1. The dents
2. Your matrix (price per dent, optional)
3. Time and cost
4. Risk, margin and context
Enter the dents and your costs, or load the example, then click Price this job.
Result
Time and cost by dent size
| Size | Dents | Tech hours | Labour cost per dent |
|---|
The quote as the hail count changes
| Hail count | Dents | Work days | Cost | Matrix | Price | Profit per tech day |
|---|
The arithmetic, and what it leaves out
- Repair time is the dent count in each size band times the minutes you take (dime 12, nickel 20, quarter 35, half dollar 60 to start), stretched by the aluminum and body-line shares you type. Replace the starting minutes with your own.
- Tech hours are repair time plus remove-and-install time. Labour is tech hours times your loaded rate. Work days are tech hours over techs times productive hours, rounded up, and overhead is work days times your daily stall figure.
- Cost-plus price is cost divided by one minus your margin. The matrix price is your per-dent rates times the counts. The quote is the higher of the two, never below your minimum charge.
- The total-loss line is a percentage of the vehicle value you type; real insurers set their own. The hail table scales every dent count together.
- Not modelled: sales tax, insurance, deductible handling, rental cars, glue-pull or paint extras beyond the time you enter, travel for a mobile job, and the insurer's own estimating software.
Common questions
How do I price paintless dent repair?
Count the dents by size band, multiply each band by the minutes it takes you, and stretch the time for aluminum panels and dents on body lines. Add remove-and-install time, convert hours to dollars at your labour rate, add overhead for each day the car holds a stall and the expected cost of comebacks, then divide by one minus your margin. Compare that with your per-dent matrix and quote the higher number.
How does a hail damage matrix work?
A matrix gives a price per dent by size band, usually dime, nickel, quarter and half dollar, with surcharges for aluminum, roof and body-line dents. It is quick to quote but flat: it cannot see that a car with half its dents on a roof rail takes much longer. This tool shows when your matrix is below the cost-plus price.
Why does aluminum cost more to repair?
Aluminum is stiffer and cracks paint more easily, so each dent takes longer and more care. Enter the share of dents on aluminum panels and how much longer they take, and the time and price follow.
When does an insurer total a hail-damaged car?
Insurers compare the repair estimate with the car's value. Many use a threshold in the range of 70 to 100 percent, and it varies by company and state. Enter the vehicle value and your assumed threshold to see how close a quote is. This is a rule of thumb, not the insurer's decision.
How do I show PDR is cheaper than a body shop?
Enter the conventional repair estimate and the tool shows the saving. PDR avoids repainting, filler and the extra rental days, which is the argument to make in the estimate.
What does this leave out?
Sales tax, insurance, deductible handling, rental car costs, paint-repair or glue-pull extras beyond the time you enter, travel to a mobile site, and the insurer's own estimating software. It is a quoting aid, not an estimate of record.
Is my data uploaded?
No. Everything runs in your browser tab and nothing is sent anywhere. There are no accounts. The share link keeps your numbers in the link itself, which you choose whether to send.