Small scratches, sure, but dents are way harder to deal with on a stainless steel body panel. A dent stretches the metal, so you have to un-stretch and reshape

Small scratches, sure, but dents are way harder to deal with on a stainless steel body panel. A dent stretches the metal, so you have to un-stretch and reshape it perfectly, which is time consuming and unless you take it to a shop that specializes in Deloreans no one will know how to do it. Compared to a regular painted body panel, everyone in every body shop has filled a dent with bondo, sanded it flush, and sent the panel to the paint booth hundreds of times. The painting itself can be finicky, but that's where the practice comes in. Delorean assumed body panels would just be replaced when damaged, not repaired.