15 Types Of Car Dents
I remember talking to an auto body shop as a young driver about some dent repair advice. He was enthusiastically going on about the types of car dents.
I was like a deer in headlights when he asked me what kind of dent my car had. I had no clue, which left me unable to make informed choices about my car repair.
Knowing this information is important because, sooner or later, every car gets a few dents in its lifetime.
Car Dings
Car dings are the most minor dent of all. In fact, you might not even notice it. If anything, it may look like a tiny scratch.
There will not be any caving-in of the metal and the paint is usually undamaged. A ding can be caused, for instance, by something like a pebble hitting your car as you drive.
As such, you may never even know a ding is there at all. Even if you can't see it through the tiniest of all, car dents are still there.
Door Dents
Door dents are pretty common, especially in crowded parking lots. People park too close, rush to get errands done, get out of their own car, and "pow" you've got a dent in your door.
Another regular cause of these kinds of dents is shopping carts, which are left to roll freely when the wind picks up.
The severity of a door dent depends on how much force is behind the object and how large the object is that hits your door. It can be anything from a minor ding to a deeper, larger dent.
Hail Dents
There is a good reason hail storms are feared by car owners. Smaller hail doesn't do as much damage, but the larger the hail, the worse it can be.
That freak golf ball-sized hail can cause major damage all over the car's surface, resulting in some good-sized deeper dents. In general, hail at least one inch in diameter will leave the worst damage.
Crease Dents
Out of all of the types of car dents, this one seems more serious at first but is easily repaired. It happens when something impacts your car, then drags across it.
For example, a child on a bike sideswipes the car or a branch falls on it, then continues contact by dragging over the surface.
Usually, you can use paintless repair to fix it. However, failure to fix it will cause it to deepen and expand, causing more damage that then requires more involved repair.
Round Dents
A dimple might look good on you, but not on your car. These common types of car dents happen when a round object, for example, hail, causes a dimple upon impact.
This is a funneled round dent. If no dimple is created on impact, then it is known as a shallow round dent.
Edge Dents
Edge dents are found at the edge of the car door or sometimes a trunk where the edge meets the body frame.
It keeps the door from closing properly. Underlying metal is involved, and not fixing it can become dangerous if you can no longer secure your door properly.
Outie Dents
Outie dents happen from the inside out, with the trunk being the usual location. If your trunk is too full, when you close it hits an object inside that is sticking up too far, for instance, a suitcase.
This causes the dent to be on the inside of the truck door to push outward, causing a corresponding bump on the other side,
Paintless Dents
Paintless dents are types of car dents that can be repaired quickly and less expensively than others.
Strictly speaking, paintless dent repair (PDR) is environmentally safer and does not require changing or repainting the original paint.
Large Dents
Large dents are caused by different things but, in general, are about 10 inches in diameter when it comes to paintless dent repair.
It takes patience to repair in a more involved process with PDR or non-PDR repair. Rushing the repair for larger dents will result in worse and ongoing damage.
Minor Dents
Minor dents are very small, so you might be tempted to let them go since it is not very noticeable.
The thing is, these dents, while caused for assorted reasons, are notorious for rusting as time goes on. It is best to have them repaired before they become worse and much more expensive to do so.
Wrinkled Dents
Wrinkled dents appear much like crease dents as a longer oval that spreads out creasing and wrinkling from the point of impact. The terms are sometimes used interchangeably since they are alike.
Sharp Dents
Sharp dents occur along the swage of the car. On any car, there are small areas along the lines of the car that protrude just the tiniest bit. This is known as swage.
The sharp dent itself is when metal hits metal hard against metal with a sharp point of contact, usually along the swag.
The damage may not appear much on the surface, but the underlying panels will have deeper unseen damage. These are the most difficult to repair.
Multipoint Dents
Multipoint dents happen in collisions. They can happen all at once as the cars hit or one right after another as the cars change position as they collide. Repairs depend on the complexity and nature of the accident, among other factors.
Corner Dents
Corner dents are, unsurprisingly, located on the corners of a car. These dents are more difficult to repair since there is no flat surface area to work within.
The angle makes it difficult to achieve repairs, no matter which repair method is used. They are repairable but take more time and are a greater challenge.
Severe Dents
Severe dents are caused by hitting something else solid such as another car or a mailbox, perhaps a pole or tree. They are usually large but not always. More present is a buckling of metal with a broad diameter.