Short version: Most car damage falls into seven buckets: door ding, round dent, crease, body-line crease, edge dent, hail dent, and oil-canning. A door ding is a pea-to-nickel-sized dent with the paint intact, $75 to $150 mobile PDR. A round dent is anything bigger than a quarter, $150 to $400 depending on size and panel curve. A crease is a long narrow dent from a stick door or shopping cart corner, $200 to $600. A body-line crease that crosses the panel's character line is harder access and runs $400 to $900. An edge dent on a door edge or hood lip is the toughest paintless fix and often pushes $500 to $1,200. Hail prices by dent count ($50 to $150 each in a multi-dent storm). Oil-canning, the flat-panel flexing you can pop with a finger, is often not a paintless dent repair (PDR) job. After 20+ years pulling dents across the DMV, here is the photo vocabulary, the 30-second fingernail test to tell paint-broken from paint-intact, and a diagnostic table that maps each type to size, location, PDR fixability, and a 2026 DMV mobile price range.
The 7 main types of car dents and what each one looks like
The vocabulary the body-shop industry uses is sloppy: customers say "I have a dent" for everything from a 2 mm cart kiss to a fist-sized crease. The repair price ranges from $75 to $1,200 depending on the type, so getting the diagnosis right before you call matters. Here is the way I sort damage in 20 seconds when a customer texts me 3 photos from a parking lot.
- Door ding. Small (pea to nickel), round-ish, on a door panel, paint intact. The classic parking-lot hit.
- Round dent. Bigger than a quarter, generally round, paint intact, anywhere on the car.
- Crease. Long and narrow, looks like a finger ran across the panel. Usually from a stick door or shopping cart corner.
- Body-line crease. A crease that crosses the panel's character line (the sharp ridge running along the side).
- Edge dent. Damage at the very edge of a door, hood, fender, or trunk lid. Hardest access for PDR.
- Hail dent. Pattern of round dents across hood, roof, trunk, and quarter panels. See hail damage repair cost for storm-severity pricing.
- Oil-canning. A flat panel section that flexes in and out when pressed, like the bottom of an oil can. Different mechanics from a true dent.
For the per-dent price floor on single jobs across all these types see how much does paintless dent repair cost. For the structural question of which of these are paintless-fixable in the first place see what dents can PDR fix.
Door ding vs dent: what is the actual difference
A door ding is a specific subtype of dent. The trade definition: a door ding is a small (under nickel-sized), round or oval, single-impact dent on a vertical panel, with the paint surface intact. The word "dent" is the umbrella term for any deformation in sheet metal; "ding" narrows that to the small parking-lot version. The price difference matters: a true door ding is $75 to $150 at a mobile PDR rate because the metal access is easy and the dwell time is short. A "dent" that is dime-to-quarter sized is $150 to $250. Once you cross quarter-size you are in round-dent territory ($250 to $400) or crease territory if the shape is long instead of round. See door ding repair cost for the DMV per-size breakdown.
The other distinction the trade uses: a "ding" almost always comes from another car door swinging open in a parking lot, which is why door panels and the leading edges of front quarter panels are 80% of door-ding work. A "dent" can come from anything: a hailstorm, a shopping cart, a kid's bike falling, a backed-into mailbox, a ball thrown wrong. Same metal mechanics, different stories.
The 30-second fingernail test: is your paint broken or intact
The single biggest price driver on any damage is whether the paint surface is broken. Paint-intact damage is paintless-fixable and stays in factory paint. Paint-broken damage requires touch-up or repaint and falls outside PDR pricing into body-shop or chip-repair territory.
The test runs in 30 seconds in your driveway. Drag your fingernail across the damage perpendicular to its longest direction. If your fingernail glides smoothly across with no catch, the paint surface is intact and the damage is a PDR candidate. If your fingernail catches on a line or an edge, the paint is broken (cracked, chipped, or sheared) and you need either paint touch-up (small chip, $80 to $200) or panel respray (larger area, body-shop territory). See paint chip repair cost for the touch-up side and car scratch repair cost for the scratch end of the spectrum.
Three more checks I run on the first photo a customer sends me:
- Does light still reflect cleanly off the dented area? If yes, paint is healthy. If the reflection is broken, fractured, or there is visible bare metal showing, paint is compromised.
- Is the dent on a body line or off it? Off the body line is a normal PDR job. On or across the body line raises the price and the difficulty (see body-line crease section below).
- Is the dent on an edge or in the middle of a panel? Middle is the easiest paintless fix. Edges are the hardest and sometimes not paintless-fixable.
What a crease dent is and why it costs more than a round dent
A crease is a long, narrow dent with sharp shoulders on either side of a clear bottom line. Stick doors and shopping cart corners are the two most common causes in DMV parking lots. The reason a crease costs more than a round dent of the same length is the metal-work sequence: a round dent is one access point and a series of light pushes to walk the metal back to factory contour. A crease requires walking along the entire length of the dent with controlled pushes that release the metal's memory without overshooting and creating a high spot. A 4-inch crease that looks visually similar to a 4-inch round dent takes 2 to 3 times the dwell time and prices accordingly. Typical DMV mobile PDR pricing: 2-inch crease $150 to $250, 4-inch crease $300 to $500, 6 to 8 inch crease $400 to $700, anything over 8 inches usually $600 to $900 depending on depth.
Body-line crease: when the dent crosses the panel character line
Every modern car has at least one body line running horizontally along the side: a sharp ridge that gives the panel its character and stiffens the metal. When a crease damage crosses that body line, the price and the difficulty jump because the body line itself is harder steel and the access required to push the line back into factory shape without distorting either side of it is a multi-tool job. A body-line crease on a door is typically $400 to $700. A body-line crease on a quarter panel (which has tighter inside access through the trunk or wheel well) is $500 to $900. A body-line crease on a fender (toughest inside access, often requires removing the inner liner or pulling the headlight assembly) can run $600 to $1,200.
The tell on whether a crease crosses the body line: look at the panel from a low angle in good light. If the dent visually interrupts the ridge running along the side, the answer is yes. If the dent sits cleanly above or below the ridge with the ridge itself still sharp, the answer is no, and you are in the lower price band.
Edge dents: the hardest paintless fix on the car
Edge dents (damage right at the leading edge of a door, hood, fender, trunk lid, or roof) are the toughest PDR work on the car. Two reasons: the metal is at its most folded and work-hardened where the panel turns over to form the edge, so it resists reshaping more than open metal does. And the inside access is the most restricted because the edge is where the panel meets either the door frame, the hinge area, or the body seal. An edge dent on a door leading edge (where another door swings into yours) is $250 to $600 paintless. An edge dent on a hood lip from a falling shop tool or a low garage clip is $400 to $800. An edge dent on a trunk lid corner from a closing tailgate of another car at a stoplight is $500 to $900. About 15 to 20 percent of edge dents are not paintless-fixable at all and require glue-pull with a small paint blend, which is a body-shop step.
Hail dents: pattern recognition and per-dent storm pricing
Hail damage is not one dent. It is a pattern of round dents distributed across the upper horizontal panels (hood, roof, trunk lid) and the tops of the quarter panels and door tops. A storm-damaged car typically shows 30 to 300 dents in a recognizable scatter pattern. Per-dent pricing on hail mobile PDR runs $50 to $150 each depending on dent size and panel curve, with whole-storm jobs discounted to a per-job rate. A light storm (30 to 75 dents) is $1,500 to $4,500. A moderate storm (75 to 150 dents) is $3,500 to $8,000. A severe storm (150+ dents) is $7,000 to $15,000. The full per-dent and per-panel matrix lives in hail damage repair cost and the file-vs-cash deductible math is in hail damage insurance claim or cash pay.
Oil-canning: what it is and why it is often not PDR
Oil-canning is a panel deformation where a flat or gently curved section of sheet metal flexes inward and outward when pressed, like the bottom of an old oil can popping in and out. It is most common on hood centers, roof centers, and trunk lid centers, anywhere a large flat metal section sits without enough stiffening structure underneath. The dent is not a sharp impact dent; it is a metal-memory problem where the panel has lost its original tension and now flips between two stable shapes.
Standard PDR rods and glue tabs do not fix oil-canning reliably because the underlying problem is panel tension, not a localized dent that needs to be pushed out. Some oil-canning cases can be addressed with controlled heat (shrinking) plus very light press work, but a true oil-canning panel often needs body-shop work: stud welding plus pull-and-shrink, or in severe cases panel replacement. I am honest with customers in the driveway about which cases I can fix paintless and which need the body shop, because attempting PDR on a true oil-canning panel can make it worse.
Diagnostic table: type of dent by size, location, PDR fixability, and 2026 DMV mobile price
This is the cheat sheet I run in my head when a customer texts me photos. Use it to pre-diagnose your damage and get within $50 of an honest quote before you call anyone.
| Type | Visual | Size | Location | PDR fixable? | DMV mobile price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Door ding | Round, single impact, paint intact | Pea to nickel | Door panel (mid-height) | Yes (95% of cases) | $75-150 |
| Round dent (small) | Round, paint intact, off body line | Nickel to quarter | Door, fender, quarter | Yes | $150-250 |
| Round dent (medium) | Round to oval, deep, paint intact | Quarter to silver dollar | Hood, trunk, door | Yes (90% of cases) | $250-400 |
| Crease (small) | Long narrow, sharp shoulders | 1-3 inches | Door, fender | Yes | $150-300 |
| Crease (large) | Long narrow, deep, off body line | 4-8 inches | Door, quarter | Yes (85% of cases) | $300-600 |
| Body-line crease | Crosses panel character line | Any length | Door, quarter, fender | Yes but harder (70%) | $400-900 |
| Edge dent (door edge) | At leading edge of door | Small to medium | Door edge | Yes but harder (75%) | $250-600 |
| Edge dent (hood lip) | At hood leading edge | Small to medium | Hood lip | Yes (60%) | $400-800 |
| Hail dent (single) | Round, paint intact, in cluster | Pea to quarter | Hood, roof, trunk, door tops | Yes | $50-150 each |
| Oil-canning | Flat panel flexes when pressed | Hand-sized or larger | Hood center, roof, trunk | Sometimes (30%) | $300-700 if fixable, else body shop |
| Sharp dent (concentrated) | Pointed center, stretched metal | Any size | Anywhere | Sometimes (50%) | $200-500 if fixable |
These are honest DMV ranges for 2026 mobile PDR with factory paint intact. Aluminum panels (Tesla Model 3/Y rear quarters, Ford F-150 hood and bed, late-model Lexus and Jaguar hoods) run 25 to 40 percent above these ranges because the metal work-hardens faster and needs more dwell time. See aluminum body panel PDR for the structural reason. For Tesla-specific per-panel ranges see Tesla dent repair.
Why getting the diagnosis right saves you $200 to $800 at the body shop
The most common mistake DMV customers make: they see any dent and call a body shop, which quotes a full-panel sand-fill-paint job because that is what body shops do. A door ding that is $75 paintless at the curb becomes a $400 to $700 panel respray at a body shop, with disclosed paint work on resale and a 1-week shop stay plus rental. A small round dent that is $200 paintless becomes a $500 to $900 panel respray. A 4-inch crease that is $400 paintless becomes a $700 to $1,200 panel respray.
The other direction matters too. A customer with a true oil-canning panel sometimes calls a mobile PDR shop hoping for a cheap fix, and an honest tech will tell them it is a body-shop job. Customers with paint-broken damage think they can PDR their way out of it and end up needing the touch-up or respray anyway. The fingernail test and the diagnostic table above are the front-line tools to get the right answer before any money changes hands. See PDR vs body shop for the broader cost mechanics and mobile vs shop PDR for the same-day mobile case.
3 things I check in your driveway before I quote a dent
When I show up to look at a dent in Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, Falls Church, McLean, or anywhere in the DMV service radius, the in-person quote process takes 3 minutes and runs the same three checks every time.
- Backside access. I open the door, trunk, or hood and look at how the inside of the panel is built. Some panels (most door interiors, most trunk lids, most hood undersides) have open inside access. Others (quarter panels, some fenders, some structural areas) require removing inner liners or trim to reach the metal from behind. Backside access drives 30 to 50 percent of the time-and-price difference between two superficially similar dents.
- Light read on metal stretch. I shine a low-angle light across the dent and look at how the metal behaves at the bottom of the depression. A clean dent that has displaced metal but not stretched it pops back to factory shape cleanly. A dent that has stretched the metal at its center (sharp impact, edge-of-something hit) leaves a small high-spot risk after pulling and sometimes needs a final shrink step. Stretched metal raises the price 15 to 30 percent.
- Paint condition under the dent. Fingernail test in person, then a paint-thickness gauge if I have any doubt. Factory paint with a clean fingernail glide is the green light for PDR. Any paint break shifts the quote to either touch-up math (small) or body shop referral (large).
FAQs about types of car dents and how to identify them
What is the difference between a dent and a ding?
A ding is a specific subtype of dent: small (under nickel-sized), round or oval, single-impact, paint intact, usually on a door panel from another car door swinging into yours. "Dent" is the umbrella term for any sheet-metal deformation. Trade pricing: a true door ding is $75 to $150 mobile PDR; anything bigger or longer is "dent" or "crease" territory and prices accordingly.
How do I tell if my dent is paintless-fixable?
Run the 30-second fingernail test. Drag your fingernail across the damage perpendicular to its longest direction. If it glides smoothly, the paint is intact and the damage is a PDR candidate. If your fingernail catches on a crack or edge, the paint is broken and you need touch-up or respray instead of PDR.
What does a body-line crease cost to fix?
A body-line crease (a long narrow dent that crosses the sharp ridge running along the side of the car) runs $400 to $900 at a DMV mobile PDR rate depending on panel and length. It costs more than a normal crease because the body line itself is harder steel and the access required to push the line back to factory sharpness without distorting either side of it is a multi-tool job.
Can all door dings be fixed paintless?
About 95% of door dings with paint intact can be fixed paintless. The 5% that cannot are usually dings at the very edge of the door panel (less than half an inch from the leading edge) where backside access is restricted. Those sometimes require a glue-pull with light touch-up rather than full PDR.
What is oil-canning and can you fix it?
Oil-canning is when a flat panel section (usually hood center, roof center, or trunk lid center) loses metal tension and flexes between two stable shapes when pressed. About 30% of oil-canning cases can be addressed with controlled heat shrinking plus very light press work. The other 70% need body-shop work: stud welding plus pull-and-shrink, or panel replacement in severe cases. An honest PDR tech tells you which side of that line you are on before taking the job.
How fast can a door ding or crease be fixed in the DMV?
A door ding takes 30 to 60 minutes in your driveway. A small crease takes 60 to 90 minutes. A body-line crease takes 90 minutes to 3 hours. A medium round dent takes 60 to 120 minutes. Mobile PDR runs at your home or office address, so the only time you spend is the in-person quote (3 minutes) and the work itself. See how long does paintless dent repair take for the full timing breakdown by damage type.
Should I get a dent fixed before selling or trading in my car?
For most DMV used-car sellers and lease returners, yes. A typical $200 door ding repair returns $400 to $800 in trade-in or private-sale value because a clean panel removes the buyer's negotiating lever. Lease returns are even more clear-cut: a $250 paintless repair avoids a $500 to $1,200 lease-end damage charge. See lease return dent repair prep for the lease-specific math.