Need opinion/suggestion on re-painting a car

[mjjk]

Hi, I`m a newbie & I need your input.



I got a used car sometime ago. Wasn`t thrilled about the color, but it was in an excellent shape otherwise, and after spending several months looking for the right one, I chose to buy it. The car`s been great, except... I`m getting really, really sick of the color (blueish green or greenish blue, depending on the light).



I`m wondering if it`s worth repainting the whole darn thing, either to dark metallic green or black (I assume it`s harder to paint light on top of darker color..? Otherwise white would do, too.)



My questions are :

- How do I select a good paint shop? Maaco any good?

- How good will the outcome be, assuming I take it to a very good paint shop?

- How close can they match the factory color? I`ve been hearing that they can never match the factory paint job, but have they improved the process recently?

- What is your experience on repainting the car?

- What are some of the things I should know and ask before jumping into this?





Thanks a lot in advance.

[fitzpat]

Never take it to Maaco, it will have to be redone a month later.

When cars are painted at the factory, they usually sit for a month to let the paint cure, but I don`t think that is necessary. Any good paint shop will do very good work. As for matching the factory color, they can if they are repainting the whole car, because they will strip all the paint off. you can`t just paint over the existing factory color. As for my experience with repainting a car. After you get it back, look over every detail of the car. I found almost unnoticeable paint runs on one of the doors that need to be redone. Painting your car is going to cost you big bucks, probably 2 grand for a good job.

[Lemonxxs]

As for color it should not matter with a good body shop as hopefully the sand down the old paint and do the proper prep like removing dents etc etc etc....



As many have heard you get what you pay for so do the research with your local paint shops...ask them questions...look at their work...talk to their customers etc etc.



The outcome canbe better than new but it depends on how much $$$ you give them.



As for paint color since you are changing does it matter or are you thinking of going with another stock color??



Welcome to the Forum:wavey

[DETAILKING]

I think these would be your best two options. A repaint will cost a lot of dough if it is done right, and you will never really recoupe that value in resale.



The thing with changing the color of a car, is that if you want to do it right, the door jams, engine bay, and trunk jams, etc, should all be repainted to the new color as well. This starts to inflate the cost factor very quickly. Either way, they will probably strip down your paint to bare metal before repainting.



Remember today`s paints are catalyzed, and don`t need to sit in an oven or for a month to cure. I would avoid maaco too, unless it was a cheap repaint just to get a car looking good for a sale.

[Lowejackson]

Detailking is 100% right. I have looked into repraying cars several times over the years, the answer is always it is not worth it, unless you have some very rare exotic car.



Steven

[BradE]

A good paint job for even a daily driver can cost $3,000-$4,000 easily. Depending on the make, model, and miles on the car it might not be worth spends that much on a new paint job. Most good shops will have I-CAR certification. Macco? hahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahaha, I would not take a car within 5 miles of that place.

[Malibu]

Well, I suppose the answer all depends on how much you really like your car. Do you really see yourself driving it for, let`s say, another five years or so? If you do, then I`d say yes, it would probably be worth it. A good shop can do an excellent job that will be virtually indistinguishable from a factory job. As DK mentioned, changing the color the right way (door jams, trunk panels, under the hood, etc.) will inflate the price really quickly. We have a Jetta that is getting resprayed right now, and we looked at changing the color from the factory gold (V-Dub calls it "Suede Silver") to a british racing green, but decided that it would cost way too much.



If you do decide to get it resprayed, make sure that whatever shop you use will prep the car right (one thing to ask: do they remove the lights, handles, moldings, etc. or do they simply tape over them? Good shops will typically remove rather than tape). Also make sure they are I-CAR certified and check the type of paint they use: PPG, BASF and DuPont paints are a good indication (but not a guarantee) of a reputable shop. Good luck!



Mike