About Us

Referrals are the Reward for
Quality Control

Midlands Business Journal, March 8, 2002

Hailstorms and tight parking spots that cause door dings boost Hotrod Paintless Dent Repair’s businss, but Shawn Dice, an owner of the Omaha shop, looks to something over which he and the other owners have some control for growth.

“We have control over how the cars look when they leave,” he said. “Our policy is if they don’t look good, we don’t charge the customer. That helps the customer feel more at ease about the process, and we get lots of referrals. Referrals are our number one source of customers.”

Dice said no customer has been displeased with the condition of his vehicle, so the policy has not been enforced.

Hotrod’s business has increased each of its six years, and hailstorms have had a lot to do with its expansion, he said.

Last year was particularly busy, with the first hailstorm hitting the Omaha area April 10 and several other attacking vehicles throughout the spring and summer.

“When it first hit us, we were probably booked for a month to two months straight,” Dice said. “Customers had that long a wait.”

“I have a big list of people I know from working at another shop who can come into town and work for me. We had eight guys helping the five of us. We had quite a force working on cars, and the work was steady all summer and until the end of December.”

A major source of Hotrod’s business is car dealerships, especially when a hailstrom hits.

“The biggest amount of income is from used vehicles, “Dice Said. “Dealers like to have dent-free used cars because they are easier to sell. H&H Chevrolet is one of my biggest accounts.”

Other sources of business are auto body shops, insurance companies and individuals. Hotrod, which is at 4401 S 87th St., is listed by most insurance companies in Omaha as a source for paintless dent repair.

He said the process of paintless dent removal came about 20 years ago in a German BMW plant and eventually made its way to the United States. Dice described the technique as massaging the damaged metal back to it original form. It is done from the underside, using tool sets that can have 60 to 100 pieces in them.

“Lots of people wonder whether it will crack the paint, ” Dice said. “Paint today is so durable and pliable that it doesn’t crack unless somthing extra sharp punctures it.”

The advantage of paintless dent repair is a quick turnaround, with major hail damage taking a day and a half to two days to repair.

Retaining the factory finish on a vehicle is another benefit of paintless dent repair Dice said.

Although paintless dent repair is the cornerstone of the business, Hotrod also offers window tiniting, sells some car accessories and provides auto touchup services such as rock chip repair and windshield repair.

Dice said he sees the shop’s growth in future years coming from its ancillary services. People who come to the shop for dent repair will find that Hotrod handles other services and will come back in the future he said.

Dice established Hotrod six years ago after learning the paintless proces at another shop. With 11 years under his belt, he’s somewhat of a veteran in the relatively young industry of paintless dent repair.

His brother, David Dice, and Brian Brown later joined the businesss as partners. David Dice brought his experience in window tinting to Hotrod, and Brown has worked with Shawn Dice in the paintless dent removal business before he founded Hotrod.