any uk members

[Guest mairace]

hi everyone.

just joined up and am looking to get myself into pdr.

this forum is good and is the only one about that is worth using by the what I have read so far

is there any uk member on here that can help me out.

have just got myself some panles to start practicing on and am now hunting for some low budget tools to get to grip with befor I go spending a foryune on a 1.5K kit.

thanks

ian

[Guest leonpdr2008]

Hello Ian.

I'm from the uk I live down in east sussex,I'm just coming up to my first year learning pdr and I am doing some retail and trade work,but my skills and knowledge are limited to what I have learned in the last year.So I will try my best to help you.

I will be honest with you.THIS SKILL/ART is very very hard to learn.I spent the money I was going to spend on tools on some training,then got myself some top quality basic tools to start off with so I could practice practice practice.

Are you looking to do some proper training ? I think that would be a good way to start IMO.

[Guest mairace]

thanks alot for your reply sprayerman.

who did you do your training course, would you say you learnt alot from it?

im very interested in prd. im do alot of car detailing in my soare time and am quite a perfectionist so I can see myself being able to get pretty good at pdr if I put the effort and time in.

I have just bought a cheap ebay kit and am going to pick a few panels up the weekend. I just want to have a little play first before I commit to it and start spending money on training and good tools etc

I take it from your name you work in a bodyshop. do you paint and then just do the odd prd when they come in or are you doing it as job/career

thanks again

ian

[Guest leonpdr2008]

Hello ian

I did my training with Dentrix in hampshire,I learned alot from it and I now know that I would never learned pdr without the training.They are fantastic people running it and they are not just out to get your money an sell you tools,its worth having a look at their web site just google Dentrix pdr.

You were right about me being a painter,I've been doing it for 20yrs now so the pdr is a new string to my bow.I do some pdr at work but mainly for myself in my spare time,I would like to do it full time in the future.

Good luck with your practice panels at the weekend

regards sprayerman

[Guest screenman]

I run a training school in the UK and I would much rather you did not practise before coming to me, but dedicated yourself to practise afterwards. Like many things in life once you develop bad habits they are hard to break. What make tools did you buy off Ebay, also taking into consideration most PDR guys in the UK earn between £50,000 and £100,000pa it is worth considering doing the job properly and making a sensible investment into it.

[Guest naughtydog]

I run a training school in the UK and I would much rather you did not practise before coming to me, but dedicated yourself to practise afterwards. Like many things in life once you develop bad habits they are hard to break. What make tools did you buy off Ebay, also taking into consideration most PDR guys in the UK earn between £50,000 and £100,000pa it is worth considering doing the job properly and making a sensible investment into it.

I disagree - most are not earning 50k-100k - in their dreams...

The price of pdr is coming down all the time, they are doing panels now for prices they would never have dreamed of.

I bet maybe the top 10% of your students may do well, it's like window tinting - lots of people start a company and it folds, about 1/10 people who get trained actually go on a to make a career out of it.

[Guest screenman]

Sorry I should have added established PDR techs, I would say that far less guys who attend PDR classes succeed compared with tinting. I am certainly not saying tinting is easy in fact personaly I feel it is harder to learn than PDR. Just that with the tinting side there is always the flat glass option. I do have an interest in a tinting company so fully understand how hard it is to do.

I would say only 1 in every 200 guys that attend a PDR course ever end up making a living from it, most pack up the tools the minute they finish the course, but with practise and more practise and good basic training then you can do it. Trade prices have certainly dropped, whilst retail and fleet are holding upwell. I would rather not follow the herd when it comes to looking for work and advise others to do the same.

When I first talk to someone who thinks they may want to learn PDR I spend a lot of time and effort making sure they know how hard it is, I also only train 1 on 1 at most times 1 on 2 if the customers insist.

Sometimes my encouragement can sound a bit harsh, but a kick up the backside is often needed to get guys back on track.

[Diablo's Tint]

[Guest naughtydog]

I just felt the need to clarify things - you can give peolple false hope - which is never a good thing.

[b7adh]

where abouts are you based screenman and what sort of packages are available and prices, do you have a website.

brad