No matter how careful you are with your car, life on the road and in parking lots always brings risks. A driver glued to their phone taps your bumper at a stoplight. Someone squeezes too close at the grocery store and swings their door into yours. A shopping cart goes rogue. Maybe even you misjudge a corner—but we’ll skip that part. The point is: dents and dings are the unavoidable battle scars of car ownership.
So, what can you do about them? Paintless dent removal services—whether standalone shops or dealership offerings—can erase many of these imperfections. But they don’t come cheap. According to Angi (formerly Angie’s List), a one-inch dent can cost between $50 and $120, and larger ones go up from there. One of our team members confirmed that range after having a pro fix his own car. Keep in mind, even experts can’t always make every dent disappear, and if the paint’s damaged, they can’t help with that part at all.
You Can Do It Yourself
If you’re feeling handy, there’s good news—you can often fix smaller dents yourself without spending much. Affordable dent-removal kits can work surprisingly well if you use them correctly.
First, evaluate the damage carefully. How deep is the dent? Where is it located—on a steel fender, aluminum hood, composite bumper, or even carbon fiber? Is the paint scratched, and if so, how badly? Your answers will determine the best tools and techniques to use. When unsure, it’s smart to get quotes from a couple of body shops or dent specialists. That gives you both an idea of fair pricing and insight into what’s realistically fixable.
Buy a Dent-Repair Kit
If a DIY repair seems doable, grab a dent-removal kit. Most include a bridge-style tool that straddles the dent, with a central screw and a variety of pull tabs. You attach one of these tabs—basically a small suction pad—to the dent, often using hot glue. Then, by tightening the screw, you gently pull the dent outward until it pops back into shape. It’s simple in theory, and with patience, it often works.
Eastwood sells a solid dent-removal kit for around $60, complete with glue gun and accessories. They also offer step-by-step video tutorials that make the process easy to follow.
For larger dents, there’s a homespun trick involving a household plunger and some water. It won’t always fix everything, but it can reduce the damage before you switch to a proper tool. That said, some dents in metal panels simply can’t be fixed outside a professional body shop—no matter how creative you get.
Plastic Pieces Can Be Popped Out
Got a dent in your car’s plastic bumper? There’s a neat little trick for that too. If you can access the inside of the panel, pour boiling water over the dented area to soften it, then gently push from behind to pop it out. If you can’t reach it from inside, heat the outer surface with a hair dryer instead. Once the plastic is warm and flexible, hit it with a burst of compressed air to cool it quickly—the sudden contraction can cause the dent to pop back.
Online, you’ll find countless other “miracle methods” for removing dents, but take them with a grain of salt. Many don’t work as promised, and cheap tools often deliver cheap results. Research before you buy—quality gear makes all the difference.
Patience Is Required
No matter which method you use, take your time. Rushing can make things worse by stretching or warping the metal. Dent removal is a slow, deliberate process—more finesse than force. If your efforts succeed, you’ll save a chunk of money and earn some serious bragging rights. If not, and the surface still looks uneven or the paint’s damaged, at least you gave it a shot. Then you can always hand it off to a pro with no regrets.
