About 95% of hail damage can be repaired with paintless dent repair. The other 5% needs a body shop (or occasionally a panel replacement). The dividing line isn't dent count — it's paint integrity and how badly the metal has been stretched. Here's what separates the two categories.
What PDR can handle (the 95%)
Any dent where the paint is intact and the metal hasn't been stretched past its elastic limit. This covers:
- Small, medium, and most large dents — up to ~2.5 inches across, shallow to moderately deep
- Dents anywhere on flat panels — hood, roof, trunk, door centers, quarter panel centers
- Dents on gentle body curves — the crease patterns on modern sedans and SUVs
- Hundreds of dents per vehicle — we've done 400+ dent repairs when the damage profile is right
- Aluminum and high-strength steel — with heat-assisted technique and the 25% markup
- Double-metal panels — using glue-pull method instead of push method
What PDR can't handle (the 5%)
Four specific scenarios where we refer out to a body shop:
1. Cracked or chipped paint
If hail impact cracked the clearcoat or removed paint, PDR can't restore paint. The panel needs to be sanded and repainted, which is body-shop work. Fortunately this is rare — hail usually dents intact paint rather than cracking it, unless the stones were unusually large and sharp-edged.
2. Sharp body-line folds
Dents right on the sharpest fold of a body line — the kind you find at the front edge of a fender or along a pickup bed rail — can be impossible to pop back without stretching the metal. Shallow dents along gentler lines repair fine; sharp-fold dents may need panel replacement.
3. Previously filler-repaired panels
If someone used body filler on that panel for a previous repair, the filler absorbs the pushing force from behind. PDR becomes impossible — no amount of pressure will push through filler. These panels either need filler ground out (then repainted) or full replacement.
4. Damage where replacement is cheaper than repair
On a severe single-panel repair where dent count exceeds certain thresholds, the math sometimes favors replacing the panel over repairing it. This is rare on hail (because hail spreads damage across the whole vehicle rather than concentrating on one panel) but does come up occasionally on single-panel catastrophes.
How we tell the difference
Free 30-minute inspection under LED line boards. We check: (a) paint integrity across every panel, (b) depth and location of each significant dent, (c) any sign of prior filler work, (d) whether any panels are candidates for replacement. The verdict is usually clear within 15-20 minutes.
At the end, you get a straight answer: "PDR will fix this" or "this needs a body shop" or "this panel should be replaced." We don't take on jobs we can't finish well, and we don't refuse jobs that are actually repairable.
What about insurance's "total-loss" call?
Insurance adjusters sometimes declare a vehicle total loss based on body-shop math (where panel replacement estimates add up fast). PDR math often saves those vehicles because we don't replace panels. Before accepting a total-loss offer, always get a PDR inspection. Full total-loss guide.
What to do next
If your vehicle has any hail damage — regardless of how severe it looks — a 30-minute inspection tells you definitively what's possible. Start a claim or stop by our Olathe shop.