Remove damaged panels, and identify the family and properties of the plastic used on a vehicle.

“Remove damaged panels, and identify the family and properties of the plastic used on a vehicle.” is a core task performed by Automotive Body and Related Repairers. Among the occupation's 25 rated tasks, workers place it 7th by importance (#19 most important). About 83% of workers say it is relevant to their job.

This is a single occupation-specific task statement from O*NET. The figures below describe how central the task is to the job and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the task will be automated.

Work activities this task rolls up to

O*NET groups concrete tasks into broader work activities shared across many occupations.

• Disassemble equipment. in Handling and Moving Objects

AI exposure

The OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rates this task E2. Exposure with tools — software built on top of a language model (not the model alone) could cut the time by at least half.

Exposure measures whether a model could meaningfully speed the task up — it is an estimate of overlap with model capabilities, not a measure of whether the work will be done by software. The study's intermediate score (β) for this task is 0.50. Automation potential label: T1.

Other tasks in this occupation

• File, grind, sand, and smooth filled or repaired surfaces, using power tools and hand tools. · importance 4.5
• Inspect repaired vehicles for proper functioning, completion of work, dimensional accuracy, and overall appearance of paint job, and test-drive vehicles to ensure proper alignment and handling. · importance 4.5
• Fit and weld replacement parts into place, using wrenches and welding equipment, and grind down welds to smooth them, using power grinders and other tools. · importance 4.5
• Prime and paint repaired surfaces, using paint sprayguns and motorized sanders. · importance 4.4
• Follow supervisors' instructions as to which parts to restore or replace and how much time the job should take. · importance 4.3
• Sand body areas to be painted and cover bumpers, windows, and trim with masking tape or paper to protect them from the paint. · importance 4.3
• Chain or clamp frames and sections to alignment machines that use hydraulic pressure to align damaged components. · importance 4.3
• Cut and tape plastic separating film to outside repair areas to avoid damaging surrounding surfaces during repair procedure and remove tape and wash surfaces after repairs are complete. · importance 4.2
• Position dolly blocks against surfaces of dented areas and beat opposite surfaces to remove dents, using hammers. · importance 4.2
• Fill small dents that cannot be worked out with plastic or solder. · importance 4.1
• Review damage reports, prepare or review repair cost estimates, and plan work to be performed. · importance 4.1
• Remove damaged sections of vehicles using metal-cutting guns, air grinders and wrenches, and install replacement parts using wrenches or welding equipment. · importance 4.1
• Remove small pits and dimples in body metal, using pick hammers and punches. · importance 4.1
• Remove upholstery, accessories, electrical window-and-seat-operating equipment, and trim to gain access to vehicle bodies and fenders. · importance 4.1

See all tasks on the Automotive Body and Related Repairers page.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

@misc{singulariki-task-2945,
  title  = {Remove damaged panels, and identify the family and properties of the plastic used on a vehicle.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/tasks/task-2945}
}