How a Simple Dent Turned into a Complete Disaster”
We see all sorts of repair jobs come through our doors. Some are standard—bumper scuffs, cracked mirrors, the occasional “I definitely didn’t see that post” incident. Others? Well, others deserve their own special place in the Hall of Fame for Questionable Life Choices.
And that brings us to Colin.
Now, Colin is a self-proclaimed “hands-on” kind of guy. Loves a good DIY challenge. He’s the type to tell you, “Why pay someone when I can do it myself?” before promptly breaking something and paying double.
So when he discovered a dent in his rear quarter panel—thanks to a poorly judged reverse manoeuvre involving his wheelie bin—did he call a professional? No, he did not.
Instead, Colin did what every overconfident DIYer does:
👉 He Googled it.
👉 He found a YouTube video.
👉 He thought, That looks easy enough.
Armed with a toilet plunger, a hairdryer, and a level of optimism that bordered on reckless, he set to work.
Now, the theory was simple:
1. Heat the dented metal to “soften” it.
2. Use suction (via said toilet plunger) to pull the dent out.
3. Stand back and admire his handiwork, smugly declaring, “See? Didn’t need a body shop!”
Reality, however, had other plans.
The hairdryer technique? Not hot enough. So Colin upgraded to… a heat gun. Because when in doubt, apply more heat.
This resulted in two things:
1. The paint blistering ever so slightly (which he ignored).
2. The metal getting way too hot.
But undeterred, Colin moved to step two: The Plunger Pull.
With one mighty schlurp, he yanked the plunger with all his might. And the dent did pop out… sort of.
The problem? Metal has memory. And when it’s manipulated the wrong way, it doesn’t just pop back into place—it stretches.
So instead of one smooth, dent-free panel, Colin now had a bumpy, dimpled mess that looked suspiciously like a golf ball.
But was Colin worried? Not yet.
Oh no, he had one more bright idea: “I’ll just tap it out with a hammer!”
This resulted in:
🚨 Even more dents.
🚨 Paint cracking (oops).
🚨 A slow, sinking realisation that he had definitely made things worse.
And that’s when he finally—begrudgingly—brought his car to us.
Colin arrived looking like a man who had just experienced an unexpected life lesson. He casually threw out, “I, er… might have made it worse.”
We took one look at his car and saw what can only be described as a metallic homage to a driving range.
After a thorough assessment, we broke the news: If you’d come to us first, this would have been a quick, simple repair. But now? We’re looking at full panel reshaping, repainting, and—because we’re nice—refraining from laughing too loudly at your expense.
The final bill? Considerably more than if he’d just let us handle it in the first place.
The moral of the story?
💡 If you don’t want your car looking like it’s spent the weekend at St Andrews, leave dent repairs to the professionals. Because trust us—there are some balls you don’t want.
