Paintless dent repair vs Wrap...Help!

Hi guys. First time on here as well as a first Tacoma for us. We have a 2023 trd sport double cab, in the Lunar rock color. We absolutely love the truck and got a really good deal on it as it was hit with hail. (only 23,000kms) We knew going in to this that we would have to spend thousands on repairing the damage. My question is should we repair the hail damage (Which affects the roof, hood, and entire drivers side) by using paintless dent repair, ($8000) or repair all the dents with bondo and wrap it? ($4000 & we would try to go with a color that looks similar) I might try to tackle the dent repair myself and focus on the one drivers side and hood only, and just accept the damage on the roof. Any input would be appreciated. Thx in advance

 

Take it down a few narrow trails and scratch the hell out of it and then you wont notice the hail!

I would shop around for a PDR guy who will cut you a deal on the truck. Odds are you can find someone willing to do the whole truck on a weekend for cash. I have a guy in the midwest who charges $25 per quarter or smaller ding but I have to have a couple hundred lined up before he comes out.

 

thanks airforce, we will inquire around. We are in the Okanagan area here in BC.

 

Does your insurance not cover hail damage?

 

Because there have been so many hail damage claims, they cannot keep up with the repairs, and we bought this out of province, so no.

 

So for some reason the previous owner did not repair the damage?
Thats seems suspicious. The lunar rock color is highly desired

Assuming that the damage was taken into account at purchase price wise
wrapping a truck thats a year old seems foolish.

Isn't the truck worth more with the damage removed/repaired?

 

Its a long story. Bought it from a Toyota dealership. Previous owners got the run around as the repairs was estimated to take up to a year to get repaired, and they didn't want to wait. they traded it in for a new one and took a huge loss. Again, we knew going into this deal, we would be on the hook for the repairs. I'm siding towards getting someone to do the repairs here via paintless dent method.

 

Id look at just finding the parts you want from a junk yard. All those body parts are simple bolt on. That should take care of everything but the roof. And you throw a sick roof rack from RCI up on that..

Lunar Rock isn't that rare anymore. I see several in parts inventory now.

Someone might want the damaged sport hood because it's got a scoop.

Others will tell you "it won't match" yes it will. It will match. It will match way better then some shitty paint job a local crackhead comes up with. Find the parts unmolested off a salvaged lunar tacoma

 

I would ditch the body filler and wrap idea. More than likely the damage will still show through the wrap. I would live with it for now and work to accumulate the parts that are easily replicable. Such as the hood, bedside. Even doors if need be. Then pay a PDR guy to fix what is left and have those replacement panels painted if you cannot source the same color code. Good advise on adding a roof rack or any accessories that will deflect attention. OR, add a roof rack, replace the hood and take it down some trails. At least you do not have to care about door dings.

 

You basically have a new truck. I'd lean towards pdr. Always preferred to any repair involving bondo and also painting and trying to match. Especially if you plan on keeping it for awhile. I had hail damage on mine despite it being covered with heavy cloth cover. Had pdr done and it looks new. Haven't had a really good inspection as it's dirty and don't want to touch it until it warms up so I can hand wash it well and inspect. You might have a hard time finding a pdr repair person as most are in Calgary due to the hail storm in August. A little wait won't hurt.

 

Save your money and just drive it.

Do no attempt body work if you have no experience and are expecting a good result.

 

If you want to save some coin you could always do some body filler (I would pay someone with experience to do this) and then raptor liner it. I had a ding in my front steel bumper in my black Silverado (got hit in a parking lot). I didn't feel like spending $1,000 on a new bumper so I took it off. Body worked it. Used a little skim coat of filler then sprayed it with Raptor Liner. And it came out awesome.

 

I had over $12000 in hail damage before PDR even starts they evaluate the truck as a whole in my case it was easier and cheaper to replace the hood and reskin the roof. You might want to look at this option since it’s where most of the hail damage ends up. If you fix those 2 things it might make the rest of the damage easier to live with.

 

I was out in Death Valley one summer and a fleet of test cars went by- no doubt testing their new models for heat resistance. One thing was interesting in that they wrapped them with swirl patterns to hide their looks from the new car paparazzi. The swirls were about 6 inches in diameter and covered the entire vehicles. They made a cool pattern and were quite effective. Maybe you could do the same with wrap There are some really neat designs people have used with stickers like that. Shop around, it could cost less if were small wrap based stickers instead of the full body.

 

As a long time Colorado resident, you will either have to learn to live with your golf ball truck or sell. It is not worth it to fix.

 

Put bullet hole stickers on them and call it a day.

 

I'd look on a site like www.car-part.com that checks junkyards for whatever body panels I could find in the correct color and bolt them on. Hood, door, and fender aren't hard to unbolt and bolt back up. You could cut your dented panel count to the roof and driver's side bed with a little luck.

 

You forgot the fake vents!

 

I have Raptor lined a few things on my truck. It ends up getting shredded, then the rust begins. And it is a pain to remove. Look snice at first though.

 

Put enough shit on it and no one will notice the dents.