your newly-flawless ride to prospective customers. That's right -- a lot of paintless dent removal pros should come directly to your door and perform their metal magic in your individual driveway. That's awfully tempting, isn't it? Avoiding the stress and hassle of taking your car to the human body shop. But when it's so simple that the pro can do it with portable equipment, right out in the open ... well, surely it can't be that problematic for you, a first-timer, right?
As you'll see, making the proper decision about hiring a pro to do the job or tackling this one yourself can rely on several factors. Don't start hammering away at your dented hood and fenders just yet.