Ill admit I was skeptical using the rig. But taking a car down to metal, you can use aircraft stripper....Ill never do that again. The chemicals, fumes, and cleanup are bad.
The other option is sanding. If you are planning to take the car down to metal, this is not a good option.
Only other option is blasting with some sort of media. My interest here isn't to argue or persuade people, its to put out the facts. People are going to do what makes sense to them, which is highly subjective.
All I can say is that the Dustless blasting rig, if used correctly, does not warp metal. And yes the biggest benefit of dustless blasting is the water carries off most of the air contamination. Not all of it, I still wore a respirator, full union suit, and rubber boots. It absolutely, 100% makes a mess.
Id agree that a lot of the people buying these rigs are retired, or small business owners, or generally people who will not be operating the machines themselves.
Id suggest if you do contract with a owner of a dustless blaster rig, you require a few things.
1. some sort of insurance on work in case they do mess something up.
2. ask what kind of media(they should be using the dustless blasting supplied media) and rust inhibitor(waterborne is best IMO) they are using.
3. make sure they do a full cleanup when done.
4. be prepared to clean, prep, and epoxy immediately after blasting.