Cost of a Full Paint Job
12-02-07, 01:35 PM
#1
Pole Position
Thread Starter
Cost of a Full Paint Job
I've never gotten a full paint job before, but how much do this sort of thing run?
Low end price, and Premium quality price.
I have no idea what factors play a role in pricing of paint jobs.
Low end price, and Premium quality price.
I have no idea what factors play a role in pricing of paint jobs.
12-02-07, 01:50 PM
#4
Lexus Test Driver
You can get an, "uh oh better get maaco" paint job for like $900... and they're pretty bad. I've gotten my solara repainted for $1200 which included ppg paint(which i hear is decent) I didn't change the color of my car, doing so does dramatically change the price. You can expect to pay around $2000 for a very good paint job, or $3000 and up for a top of the line job. Custom jobs (candy coating, gold flaking ect) run about $5k easy.
12-02-07, 02:17 PM
#5
I guess it depends on where you live, but where I live your average grade C/B insurance type body shops would charge about $2-$4K for a complete same color paint job.
If you want a grade A show quality paint with oiginal color, it will run $5K and up. If you want a color change, it can run $8K and up easy.
All this doesn't includebody work, but just paint prep.
For example, I had my side skirts, spoiler, and a few other body pieces painted on my NSX for $1,800. I honestly can't imagine a good quality paint job on an entire car costing less than $3,000. But that's just where I live.
If you want a grade A show quality paint with oiginal color, it will run $5K and up. If you want a color change, it can run $8K and up easy.
All this doesn't includebody work, but just paint prep.
For example, I had my side skirts, spoiler, and a few other body pieces painted on my NSX for $1,800. I honestly can't imagine a good quality paint job on an entire car costing less than $3,000. But that's just where I live.
12-02-07, 02:55 PM
#7
Lexus Test Driver
A few years back, I was considering buying a 360 Spider because the local official dealer had a baby blue (sorta like Azzuro, but even lighter) model with a little under 8k miles selling for only 20k over MSRP (to put it in perspective, at that time a rosso corsa with similar mileage would go for 70-80k over MSRP from the same dealer). So I inquired about a complete OEM paint job and was quoted $38k. 
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12-02-07, 04:47 PM
#8
Out of Warranty
Recently putting a really cheap coat of paint on my wife's van took me back a few years. I've had at least a half dozen cars painted - and learned a lot. My Dad never washed his cars, he simply had them repainted after three or four years. 
When it came to painting my own, I learned that like any painting exercise, surface prep is EVERYTHING. Don't expect a franchise paint shop to give your car much more than a light machine sanding - usually with a "wet" belt sander to scuff up the surface. If you have any body damage, now is a good time to learn a little practical body and fender repair. Leave the big stuff for the pros, but you can work out little dings yourself with a little patience.
Do your research online for all of the surface prep. Degrease the surface and begin sanding with a medium wet/dry paper on a block. Work your way down from 280 (for rusted areas) to 440, then cleaning up with 1000-grit paper before cleaning everything up with a tack rag - or another application of degreaser to take off all of the hand prints.
I found that if I removed all the trim brightwork myself I got a better paint job. If you have an older car with chrome that is bolted or pinned to the body work - like bumpers, head and taillight rings, door handles, emblems, etc. remove them so that the area underneath can be prepped and painted as well. Clean and have trouble spots rechromed as needed while the pieces are off the car.
Rusted out areas need to be cut away and replaced with new metal. Be sure to undercoat these from behind when the surfaces have cooled from welding. Block the surface with a fine grade of Bond-o if you have ripples in the surface. Working with a large block or rasp, you can smooth these out. I learned to flow water over the area as I went, first to carry away the dust, but it can provide a shiny surface that will help you judge when you have worked the ripples out.
Now, selection of a paint shop is critical. Don't dismiss some of the franchise shops completely. If they have good equipment and experienced painters, they can turn out surprisingly good work. Let them follow up your surface prep with whatever they are going to do. If you have been careful, it will show them that you are not a complete novice and know a good coat of paint when you see one. They'll probably put one of their better shooters to work on your car. Before you select a shop, look at some of their finished work. They usually have a couple of cars available in the shop that are being finished up that you can inspect.
The local Maaco shop quoted us about $200 more than Earl Scheib for the van - and finish-wise, they probably would have been worth it. Scheib used a better grade of paint and would do a full strip, prime, and paint of the minivan for about $600. That was critical because the factory primer was defective and it had to be cut to bare metal in order to make the paint stick. The resulting job was by no means perfect - the paint was a little thick and produced a bit of orange peel - most of which probably could be removed with a good compounding. Because this is the family beater, we opted for three thick coats of paint over what a custom shop could do for $3-$4K. It wasn't worth spending the money on a vehicle with nearly 100K miles and 15 years on the clock.
To save money, we did NO bodywork other than rust removal and treatment. The shop did the rest of the surface prep on the body, but I cleaned the wheels, primed and painted them with several coats of spray paint since their appearance was not critical. A trip to Autozone produced a set of wheel covers that were cheap but serviceable. Detail out black vinyl and plastic pieces with Mother's "Back to Black" to rejuvenate old sun-bleached trim.
I'm not unhappy, we got a good job for the price we paid - but we had a really good painter and a price that was more than fair. It's never going to win a trophy, but it can still haul large amounts of plywood home from the lumberyard - and that's what it's for. Practical transportation with a minimum of embarrassment.
Overall cost of the cosmetic makeover - including a professional interior detail was about $1000. It started out as a rustbucket with about 1/3 of the paint peeled off the hood and top, exposing the primer . . . not to mention several large rusty spots on top we were afraid would soon penetrate the panels. Here's the finished product.
When it came to painting my own, I learned that like any painting exercise, surface prep is EVERYTHING. Don't expect a franchise paint shop to give your car much more than a light machine sanding - usually with a "wet" belt sander to scuff up the surface. If you have any body damage, now is a good time to learn a little practical body and fender repair. Leave the big stuff for the pros, but you can work out little dings yourself with a little patience.
Do your research online for all of the surface prep. Degrease the surface and begin sanding with a medium wet/dry paper on a block. Work your way down from 280 (for rusted areas) to 440, then cleaning up with 1000-grit paper before cleaning everything up with a tack rag - or another application of degreaser to take off all of the hand prints.
I found that if I removed all the trim brightwork myself I got a better paint job. If you have an older car with chrome that is bolted or pinned to the body work - like bumpers, head and taillight rings, door handles, emblems, etc. remove them so that the area underneath can be prepped and painted as well. Clean and have trouble spots rechromed as needed while the pieces are off the car.
Rusted out areas need to be cut away and replaced with new metal. Be sure to undercoat these from behind when the surfaces have cooled from welding. Block the surface with a fine grade of Bond-o if you have ripples in the surface. Working with a large block or rasp, you can smooth these out. I learned to flow water over the area as I went, first to carry away the dust, but it can provide a shiny surface that will help you judge when you have worked the ripples out.
Now, selection of a paint shop is critical. Don't dismiss some of the franchise shops completely. If they have good equipment and experienced painters, they can turn out surprisingly good work. Let them follow up your surface prep with whatever they are going to do. If you have been careful, it will show them that you are not a complete novice and know a good coat of paint when you see one. They'll probably put one of their better shooters to work on your car. Before you select a shop, look at some of their finished work. They usually have a couple of cars available in the shop that are being finished up that you can inspect.
The local Maaco shop quoted us about $200 more than Earl Scheib for the van - and finish-wise, they probably would have been worth it. Scheib used a better grade of paint and would do a full strip, prime, and paint of the minivan for about $600. That was critical because the factory primer was defective and it had to be cut to bare metal in order to make the paint stick. The resulting job was by no means perfect - the paint was a little thick and produced a bit of orange peel - most of which probably could be removed with a good compounding. Because this is the family beater, we opted for three thick coats of paint over what a custom shop could do for $3-$4K. It wasn't worth spending the money on a vehicle with nearly 100K miles and 15 years on the clock.
To save money, we did NO bodywork other than rust removal and treatment. The shop did the rest of the surface prep on the body, but I cleaned the wheels, primed and painted them with several coats of spray paint since their appearance was not critical. A trip to Autozone produced a set of wheel covers that were cheap but serviceable. Detail out black vinyl and plastic pieces with Mother's "Back to Black" to rejuvenate old sun-bleached trim.
I'm not unhappy, we got a good job for the price we paid - but we had a really good painter and a price that was more than fair. It's never going to win a trophy, but it can still haul large amounts of plywood home from the lumberyard - and that's what it's for. Practical transportation with a minimum of embarrassment.
Overall cost of the cosmetic makeover - including a professional interior detail was about $1000. It started out as a rustbucket with about 1/3 of the paint peeled off the hood and top, exposing the primer . . . not to mention several large rusty spots on top we were afraid would soon penetrate the panels. Here's the finished product.
Last edited by Lil4X; 12-02-07 at 04:56 PM.
12-02-07, 04:50 PM
#9
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I have restored a number of cars through the years. A good show quality paint job is probably $15,00 and up. Most shops can apply paint but the surface preparation is the key and that is where the $'s add up quickly.
12-03-07, 05:48 AM
#10
For the experienced folks....
Can you discuss the following:
- Primers (rust proof base??)
- Paints
- Clears
- How to "interview" a paint shop
- Painting door jams etc.
- Re-spraying same color etc.
Like types, quality, applications etc. Pros/Cons.
I'm trying to learn much more before I approach a shop too.
Can you discuss the following:
- Primers (rust proof base??)
- Paints
- Clears
- How to "interview" a paint shop
- Painting door jams etc.
- Re-spraying same color etc.
Like types, quality, applications etc. Pros/Cons.
I'm trying to learn much more before I approach a shop too.
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