modifyd

Where can I purchase paint for my 2G GS? I want to get my trunk repainted and I called the body shop and he said that the paint is expensive and possibly three-stage. Does this mean colored primer, base, and clear? Anyways, I thought I might save a little by getting the paint myself. The color is Imperial Jade on a '99. He said the job might run me about $300-$400; is this high?

oohpapi44

iTrader: (1)

Just my opinion on this one....

If you don't know where to get the paint, I'm going to guess you're an ordinary person like myself who's knowledge of paint boils down to having painted rooms or model cars in the past. This is definitely a situation where I'd use the "you get what you pay for" credo and let the professionals do it for you.

I'm sure you can get your trunk painted for around the same price, it doesn't seem worth the savings. But that's just me.

modifyd

Yeah, I don't mess with painting. I just do the bodywork. I have it ready except for a final blocking. The quick quote he gave me was for paint and finishing up imperfections. So does that price seem high?

oohpapi44

iTrader: (1)

I'm not a paint guy but he was probably telling you what the best paint costs and it's probably somewhere along the lines of what he's saying. It's likely to be better quality than what Lexus uses since Lexus isn't known for the quality of paint they use. Then you're going to come up with matching issues.

But you never said how much he would charge to paint your trunk. There are shops here that will charge $300-500 per panel depending on your negotiating skills.

But like i said, you get what you pay for, when a shop knows you're not looking to spend top dollar, they may not be willing to do top dollar work.

modifyd

Yeah, he told me he would charge me $300-$400, this was the quote for everything, not just the paint. The top of the trunk is still painted, so I figured he can match it from that, hopefully.

oohpapi44

iTrader: (1)

Ok, I'm following you a little better now, HIS qoute to you was the $300 to $400 range. Get a couple of quotes from a few more shops and do a comparison. That's about the NYC range but I know the South has been stepping up the paint game ridiculously in the last couple of years so it's hard to say.

I would check out of some his previous work (if you can find a former customer, ask them if they would go back to him again) and then you make the decision if it's worth it or not. I don't think you can ever really 'overpay' for a paint job if it's done the way you want it.

tonysofly

i do paint and body work and can tell you that 300-400 (paint included) is a very good price, depending on what brand of paint he will be using. So far PPG is the best brand (with matching colors) that i've used. as for the 3stage.....that should be the least amount of stages. usually primer (wet sand after primer), base, clear. Or for the pearl cars, primer, base, pearl, clear. but the least amount of paint you can buy is usually a pint, which is more than enough to paint your whole trunk, there should be no reason to blend, so make sure they paint the whole trunk and buff to match your original paint. hope that helps.

if you buy the paint and clears yourself, it will probably run you around 300-400 for the good stuff.

PPG paint - around 75-150 (one pint)
Clear Coat & hardener - around 100
Reducers - 50

modifyd

I think I remember sanding off a colored primer. Should I ask for this because most primer is usually grey? Also, is this how my paint on the Jade color set up with the colored primer, green base and then cleared? Is the base wet sanded usually before clear or is that just for show-like finishes? Thanks for the replies, I really didn't know what to expect from the price perspective.

tonysofly

primer usually comes grey or a creme type color, primering helps with wavy or unsmooth sanding of bondo or old paint or whatever. wet-sanding after the base coat is good, but has to be done carefully, or you gotta repaint your base again (you don't want ur base to look too uneven). sanding after the base coat is not really necessary unless you have runs, or dirt/dust that gets into the paint, or unless you just wanna be a perfectionist about it. then comes the marvelous clear coat. but make sure you use a good brand of clear coat.. a lot of european made clears are really glossy and look great.