Door ding repair recommendation

[LANI86]

Hi folks,

Sadly, I've noticed my passenger door on my FRS with about a 3 inch vertical (very thin) door ding. The depth of the ding can not be felt at all (it honestly feels like there's nothing there) but when you look at the car at a certain angle you can make out the thin ripple

Is there any shop in LA where you recommend & trust getting this repaired?
The car only has 1000 miles and it's literally brand new, and I want the car to come out perfect. I honestly don't have any source to a reliable body shop / dent specialist. Furthermore, this is my one and only car so I'm hoping the car can be serviced in a day or two at the most.

Any help would be great. I live relatively closely to LAX so closer the better, but if there's anywhere worth the drive I am willing to consider.

Thanks members!

[Ehokana]

Sorry to hear about that man. I know how that feels- just got my first rock chip on the front bumper the other day and I was only at 650 miles on the odo.

I'll ask my friend who he used; he just had a nice ding worked out of the door of his M3 and you can't see any sign of it now.

[LANI86]

I honestly wish people would be more careful to people's property...but frankly, it's probably something unpreventable.

Thank you so much Ehokana. I honestly don't know any paintless dent remover shops nor if my ding is capable being serviced paintless....I just need someone (hopefully close to where I live) to help me out and get this removed. I've babied my FRS from the day I drove it out of the lot and I am devastated.

[DSOmegaX]

If you're willing to come down to Orange County I highly recommend mark davies, mddings.com. He's been doing it for over 20 years and is the go to guys for Ferrari and Maserati dealerships here.

One thing to note, what you're describing sounds like a character line rather than a ding and may be a natural crease in the metal; however I wouldn't know for sure unless I saw it so still get it checked out of course

[jc0522]

Originally Posted by DSOmegaX

If you're willing to come down to Orange County I highly recommend mark davies, mddings.com. He's been doing it for over 20 years and is the go to guys for Ferrari and Maserati dealerships here.

One thing to note, what you're describing sounds like a character line rather than a ding and may be a natural crease in the metal; however I wouldn't know for sure unless I saw it so still get it checked out of course

+1 for Mark. This guy is amazing. Give him a call, he's a mobile service so he MIGHT be willing to drive out to LA. If he doesn't pick up his phone, he's usually working on a car. He will ALWAYS return your call.

[LANI86]

Yea, I honestly can't recall if it was ever there or not. As stated, you can't feel it AT ALL. But you look at the car at an angle, the ripple is certainly there and it almost like looks like it's on the surface(clear coat) of the car; if that makes any sense.

Nevertheless, thank you DSO and jc. I'll shoot him an email and maybe try and take another picture to get a glimpse of it. It's so hard getting in on camera.

[N1rve]

Originally Posted by LANI86

Hi folks,

Sadly, I've noticed my passenger door on my FRS with about a 3 inch vertical (very thin) door ding. The depth of the ding can not be felt at all (it honestly feels like there's nothing there) but when you look at the car at a certain angle you can make out the thin ripple

Is there any shop in LA where you recommend & trust getting this repaired?
The car only has 1000 miles and it's literally brand new, and I want the car to come out perfect. I honestly don't have any source to a reliable body shop / dent specialist. Furthermore, this is my one and only car so I'm hoping the car can be serviced in a day or two at the most.

Any help would be great. I live relatively closely to LAX so closer the better, but if there's anywhere worth the drive I am willing to consider.

Thanks members!

I went to Longo and they charged me 58.88. Good as new However, they only do this Mon - Fri only. Weekends their PDR guy isn't there.

I tried Cosmetic Car Specialist Before...DO NOT GO THERE. I paid 90 bucks to get a my window scratched -___-

[LANI86]

Really?! Was it done in day?? But I may need to have it looked at a body shop first to see what exactly it is. As DSO had advised, it may be just a character on the paint?! as I seriously can't feel anything but indeed the crease is there. It maybe something on the clear coat.

In that case, does anyone know any good body shops who knows exactly what they're working with for a perfect result?

[LANI86]

Originally Posted by N1rve

I went to Longo and they charged me 58.88. Good as new However, they only do this Mon - Fri only. Weekends their PDR guy isn't there.

I tried Cosmetic Car Specialist Before...DO NOT GO THERE. I paid 90 bucks to get a my window scratched -___-

By the way, other than giving Longo a call, how do I make the appointment?
Is it indeed a flawless service?? I don't want it worsen but going to the wrong place. The crease is very thin.

[DSOmegaX]

I had a bad experience with Longo tbh. Took it once there for two dings on my passenger side door. They not only did a rough job on one of them (pushed the dent out but didn't smooth it out properly, creating a ripple in the metal), but said my second one couldn't be done cause they had no access to it. Again, took it to Mark and he got both perfectly (FYI this guy is trained to see dings like no other and is absolute perfectionist; he even questioned whether I had taken it to another guy to do PDR when he saw the ripple without me even mentioning anything beforehand)


Full disclosure: depending on where a ding is located, he may have to drill into the panel to get access. Of course, he will notify you beforehand before he proceeds but his process is clean, out of the way (if possible) and properly plugged with a rubber grommet so it looks natural. For some dings, this is the only way to get access. Places like Longo however will not proceed to do it due to corporate liability reasons.

[N1rve]

Originally Posted by LANI86

By the way, other than giving Longo a call, how do I make the appointment?
Is it indeed a flawless service?? I don't want it worsen but going to the wrong place. The crease is very thin.

The service is longo is hit or miss...kinda depends on who you get. However they out source their PDR to someone else. When I was calling to get my roof PDR, I was getting quotes like $150 dollars. Longo was charging $58.88.

I knew that if Longo messed up my roof they would be accountable even though their third party PDR was responsible.

[LANI86]

Originally Posted by DSOmegaX

I had a bad experience with Longo tbh. Took it once there for two dings on my passenger side door. They not only did a rough job on one of them (pushed the dent out but didn't smooth it out properly, creating a ripple in the metal), but said my second one couldn't be done cause they had no access to it. Again, took it to Mark and he got both perfectly (FYI this guy is trained to see dings like no other and is absolute perfectionist; he even questioned whether I had taken it to another guy to do PDR when he saw the ripple without me even mentioning anything beforehand)


Full disclosure: depending on where a ding is located, he may have to drill into the panel to get access. Of course, he will notify you beforehand before he proceeds but his process is clean, out of the way (if possible) and properly plugged with a rubber grommet so it looks natural. For some dings, this is the only way to get access. Places like Longo however will not proceed to do it due to corporate liability reasons.

Thank you DSO. Just got a hold of Mark.
Can't tell from my own eyes if this is indeed a "ding" but will set up an appointment with him to have my car looked at and serviced. It's on the passenger door so I'm assuming no hole is needed...

[LANI86]

Originally Posted by N1rve

The service is longo is hit or miss...kinda depends on who you get. However they out source their PDR to someone else. When I was calling to get my roof PDR, I was getting quotes like $150 dollars. Longo was charging $58.88.

I knew that if Longo messed up my roof they would be accountable even though their third party PDR was responsible.

Hey N1,

Where was your dent by the way??
Was it on the door? and did they take off your door panel or drill a hole??

[N1rve]

Originally Posted by LANI86

Hey N1,

Where was your dent by the way??
Was it on the door? and did they take off your door panel or drill a hole??

I had 2 dents on my car before...

Dent #1 - 1 - Driver Door
Dent #2 - 2 - Roof

They didn't remove the panel or anything, they just wedged a metal rod through the window seal and slowly pushed it back out.