Analyzing the DIY Paintless Dent Repair Trend

Sept. 13, 2019—A recent study by Chipex revealed that California residents buy a significant amount of do-it-yourself paint-repair kits. Florida came in second place, with Texas, New York and Pennsylvania completing the top-five list of states where do-it-yourself car and light-truck paint repairs are most popular.

James Bishop, owner of The Ding Guy body shop in Colorado Springs, Co., says that he has definitely seen customers come into his shop after attempting to use a do-it-yourself kit. 

Bishop runs a 7,000 square foot paintless dent repair facility. He says do-it-yourself paint repair kits follow his “10-foot rule.”
 
“From ten feet and farther, someone is going to look at a repair done by the owner of the car and think it looks better but when you get closer it’s never going to look great,” Bishop says.

In fact, he says that he has a lot of customers come into his shop for touch ups on the work they did using a DIY paint-repair kit. While the kits might save the customer money in the short-term, he says that in the long-term, the repair isn't likely to last. 

“We’re in an interesting market because there is a lot of military stationed around here, so we have a lot of people trying to do the repair themselves,” he says. “We might witness more than other markets.”

Despite the report, Bishop says that, for his shop, he has not seen a trend or an increase in people using the kits. The use depends on the weather and whether there was a lot of hail, he says.