Dents come in two categories at an auto body shop, and which one yours is determines both cost and method.

Paint intact, or paint broken

Press a fingernail into the low point. If the finish is unbroken and the metal has simply moved, the dent can often be worked from behind and the original paint kept. If the finish is cracked, chipped, or gone to primer, the panel has to be repaired and refinished, because no amount of shaping puts paint back.

That single check is what we do first, and it decides everything that follows.

Working a dent from behind

Where the back of the panel is reachable, through a window channel, a lamp opening, or a liner we can drop, the metal gets pushed back in small increments and read under a reflected line until the surface returns flat. It is slow and it is the best outcome available, because nothing about the factory finish is disturbed.

Access is the limiting factor. Double-walled areas, bracing, and foam behind a panel can put a dent out of reach even when it looks straightforward from outside.

Dents that need more

Sharp creases where the metal is stretched. Dents on a body line. Damage at a panel edge. Anything where the paint let go. These get conventional repair: work the metal, minimal filler, refinish, and blend into the neighboring panels so there is no visible boundary.

Hail and lot damage

A hailstorm across Franklin County fills the shop with hood and roof dents at once, most of it repairable with the paint intact. Parking lot door dings are the everyday version and usually a same-week job.

Bring it by

Call (802) 782-5373. Assessing a dent takes a few minutes and tells you which of the two categories you are dealing with.