Vehicle expert appraisal

Technical damage assessment before deciding on the repair method

Valuing bodywork damage takes more than measuring a dent's diameter. What matters is its depth, its position on the panel, the condition of the paint, the panel material, access to the damage, body lines, reinforcements and any previous repairs. With hail damage, the number of deformations and how they're spread across the whole surface come into play too.

Clevermot draws on experience gained from PDR repairs and bodywork projects to assess not just how the damage looks, but the actual labour and technology needed to remove it. This means the opinion can indicate whether PDR, a hybrid repair, preparation for repainting or another repair process is justified.

In PDR calculations it's important to organise the damage by size and level of difficulty. For hail damage we also analyse the number of dents on each panel. We treat aluminium panels separately, since they need a different working technique and can involve different labour than comparable damage on steel.

The opinion can be supplemented after dismantling, if information not visible during the first inspection comes to light. In practice this matters for previous repairs, hidden reinforcements, layers of filler, or damage on the inner side of the panel.