biggame

iTrader: (9)

Same thing happened to me when I had my roof painted. The buffer leaned across the roof rails to buff the center of the roof, leaving dents from his arms.
Good news is I had a really, really good paintless dent guy. He used a tool he glued to the dent, and worked it out to perfection!

ph0bolus

That's honestly the only cause I can think of. Maybe under the right settings, the metal on the roof rails are more malleable which leads to these dents. I'm fairly certain these were not here prior to the detail. I've cleaned and waxed it before, where the car was just as shiny and have never noticed them. Extremely disappointed at how frail the metal is...good things to come if and when I get in an accident I guess...knock on wood.

rj4510

ph0bolus

Yeah, I visited that one 2IS thread that someone had posted earlier, and it does seem somewhat similar. Still disappointing to say the least.

lamikela1

This could be from someone supporting their weight while getting into the car. If they hold on to that area with their fingers it would put a lot of stress on that portion of the roof. I had this happen on my '13 ES after letting a valet park the car. Since I could not prove it I couldn't get them to pay for it. I to have a dashcam now just for this kind of thing although it probably won't help with a dent in that area unless there was a loud sound associated with it.

bclexus

I think any half-decent PDR guy can do a few glue pulls and tap downs to get rid of those roof dents completely.

SpicedRum

You're probably right. It had been a number of years since I read about the dry ice trick.

peasodos

iTrader: (1)

I once tried to do PDR but ended up making it worse. Then I conceded and went to a professional PDR place and perfect result. I'd leave PDR to the professionals.

mjeds

yeah I'm going to bet it was you leaning/reaching and yes the metal is soft.


you should invest in one of these:

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200611441_200611441?cm_mmc=Bing-pla&utm_source=Bing_PLA&utm_medium=Material%20Handling%20%3E%20Work%20Platforms%20%3E%20Folding%20Platforms&utm_campaign=Ironton&utm_content=37815&msclkid=6a219cc446de1745ded6c628c3ef6fcf




I have one for my detailer when he comes over to do my cars because I don't want him leaning against the cars and scratching the doors with his belt while he does the roof.

JDR76

I'm really puzzled by this. I'm having a hard time with the "elbow theory".

I double checked my GS and as I had expected, there are no dents (phew). But I tried pressing on that area and couldn't even get the area to flex (in the way you can if you push on the door or a fender). A curved piece of metal is quite strong (essentially an arc). It's odd that others have found these dents as well. I'm left scratching my head.

mjeds

the question is this:

was he using a orbital machine to polish, and if he was, then he was putting a lot of pressure on that area to hold the machine and polish the roof, a lot longer and a lot more pressure than just pushing on it. could have also been the machine pressing against the area while polishing.


he said detail so to me he was using an orbital, if he wasn't then I agree with your, something else is amiss, only the OP can answer that.

peasodos

iTrader: (1)

The guy dropped something on the roof in that area like the polishing/buffing machine or something else. I know for a fact when I clean my car if there was any new dents. If I brought it to a detail show and received it back like that I would raise hell.

ph0bolus

Yes, I was using a DA, but I don't think I was even using that much pressure to keep it in check. There were even times when I was doing the middle of the roof where I held the DA with one hand. Even still, I'm pretty sure it was due to me leaning on the rail.

mjeds

leaning on the rail and putting pressure on the DA, you may not think it is a lot but the vibration of the DA and the time and force leaning on the rail can cause this. as I said, get a work platform that will put you above the rail line of the car so you don't have to lean against the car. $50 is nothing when you compare it to the cost of fixing the dents and the frustration you feel because it happened.

Plus you will not scratch the side of your car if you are wearing jeans with metal buttons or a belt.

ph0bolus

Oh, I actually was using a folding chair to reach the middle of the roof. I'm 5'7 so standing on something to get to the middle was mandatory.