Getting a re-paint

[Sad, little man]

I`ve been kinda wanting a re-paint for some time now, as my car is getting a little old, and is getting a sandblasting effect on the front after many miles of highway driving. Still looks great to the layman after the work in it, but I`d like the paint to be perfect, and maybe a bit brighter red. I talked to someone who had a vehicle painted at a second generation, family owned paint shop near his house. Looks good, and it`s no Maaco, they`ve been at it for a while. So I called them today, and they quoted me a price that`s all of... $850. Now that`s for a full exterior spray and the door jambs. I like the price, but isn`t that a little (really) low? I really don`t want the paint job going to crap on me for a long time. The person`s car I saw who had his vehicle painted there still looks fine to me, and I believe the paint is at least a few years old. What do you guys think?

[Detailing NY]

$850, wow that is cheap

when doing a full repaint, you need to make sure the shop is going to do it right otherwise it will look worse then before.



Make sure they are going to R&I all the parts on the car so they get a good surface to paint on.

Make sure they have a spray booth

i have seen repaints go for over 3k.



I am not sure what area of PA you live in, but there is a great shop in sommerville, NJ not to far from PA that does awesome work.

[Detailing NY]

i can get you the name of the shop if you want

[Jesstzn]

I would ask a few questions .. is it single stage paint they are doing or is it base/clear. If its single stage your looking at bad red fade in a short time. To me $850 sounds Maaco cheap. I had all but my roof/trunk/2 doors painted and it was close to $2000 with nothing to do for prep but fix up a bunch of rock chips.

[imported_kgb]

That is too cheap it seems. My guess is for that price they are going to tape off everything instead of remove it all. Tape marks will lead to paint peeling in a couple of years.

[AWMark]

Well....Well....Well! Before we judge this small shop too quickly, let`s get an overall picture.

First, what kind of car and how old?

Second, Is it worth the trim off re-paint, usually a 3.2K to 5K proposition!

Third, If it isn`t worth this kind of investment then find out if he will oven the car after the paint job to even it out, this will go a long way towards making an inexpensive job look good. If he doesn`t have an oven, does he know how to color sand the finished product?

Fourth, Bring him your own paint and up the quality of what he puts down.



Hope this helps.



Mark G.

[Sad, little man]

It`s a 2 door neon,`95. I told him it needed no bodywork which it really doesn`t. He did mention that with painting the doors he takes them off because otherwise you get peeling, which is good to hear from him. Otherwise I haven`t gone into specifics with him. I`m half tempted to take it to the local detailer, give them free run of the car to try to get this mysterious... Crap, off of it.

There are a bunch of little white specks etched into the clear.



http://www.autopia.org/gallery/data/500/12665paintcloseup.jpg



Doesn`t clay off, won`t polish off, I dunno. The car hasn`t been near any chemical fallout. If it weren`t for this junk I`d forget about the re-paint. I guess at the end of the day, factory paint jobs are pretty good, and I`d rather not spend the money and take the risk to mess with them. But this problem is beyond repair.

[endus]

I had a friend who got his Coupe GT painted for the incredible low price of only $1300. The paint bubbled, he didn`t fully spray the rocker panels...etc. Hate to say that price=quality, but there is no free lunch out there. I paid almost that much just for the spraying when I got my hood replaced recently (hood and front fenders...hood painted, blending and clear on fenders). That place is expensive, but they do good work. I wouldn`t trust these people as far as I could throw them especially for a full repaint. No way are they going to do a good job for that cheap.

[imported_kgb]

I got a great paint job done on my truck for $1700. BUT they did it after work, on the side, and it took forever.

[imported_Larry A]

Paint jobs around here start at $2500.00 and can go up to $10,000.00 Ive seen a $10,000 paint job. WOW.