About Us (A&G Dent Repair)
I grew up in a family where challenges at home impacted my early school years. Despite these difficulties, I discovered a passion for working with my hands, much like my biological father. He owned a very successful body shop for over 20 years, at the age of 13, I started working for him during school breaks and summers, immersing myself in the auto body repair industry.
I had the privilege of working with Freddy, a long time auto body repair technician and a remarkable teacher, who imparted invaluable lessons about auto body repair. He emphasized the importance of maintaining a clean work environment and keeping track of tools, instilling in me a strong work ethic. I can still hear his voice today. My initial focus was on auto body repair, but my curiosity soon led me to explore auto painting.
Under the guidance of Jeff and my cousin Troy, two of the best painters in the area, I honed my painting skills. Jeff, in particular, was generous with his knowledge, teaching me everything he could. After my father sold the business, I continued painting cars in various shops until I landed a job at Collision Revision in Peoria.
It was at Collision Revision that I first encountered Paintless Dent Repair (PDR). Witnessing a PDR technician flawlessly repair a dent without painting sparked my interest. I pursued formal training in Kansas City, Kansas, and graduated from a 30-day PDR course. I balanced painting cars with perfecting my PDR skills, eventually securing side gigs at small dealerships.
My career took a significant turn when I landed a job in Naperville IL, learning from a skilled technician named Jack. However, the economic crash forced me back into auto painting temporarily. Determined to pursue PDR full-time, I started my own business with the help of Tracy, a general manager at a dealership in Sandwich IL. His support secured my initial dealership account, providing the foundation for my venture.
The early years were tough, but discovering hail damage work transformed my career. In 2019, a significant hailstorm landed me back close to my hometown in Oswego IL, prompting me to establish a brick-and-mortar location.
In 2020 we decided to purches our current facility in Plainfield IL and it has provided stability and allowed us to flourish.
Since then, A&G Dent Repair has thrived, and I couldn’t be prouder of our journey. Thank you for taking the time to learn about our story.
What is Paintless Dent Removal? (PDR Repair)
Paintless Dent Repair (PDR), also known as "Paintless Dent Removal", describes a method of removing minor dents from the body of a motor vehicle. A wide range of damage can be repaired using PDR as long as the paint surface is intact. PDR may be used on both aluminum and steel panels.
The most common practical use for PDR is the repair of hail damage, door dings, minor creases, large dents and bodylines damage.
The method can also be utilized to prepare a damaged panel for repainting by minimizing the use of body filler. This technique is currently known as "push to paint" or "push for paint". This can save insurance companies and consumers thousands of dollars.
Limiting factors for a successful repair using PDR include the flexibility of the paint (most of today's refined automotive paint finishes allow for successful PDR) and the extent to which the metal has been stretched by the damage, which depends on the thickness of the metal, the curvature or flatness where the damage occurred and the intensity of the impact. Generally speaking, the shallower the dent, the greater the likelihood of paintless dent repair being a suitable option.
Even dents several inches in diameter can be repaired by this method as long as the metal and paint are not stretched. Most experienced technicians can repair a shallow large dent or crease to an acceptable level, but very sharp dents and creases may not be suitable for PDR.
History of Techniques (PDR)
Paintless dent removal was invented by Oskar Flaig in February 1960 during the "International Motor Sports Show" in New York City, USA.
Oskar Flaig was an ordinary member of staff at Mercedes. His job was to take care of the paintwork of all the show cars presented at trade fairs. Damage, scratches on the paintwork and small dents, produced by the public during the day, needed to be re-painted at night, so the vehicles would be in perfect condition on the next day. At the trade fair in New York City, Oskar Flaig used a hammer handle to push out a small dent, so he would need to apply less filler before painting. Nevertheless, the result already looked perfect after pushing. This was the beginning of paintless dent removal.
PDR was introduced in Argentina in 1972 then in 1978 in Australia; finally re-introduced to North America in 1986 under the name of [Dent Wizard International], by founder Natalio Balderrama, and consumer awareness of the method has grown in recent years. It was introduced in Mexico in 1994 by father and son Jose Velasco Orozco & Jos? Velasco Ramirez through there company Dent-Magic de Mexico.
Our Certifications
Vale Solutions / PDR Nation / ARC
Click on any of the logos below to view our full accreditations.
I have taken the time and effort to go through the rigorous hands on
Vale Certification Testing and the PDR Nations Certifications.
Vale certification is a hands on timed evaluation of a technicians skills. It is the only true certification for PDR recognized nationally by insurance companies, Body Shops and Technicians alike. It will challenge a technicians skill on steel panels as well as aluminum panels. A picture of very high magnification is taken of the panel by their "dent reader" and is then downloaded into their computer system. Then using their "dent cannon" with specific amount of air pressure, they shoot a dent into the panel at the same spot where the picture was taken prior to the dent created.
The technician then has a certain amount of time to complete the dent to an extremely minimal tolerance level. There are several levels of certification with "Master Craftsman 3" being the most elite (and by far the hardest to pass). We insist on our technicians testing and passing the Master Craftsman for PDR certification. Upon successful completion of testing, the technician is then awarded a certification number that is then recorded at valetrainingsolutions.com making it easy for the consumer to validate authenticity.