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| FEATURE ARTICLE |
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| The
Dent Devils Get To the Heart & Soul Of A Dent |
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“I
focus on the big stuff,” says Eddie Martin, founder of
San Diego, California’s hottest Paintless Dent Repair
business. Eddie can concentrate
his efforts today on doing the best dent repair in the
area because he virtually watched the PDR industry grow
from infancy into a mature and profitable business,
while he honed his own skills and used his natural
ability in mechanics to follow along in the shadows. Eddie can get to the heart and soul of a great big, nasty-looking dent because he has experience in it all: paint and automotive body work; reshaping metal; building tools; going mobile; and automotive detailing. Today, PDR has evolved into a high tech means for doing it all and doing it all, well. After graduating from high school in 1983, Eddie won a 2-year tuition scholarship to a Texas trade school where he showed great promise as an automotive paint and body technician. In January 1987, after spending Thanksgiving with family in San Diego, he moved his wife from Texas to San Diego and immediately found work and success in a paint and body shop. It was in the early 1990’s when Eddie first experienced PDR firsthand. “In the beginning, it was very,” Eddie recalls. So he did some research. “Tools were expensive, when you could get them, and many of them were handmade. But I always had a knack for all about. In a couple of instances, it took putting things mechanical, so I began fooling around with it and as I continued to work at it, I began making my own tools.” The body shop business was very helpful in developing this natural talent since he worked daily in reshaping metal and welding. But Eddie also had another knack. “I am to an automobile what a diamond dealer is to a diamond,” Eddie explains, “I see flaws where no one else sees them. I recently had a BMW owner who brought his car in for a couple of dings. I did an inspection of the car and found several other dents he didn’t know a light on it for him to see them. He was elated and impressed.” Eddie continued to practice and watch. By 1995, life and career changes came his way. He left the paint and body shop industry and opened his own detailing business called, The Detail Man. “I believe I had one of the first fully equipped mobile detailing units in San Diego,” Eddie remembers. He had a 1995 Chevy truck and using scrap metal and his welding and mechanical skills, he enclosed a trailer to which he pulled behind the truck. He outfitted the trailer with a hot steam cleaner, a custommade vacuum cleaner, a carpet extraction unit and various other necessities, and struck out on the road. Even then, Eddie took on the big stuff. He tackled mobile homes and RVs; he pulled dashes apart and removed entire consoles, seats and carpeting down to the metal frames in order to give them and automotive vehicles a thorough cleaning. He took on vehicles that were totally trashed and repainted mobile homes, adding stripes and other décor, which often made them look close to new. |
 Eddie noticed most detailers did not know how to truly deep clean, so his success came as customers saw the difference between his work and the average detailer’s work. He charged $100 just to start, and he made good money. When Eddie decided to sell the Detail Man business, it consisted of 2 fully equipped units and he was building a third, with up to four guys working for him. “I got tired of dealing with employees and I do not think I will ever go back to that kind of responsibility,” Eddie muses. By 2001, Eddie was doing a bulk in dent work, in spite of the detailing focus of his business. “During those years, I was not very confident in myself. I would fix a dent, but I was afraid to try to make a living doing it. But I had family-members who were always commenting I was really good at it. They felt I had talent. It was my mother-in-law who paid for me to pursue extensive training. By that time, PDR had changed significantly.” Indeed it had. Eddie discovered there were manufactured tools available so he no longer had to make his own. He also came to realize people had developed techniques for doing the work and openly, techs shared information about the industry, tools, products and techniques. Training gave him the chance to fine tune his skills, which in turn built up his confidence and eventually led him to ways to market himself, even in a competitive market like San Diego. “A year and half ago, I added some other services to the Dent Devils line like paint protection film, headlight resurfacing, windshield repair, reshaping bumpers and even some training.” Today Eddie Martin and his Dent Devils do the work competitors claim cannot be done. His 24’ former Fed Ex truck has been retrofitted, has an awning in the event of rain or extreme weather, carries an air compressor, roll-around tool boxes, custom tools and special lights that highlight the rig. The Dent Devil rig won 1st Place at the 2007 Mobile Tech Expo for best mobile set-up. “I enjoy the Mobile Tech Show because I get a chance to hang out and talk face-to-face with people I have been communicating with for years via email and Internet forums.” “I focus on the big stuff,” Eddie repeats, and if there is anyone who knows how to get to the heart and soul of a big nasty dent – it’s Eddie Martin and his Dent Devils. For more information contact Dent Devils, 1311 Grand Ave, San Diego, CA 92109; 619 726-6767; Email eddie@thedentdevils.com or visit www.thedentdevils.com. |
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