Paint job
- Thread starter Ridgeline
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It is a pretty vague question. It all depends on what quality paint you want and how far disassembled you wish to go, how much work you can do yourself, will you also be replacing the weatherstripping, will you paint the jambs, the bed, etc. I spent $720 to buy the paint for my Cutlass, and that is with me doing all of the work. Other costs include: filler, primer/surfacer, block sanding materials, wet sanding and buffing materials for the finished job, weatherstripping, rust repair materials ( welding wire, etc), windshield installation glue, butyl-acetate strips to put the side windows in, replacement trim pieces for any that are not in good shape, used panels for ones not in good shape, paint stripper for any panels with cracked or checked paint, trim clips, gaskets for the lock cylinders, paint booth rental, etc. It all adds up. My paint job will probably be around $3,000+ when I am done. If you don't mind having your trim painted too, go to Maaco and get a quickie job done. It won't look great, but it is cheap. You can even prep it yourself by removing the trim and fixing the dings and dents plus scuffing it with red Scotchbrite pads before you drop it off. That way it will look a little better than if you let them mask everything instead. Plus, most cheap paint jobs are not well prepped since sanding is usually skipped in lieu of some sort of liquid etching compound, which is why they peel.
SBCregal said:
And remember... you get what you pay for. I got the $299 MAACO job for my Regal (couldn't afford anything better, temporary solution to stop looking like complete *ss). A year later, there are spots flaking off and rust coming through.
...oh, and I had to spend a couple hours with Scotch-Brite and Goof Off to get the overspray off my trim and windows.
Where I work, a car that needed a fair amount of body work (but was rust free), and was to be a complete paint job was quoted at $6000. It was a 90's Lexus 2-door that the owner had a body kit screwed to it.
Basically if you go to a professional collision center it will cost more than a quickie place like Maaco. Maaco "ambassador" jobs more or less is a quick respray with very cheap paint. It won't last very long because of that, and they don't prep it very well either. I've heard they don't even scuff the old paint, but that wouldn't really work unless they spray the car with an etching primer. You can get a better job from a budget paint shop, but I would do all the prep-work to be sure. I wouldn't pay more than $1000 or so at a place like that.
Collision centers will do quality work in most cases, but the price is almost always pretty steep. First they should remove all easily removable trim. They might want to ask you before they start if there is anything you want left on in case it is easily breakable. As long as your old paint is not flaking or badly checked, they will fix the dents and sand the car with 400-600 grit. Then they will spot prime the bodywork. For more, they could prime the whole car with a thick building primer and block it so there are no waves. I'd pay more to get this done, but if the car is nice enough, it isn't really necessary. Basically, the more bodywork is done, the need for an overall filler prime and blocking is required. Then they'll seal and paint it. If your door jambs are in good shape, not painting them will reduce the cost.
There is no way of estimating what it will all cost, but a good paint job including body labor at a collision center will cost at least $2000. It could cost less if you are lucky, but anything below that would imply that the supplies/paint they are using is cheap and/or inferior. If you go somewhere and they quote you at $5000 or more, keep looking. I wouldn't pay too much for a "good" paint job unless the car is worth a lot (like a GTO or something). One tip though that might get you a better price is to ask around during the winter. Most shops slow down in the winter (unless you are in a place that snows year round or it is 70 degrees year round). You might be able to haggle a bit since the place will more than likely need the work.
Basically if you go to a professional collision center it will cost more than a quickie place like Maaco. Maaco "ambassador" jobs more or less is a quick respray with very cheap paint. It won't last very long because of that, and they don't prep it very well either. I've heard they don't even scuff the old paint, but that wouldn't really work unless they spray the car with an etching primer. You can get a better job from a budget paint shop, but I would do all the prep-work to be sure. I wouldn't pay more than $1000 or so at a place like that.
Collision centers will do quality work in most cases, but the price is almost always pretty steep. First they should remove all easily removable trim. They might want to ask you before they start if there is anything you want left on in case it is easily breakable. As long as your old paint is not flaking or badly checked, they will fix the dents and sand the car with 400-600 grit. Then they will spot prime the bodywork. For more, they could prime the whole car with a thick building primer and block it so there are no waves. I'd pay more to get this done, but if the car is nice enough, it isn't really necessary. Basically, the more bodywork is done, the need for an overall filler prime and blocking is required. Then they'll seal and paint it. If your door jambs are in good shape, not painting them will reduce the cost.
There is no way of estimating what it will all cost, but a good paint job including body labor at a collision center will cost at least $2000. It could cost less if you are lucky, but anything below that would imply that the supplies/paint they are using is cheap and/or inferior. If you go somewhere and they quote you at $5000 or more, keep looking. I wouldn't pay too much for a "good" paint job unless the car is worth a lot (like a GTO or something). One tip though that might get you a better price is to ask around during the winter. Most shops slow down in the winter (unless you are in a place that snows year round or it is 70 degrees year round). You might be able to haggle a bit since the place will more than likely need the work.
Figure on $50-100 an hour for labor, and the supplies themselves will run you around $500-$1500 for a quality paint system and primer. My Cutlass has required around 100-150 hours of prep work to get it right, but it had rust issues too. I probably only spent 40 of those hours fixing minor dents/dings and hand blocking the whole car several times in epoxy primer/surfacer. I think I have spent $3500 between materials, glass, panels (all of them!), weatherstripping and misc. trim pieces. The paint will be Diamont base/clear in GM's "Navy Blue Metallic", from the 2002 F bodies. By contrast, I did my AMC and my Frontier with quickie jobs and probably spent only $300-400 on each of them, with me doing all of the labor including spraying them. I did the jambs at the same time and removed all of the trim and painted some of the car and truck in separate pieces. Both are single stage white Omni Urethane crap paint that doesn't last too long, but it was cheap! For comparison, my truck had a big dent in the door, one in the bed side, and a few minor dings. It took me around 25-30 hours to prep it, and another 8-12 to paint it. Then I spent another day or so on assembly, installing the windows, mirrors, door handles, weatherstripping, interior, bumpers, lights, grille, etc. There was no rust work, so I did it in only a month's worth of spare time using all of the original panels.
This summer I painted my Cutlass. It was quoted $2100 for body work ( sounds like the same condition as yours) and the paint was a mid grade with clear and it ran for $4500. Granted I got the body work done for free but the car looks amazing for the price. I got my jeep painted in high school and it cost me $6000 not including the body work. So it really just depends, but shopping around never hurts. and you really do get what you pay for
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