How much should a repaint cost?

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imported_RedlineIRL

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I'm looking at getting the lower half of my front bumper painted since the paint has a crack from rubbing it a steep incline. What should a good paintjob cost to do just the lower half, and blend it with the top half original? I plan on removing it myslef and taking it to the shop for them to do all of the prep and paint, and I'll reinstall it. What should I look at as far as good quality paints and clearcoats? I don't want some crap being put on it that will chip away in a year. My car is a Saturn Ion if that gives you guys any idea on what it should run.
 
my friend just got his sideskirt repainted on his new civic and it cost 450 but it all depends on what place you go to. shop around.
 
I think it would be better to paint the whole bumper because blending it would be tough and I doubt a shop would even bother spraying half a bumper. As for cost I'd say $300-$400 is what you will have to spend for a good quality job.
 
~$350 to repair (3 hrs) and refinish the entire cover. You'd probably be doing a partial refinish with full clear to do it properly. If someone says they'll burn the clear, they won't be doing a proper repair! You can't stop or cut your clear. If you want them to remove and reinstall the cover, add another $100 for them to overhaul it (detrim). The most common labor rate for someone off the street (non-insurance) is anywhere from $35 to $45 per labor hour and then another $20-$26 per labor hour for paint material costs. It really doesn't matter too much what paint you're using due to this type of car. These prices would be considerably less at a hack shop like Maaco.
 
I got an esitmate of $430 to repair it at 4.5 hours of labor. This is just to repair and respray they lower half of the bumper since there's chips in it, repair the scuffs under the bumper, along with the spider web. They are going to blend the lower half of the bumper into the top existing bumper and reclear the etire bumper so that there is no delamination occuring. I asked if they would need to repaint the entire bumper, but he said that it would not be necessary with what needed to be done. From what I have seen and heard they appear to do good work, and they are GM/Saturn certified in body repair. I'm not going to go with they cheapest place based on price, but the ones I feel confident to do the best work. Do you all think this is reasonable for good quality work?
 
RedlineIRL said:
I got an esitmate of $430 to repair it at 4.5 hours of labor. Do you all think this is reasonable for good quality work?
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You're right on! I quoted ~$350 for a 3 hr repair (I could tell how bad it was) and if you bump that up to 4.5 hours, you're right around $430. Not bad at all. If they do good work, go for it. Just because they are GM/Saturn certified, doesn't mean much in the way of quality. Make sure they give you a written guarantee on their workmanship and materials.
 
David Fermani said:
You're right on! I quoted ~$350 for a 3 hr repair (I could tell how bad it was) and if you bump that up to 4.5 hours, you're right around $430. Not bad at all. If they do good work, go for it. Just because they are GM/Saturn certified, doesn't mean much in the way of quality. Make sure they give you a written guarantee on their workmanship and materials.
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They do offer a lifetime guarantee on the workmanship. What woud a material guarantee cover? The paint finish itself? They guy told me that they would cover all of the work they did, so I'm assuming this would be incuded, but I'll definately make sure and have written proof on all of this first.



Is there anything else I should ask or look into before deciding on them?
 
Good. It covers the application of the paint. Just in case it fades, delaminates or chips excessively. Other that this and their labor, you're all set. It wouldn't hurt to look at some of their finished work to see if it's ok with you.
 
Yeah, I'm going to follow up in a few days and see if they will let me look at some of the work they have recently completed. I'm also going to check with others, but from what I've heard so far they're the best around here.





They also said that they bake on the finish. I thought that this is a big plus. Is this a typical procedure with most shops?
 
Baking just alllows the paint to dry faster. It won't make a difference to the finish. It helps shops do more work faster.
 
I forgot to see if they add a flex agent to their paints. I'm assuming any competent body shop would do so, correct?



Do you all think that reclearing the whole bumper is necessary to make sure it all adheres properly? Or should they be able to do the affected areas and clear them? Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't most shops who belnd say a bumper to a fender only feater the paint and clear to a degree to make it all match? I'm not a body expert by any means, but this has got me wondering if an entire reclear is really necessary.



Also, are good quality resprayed areas typically a lot more sesitive than factory finish areas? After doing this, I'm afraid the a light bump or slung stone from the car ahead is going to cause massive chipping or spiderwebbing.
 
RedlineIRL said:
I forgot to see if they add a flex agent to their paints. I'm assuming any competent body shop would do so, correct?
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Most paints now a days are pretty flexible and have flex additives built in. The days of ala carte flex additives have kinda past.



RedlineIRL said:
Do you all think that reclearing the whole bumper is necessary to make sure it all adheres properly? Or should they be able to do the affected areas and clear them? Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't most shops who belnd say a bumper to a fender only feater the paint and clear to a degree to make it all match? I'm not a body expert by any means, but this has got me wondering if an entire reclear is really necessary.
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Clearing the entire bumper/panel is mandatory! Spot painting (base/clear) won't last and is a hack way of doing things (this is usually what mobile touch up guys are doing on dealer lots). They will most likely spray color in the repaired area and blend the color out until it sinks in with the original color. Then they'll clear the complete panel. Bumpers (and all other trim) don't match the sheetmetal body of the car in the 1st place. There's probably a chance that this shop will make it match better than before.



RedlineIRL said:
Also, are good quality resprayed areas typically a lot more sesitive than factory finish areas? After doing this, I'm afraid the a light bump or slung stone from the car ahead is going to cause massive chipping or spiderwebbing.
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That's why you want a warranty. That way if the chips are larger than normal or they flake, they paint it again.
 
Thanks. I've never had to have repaint done before, so I don't know too mcuh about it. I just want to make sure I'm getting it done right, and not some hack job.



Are resprays typically applied as thick as the factory finish? I've seen a couple reapints (done by other shops) and they seems to have gotten stone chips very easily from daily driving, to the point where they look horrible and appear like the bumper was blasted with sand. My car is a daily driver, so I don't want the bumper to be all messed up a year later. I hope that this repaint of the bumper will hold up to the life of the car. Is that too much to expect from a respray?



Also, do you think I'll run into any problems with an repaint clear being a different tint against the rest of the factory clear coat?
 
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