I'm wondering if it's fairly common for a Body shop to take several months to do body work and paint on one car. I know we car owners get excited about finally realizing our dream of having our cars massaged back to shape and then painted our favorite car color. So it's easy to get antsy. But my 2 week bare metal strip, body work, and paint job is now over 4 months. I've found that after an initial burst of energy and progress, my car had been pushed to the back of the shop where it became a storage device for car parts from other jobs. Only after some bitching and moaning did some work resume. I know that insurance jobs tend to bring in big money for these shops and can understand that these can become a priority, but everytime I check status there's another 2,3 cars that need to be done before mine. The price quoted was under 3k which I felt was pretty good and the body work so far is good. Some parts have been damaged while there.
So I'm wondering what others have experienced and if over 4 months isn't that uncommon. Let me see your responses.

pretty normal for non-insurance work..

my orange car took almost 6 months start to finish and my current white car took about 4 months...
but the results were worth the wait...
good luck, hang in there and it will be worth it.

I have a friend doing a restore of a '71 911 coupe....it has been at the shop for at least 4 months now too....

Do it yourself and it can take years

From a shop owners perspective I can tell you that

1. they aren't making much if anything at all doing a bare metal paint job for unfer 3000.00 so your car is in no rush to be done on their end.

It typically takes me about 20 hours to strip the outside of a car. No trunks, no insides of panels. Now figure the going rate where you are is 75.00 / hour you are looking at 1500.00 just to get it stripped. Add another 40 hours to get the body straight ( no rust repair ), primed and blocked ( depending on how nice you want the car, and how nice it is to begin with ) you have another 3000.00. Add another 15 to mask and paint the car and you have another 1125.00 for a grand total of

5625.00


then there is the materials cost.........I really don't understand how any shop could do a bare metal, body work, and repaint for under 6,000.00 and have anything to be proud of in the end. Maybe I need some illegals to do my work.

NOW if you factor in illegals doing the work, possibly having the car soda blasted to strip it ( shop would have to own their own equipment ) the shops cost could be knocked down by 100.00-1500.00 that puts you in the 4000.00 neighborhood for a minimal ( IMHO ) finished job.

You should consider yourself lucky if it gets done in 6 months. I can't even remember how long mine took, but it was at least that long and that's the reality of the work you're talking about.

Betty's was in the body shop for 14 weeks, or a little over 3 months.


Mine was in the body shop for 53 weeks, aka 1 year and one week.


As I was told by the owner of the body shop, you can have two of the three below.

1. The car done right.
2. The car done inexpensively.
3 The car done fast.


I chose right and inexpensive on both cars. So the cars stayed longer, and they were put to the side when they got insurance work, and brought back out when it was slow. Because they worked on them when it was slow, they were able to take their time and do it right.

I a very happy with the results.

Ditto ...............LOL.

One year and two months, thats is right...but this was my choice...I went on the cheap end and actually helped out on weekends at the body shop with some metal and welding work in exchange for big discounts on my own car and I could only have the work done on my car when the shop was not busy...it took a while but was worth it plus I got the work done for cheap and right, made some new friends and learned some skills. My car looks pretty nice now, I am happy.

Scotty is right. A bare metal job for $ 6000.00 is a deal. The paint for Sandys Ravenna car is $800.00 and the Raspberry car is the same. Add all the activators, primers and consumables and your pushing $1500.00 for a materials bill alone. No wonder they pushed it into the corner. They ran out of money. Still, just keep checking on them and continue discussing when and how you can both get what you want.

My GT has been in the shop for 2 1/2 YEARS.

However there is light at the end of tunnel as there is Orange on the bottom of the car and the whole car should be painted by the end of the week.

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The other 2-3 cars that need to be done before yours are likely someone's daily driver in for collision repair which typically don't get stripped to bare metal.

It took close to 4 months of nights and weekends in my own garage to strip down the sides, weld on flares, and make structural repairs on my latest project.

This isn't the first vehicle I've stripped and painted (or the second, or the third, etc.) Most people don't have the patience to do it right. Painting is the easy part. The detailed prep and bodywork is the difference between a good, rust free for years to come paint job and a 50 footer that could have been done better with a rattle can.

I worked in a production body shop right out of high school some 20+ years ago. Collision work took priority because that was someone's daily driver (and the work was fairly straightforward). We had project cars for customers that we worked on when we had the time. Clay is 100% correct. You can have 2 out of 3 of the following:

1. The car done right.
2. The car done inexpensively.
3. The car done fast.

For those that don't believe the above philosophy, I suggest doing it yourself. It will be an enlightening experience. However, don't try and do it yourself and then bring it to a body shop to have them fix your attempted restoration. We had a sign that read:

"Hourly rates doubled if you have attempted to repair it yourself."

I was rear ended in my 914 by a minivan at a stop sign and it took about 6 months and $7000 from her insurance to get my car back. This was over the winter though and the car was not my daily driver so i had told the shop owner no need to make it a priority.

A lot of the waiting time for me had to do with waiting on parts, $1500 rear panel from Germany, back ordered 916 bumper, etc... When waiting for parts they would pull my car off the rack and once it was off they would try to get as many other cars as possible done before putting it back on.

Its a lot of work and i am sure yours is not the only car in there, most likely you are getting bumped for small jobs that they can get in and out a lot faster.

... with all the above - esp. Scotty & Rick who know shops/rates.

At $3000 for the work you describe - they probably quoted & took the work just to stay open & are now doing it as "fill in" work. Heck - I've gotten quotes from SoCal/OC shops for prep-prime-paint alone for 2-3x that price!

If you want that price you'll need to be patient, but it's maybe worthwhile keeping the loose parts that are getting damaged at your place, instead of the shop - IF you're close enough to bring them by when they need them on a "drop of the hat" notice.

$3k is crazy cheap. 4 months is typical. I'm happy as a clam when a paint job only runs $6k. But I shop based on quality, not cost.

My car went in on June 21 and was out on Feb 5 of the following year very pleased
taken down to bare metal replaced drivers fender and several small rust spots all
or $6250. . It was hard waiting but looking back now well worth it

I spent nearly a year of mostly weekends doing the prep work and now it's finally got epoxy primer on it. That's not counting the prep and final painting of all the inside surfaces (engine bay, cabin, and front and rear trunk areas). And yes, the materials cost is high too (PPG) as are the consumables. With as much work as it takes to do it right, I'll never do another one myself again!

Andys

My wife's Bee was in the shop for 6 months as the shop owner agreed to do it in between insurance jobs as long as I did not pressure him for quick turn around. I was patient and he made sure the car was done perfect. Because it is a black car, it was difficult to get it right. The shop owner would not let the car leave until it was right. He had pride in the quality of the work he was providing. When it left I was very pleased with the work. I did all the removal of the trim etc on the car. This included all the windows, lights, rocker panels, bumpers, and rubber mouldings. He charged $3500.00 for the job and said never again would he be that low on a 914. Although it is a small car, he still had as much time into it as a much bigger one. I had a repaint back down to metal again several weeks later as there was a mishap with the neighbor spraying a wood perserative that etched the new paint job. I again took the car apart and had it done. The turn around was 2 weeks as this time it became an insurance job. The second time the bill was close to 8,000. This was in 2006.

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My '72 went in to the shop December of 2009 for a bare metal paint job to original WIllow Green color. He gets busy with hail damage in the Spring and deer strikes in the Fall. And as stated - insurance work first. The shop is going to use DeBeers single stage - he is very comfortable shooting this product. The higher prices above are right in line - I am getting mine done for $6500.

I got this from the shop this week:

I've been working on the doors, hood and decklid. Blocked and reprimed them twice since we last talked and the car is in final prime and ready to start painting.

Maybe by Christmas!!

...Patience is always a v ........
(beautiful bee)

Twelve years ........ never got the car back.

I must be doing something wrong. My repair IS insurance work and it's been there for almost 3 months. It will be done in 2 more weeks... (hopefully)

When I first had the car painted, it was in the shop for about 9 months.

-Steve

be careful if the shop takes long and qappears to lose interest. things bad can happen then, parts disappear, or work is not done right but yu can tsee that it is cuase it is all apart. also shops can go out of bussiness and then ou8 find the car is gone or leined saled or if not the car, all the parts can "walk away" had this happen so be carfull and stay on it.

good luck