Protholl

OK I spent 8+ hours trying to restore the paint on my baby this weekend. Four hours Saturday morning and four more hours Sunday morning. The sides are good but the front, the hood, the roof and the trunk are still in bad shape. I wish my Lexus had anti-aircraft guns to decimate the birds in my neighborhood because most of the damage is from their foul droppings.

Now that I've got that off of my chest I'm looking for reasonably priced shops to repaint either all the upper/frontal surfaces or the entire car. I live in Seminole, FL and I've taken the car to a few shops and the estimates vary from 5K to 11K. I know inflation affects things but wow!

Do any of you have a suggestion for a really good, reliable paint shop near me that will provide a good result and not finance their kid's first year in college?

Just as an FYI: This car has been babied and taken care of since I bought it in 2012 (it's a 2008). I've done all the maintenance on schedule... oil changes, brakes/rotors, new tires, regular wash/wax etc. I took it in to Lexus to get the ABS unit repaired when I got the ABS/VSC/Traction control "ring-of-death" and she's been good since then. I was lucky enough to squeak in under the ZLZ program as well so internally and mechanically she is perfect.

Thank you for any input and have a great week!

swfla

iTrader: (1)

A paint job is forever. You don't mention the color, but many LS have 3 stage paint. That is very expensive. You can try a 2 stage paint, base and clear coat. Don't go with a "cheap" price, you'll regret it.

TriC

I used to do some auto body back in my much younger (and poorer) days. The last car I did a complete paint job on was a Cadillac, admittedly larger than a 460. It had zero body damage but the silver paint had failed. I kept track of my time. Now, mind you, the car had a vinyl top so no work there. The glass was not removed nor the door handles. The bad paint on the hood and deck lid had to be stripped off. My total time was 106 hours of work. And that (plus the outrageous cost of materials) is why you have gotten the quotes that you have.

If you want a quality job, either do most of the prep work yourself (easy to learn) or pay someone to do it.

jud149

Not sure what you did trying to bring the paint back, but in case you didn't, wet sanding might be an option. If you don't know how, Google it.

Protholl

It's Obsidian. I'm not looking for "cheap" but "reasonable". I know the low estimate was not going to work but the 11K estimate all but exceeds the trade-in value of the car. I'm also worried about quality. Four years ago I had my Nissan Titan repainted for almost 4K and even now the paint is starting to fail in the same places it failed from the factory.

Protholl

Yeah I've done that myself as I tried to remediate the paint but the damage from the air assault burned through the clear-coat in the most affected spots. This is why I'm thinking about a repaint.

swfla

iTrader: (1)

I believe Obsidian is only two stage. Best wishes finding the right shop for your needs.

Protholl

I took a semester in auto body in high school so I know my way around taping and sanding, dent removal and more up to and including primer paint. That's an interesting idea I'll just need to find a shop that will accept the car with my work up front. Now I just need to figure out how to disguise my work in the garage =)