Repainting car cost questions Options

[736conver]

I had my truck painted by Maaco. Cost over $1000. Included body work and some rust repair. A week later the paint started flaking off by the rocker panels. Side molding came off from and the windshield wiper flew off during a rain storm. They repainted the rocker area but I come to find out they didnt even scratch the paint before they applied the new stuff. Two years later and my truck looks like sh*t. Never will I do Maaco again!!!!!!!!!

[ArtechnikA]

don't forget that THE PAINT ALONE should cost somewhere in the $800-$1000 range for product equivalent to OEM (Glasurit, Sikkens, Centauri...). that stuff is about $100/qt and the reducers are not much less.

price the materials, find out -exactly- what you're getting.

i bought two cars with "fresh" paint that had obviously been applied just to try to sell the car (i would have offered -more- if they'd come up for sale -before- being painted) and in both cases, the sellers had receipts. here is a powerful lesson: There Is No Upper Bound On The Cost Of A $200 Paint Job !

[Joe Ricard]

I painted a 74 Super Beetle long time ago. Stripped off paint an sanded everything myself while I still drove it everyday.

I would do a body ection each weekend and paint it with what ever primer I had. God aweful ugly. But it made merging into traffic easy.

Took it to Macco or 1 day can't remember. They did a finish sand and single stage paint. Gorgeous job. lasted right up to the day someonce stole it while 3 miles surfing south of torrey pines state beach. Ya'll know the place.

[Doug Leggins]

I checked around alot before I picked a painter. My car is getting a all over paint job, inside and out, top to bottom. The shell is on a rotisserie and all of the other parts were stripped of all rubber, chrome and hardware.

I called and/or visited 10-12 different shops. I either got "we don't do all over paint jobs" or $6000.00. It amazed me how often that $6000 came up as the price. I saw some absolutely beautiful $6000 paint jobs but that pricey of a paint job does not make sense for the 914 that I am putting together.

I finally started asking the folks that sell the paint to the local body shops who they would recommend and what they thought the price range should be. No suprise this time when the 5000 -6000 price range was given as an estimate. One paint supplier and I got to talking about 914s he was pretty interested in the 914 and some past experience with them. Once the conversation got to more of a friendly level he got pretty candid about the work done by some of the local shops. He then provided me a list of names and numbers of painters that he recommended. He kinda broke the list down into 3 catagories. 1-Very good painters that commanded, and earned, a high price for their work. 2-Painters that would work with me and give me a paint job commensurate with what I wanted and the price that i was willing to pay. 3-Painters that would paint the car at a low cost but remember your gonna get what you pay for.

I picked a painter from the group in the middle. I checked out a couple of references that he gave me - this was easy since he had done work for a couple of people that I work with, and I looked at 2 cars that he had painted.

Can't let you know how it turned out -cause it is still in the process of getting painted. But my expectations are good based on what I've seen so far. I have gone over several times to drop off parts/check on progress and even helped strip paint a couple of times. My tub and parts were in really good shape to begin with and I am amazed at how much prep work is required.

Oh yea, I'm paying 3500 to have EVERYTHING painted including color change from white to signal orange and some welding- battery tray, closing up all AC holes, hinge pivot brackets and a few other welds. Plus I am buying the POR15 supplies. So far I am thinking that this is a pretty good deal.

Bottom line - Determine what kind of paint job you want. And ask around to find out about the painters in your area.

One other point of reference. I asked the guy painting my car what he would charge to paint a car that I had prepped. All that he would have to do is some masking, buy the paint and shoot the car. His price was 500.00 using a Dupont paint.

[rezron]

I would definintely go base/clear over a single stage
job hands down. While I've done a paint job or two while working in body and custom shops I'm not claiming to be the expert. But IMHO I'd say base/clear will give you a nicer job. Once it's wet-sanded and buffed any spray job can look like perfection! It's also much easier to cut into and blend on future repairs. And yes, prep work is the
key- I bought a damaged '02 Liberty and painted it
in my dark 20x20 dungeon of a garage last summer.
I took a little extra time because of the garage space
and it looks like brand new!

rezron

[andys]

I've had a couple of cheapie paint jobs done over my own prep work, and they came out really quite good. From those experiences, I'd consider it again, but only if I my own prep work. Prep is always the key. If you want to save money by using your own sweat equity, this is a viable option, IMO. I would suggest you talk with the painter so that he can recommend compatible sealers/primers that work with his paint.

Andy

[GaroldShaffer]

Everyone,

Thanks for you insights on body work. Doug I would be interested to talk to the guy doing your shell. I think there is a big advantage working with someone that has done a 914 or two before. Before I asked this question I had in my mind about $4k and I can live with that as long as its quality work and the person(s) stands behind their work.

- Garold

[Doug Leggins]

I'm thinking that my car will be complete by the end of April. You can check it out for a reference. You could even check the car out in process if you want. I've got some pics and may try to post some soon.

One thing about this guy is that he works out of his garage that he has turned into his paint body shop. Good and bad points to this. He walked me through the drawbacks of working out of his garage vs a true paint booth and what he did to compensate. He has a small operation in a relatively small town - His reputation has to be good in order to keep getting business.

[MattR]

Good news for me. I think I found a friend of a friend that has a pretty good body shop. If I spend a few weeks doing body work with experienced folk (my dad and brother), I might be able to put something good out. Its not an issue for me until the summer, when I have time and its running, though.

And, I was thinking of painting my engine bay, trunks, and stuff like that before I took it in so all they had to do was spray the outside. Does anyone have a suggestion for what I can use to get a paint thats simple to spray for the engine bay? I was thinking if its really close I could paint the engine bay before I install the engine, then go through and paint the exterior it wont be a stark contrast like it is now.

[SirAndy]

$5500 for mine, which included sandblasting and some body work.
the paint itself (guards red) was another $700 ...

the car was originaly Signal-Orange.
Andy

(IMG:http://www.sirandy.com/pix/914/2003.04.01/IMGP1592.jpg)

[Steve Thacker]

Stay the hell away from Maaco! They do trash work. I had a quote from them back when I was going to have them do mine $1700.00. The manager told me point blank NOT to have them do the work if I wanted the car look real good. Maaco does a bunch of used car lot type paint work. That is the core of their business the lady told me. After I looked at some of the cars that had rolled out the paint booth I could see why, runs, globs, etc. I would only suggest that you stick with a person who does this for a living and has a good reputation. Your money will be much better spent and your time less wasted.

[brant]

Matt R,

If your going to spray anything yourself then why don't you spray the whole thing?

I would recommend against using rattle can paint.
It won't be compatible with the other and won't hold up too well.... So if your going to buy a spray gun and do some of your own work...

brant