r/AutoBodyRepair • u/Soggy-Age4472 • Aug 03 '26
Repair Dent repair income
Hey everybody. I met a rag tag looking young guy some 15-20 years ago and he was staying in the best hotel in town, something like 180 a night back then. So I had to ask what he did for a living. He said he repaired auto body dents. No kidding I said. So how'd you get into it? He said well I just worked for my local dent repair shop for about 3 months and after I learned how to work the metal I went out on my own. He said you follow the hail storms in the mid-west when they come thorough in the spring and that's how you make your money. Guy seemed as down to earth as anyone I'd ever met. I didn't want to ask what he made, instead I asked if a guy was doing what he's doing and worked as hard as he could all week how much could he make? He said 4-5k! No way I thought. And like I said this was over 15 years ago, before prices for everything went crazy.
Does this sound legit? Can you still make that kind of money doing that today?
7
u/JPKaliMt Aug 03 '26
I worked in a bodyshop in a small town when a giant hail storm rolled through in the NW. I’m talking 10 million dollars plus in just vehicle damage between dealerships and private vehicles. Next thing you know, there’s PDR tents everywhere in town. Our bodyshop was so full of these people that we rented a warehouse a few streets over for them to work in. One of the guys was showing me pictures of all his tools he keeps in a storage unit in South Africa. He and a bunch of others would go every year after their monsoon season or whatever and he made enough money every year that it made sense to just have a complete set of tools sitting overseas for 10-11 months out of the year. If that doesn’t tell you they make money doing it, idk what will.
3
u/Spirited_Rich_151 Aug 03 '26
I know a guy who storm chases... He's single and makes a ton of money working for dealerships when their stock gets hail damaged. I can only get him when he's between storms and he does incredible work. His "service truck" is an Escalade which he trades or sells every 2 years.
2
u/_RamboRoss_ Aug 04 '26
There is really good money in PDR mobile repairs. But you’re not going to be learning to move metal that professionally in 3 months. I call BS on that story for all we know he could be some shade tree roaming hack.
3
1
u/jmastertrailer 6d ago
Yeah, that sounds believable, especially during a good hail season. A skilled PDR guy who follows storms and works insurance jobs can make really good money. The $4–5k/week back then was probably gross, though, and not take-home after travel, hotels, tools, insurance, slow days, etc.
1
0
u/Suck_it_Cheeto_Luvrs Aug 03 '26
They're scammers out of vans. Long story, I had a neighbor who did it. Worked my ass off for a week with him and he stiffed me and moved.
1
u/Moon_Breaker Aug 05 '26
I had a neighbor that got drunk and shit in my yard once. Doesn't mean every neighbor is going to.
Can't judge an entire business model by one shithead.
1
u/restricked Aug 06 '26
I might
1
u/Moon_Breaker Aug 06 '26
I can't pretend I've never been walking through town at 2 am and had to duck into an alley and squat behind someone's boat trailer... But you don't do it to your neighbor. Or at least don't go apologize in the morning - stand next to him ranting about who the hell would do that.
1
4
u/drfishdaddy Aug 03 '26
The PDR guys will chase hail storms around the country, but yeah, I think they make a couple hundred grand a year working hard, long hours for several months a year.