If I get a 1000$ paintjob at a "good" place. It should last correct? I mean, if I use a car cover. Assume for 1000$ they will strip/sand, prime, paint, and clearcoat....the paintjob should last right? If it's taken care of it should last just as good as a 3k paintjob....I mean....a 3k paintjob they would take the car apart and make it look REALLY nice, do every part of the car etc, a factory level job so the car looks new. But if I want to spend 1000$ to get the "visible" exterior painted it should last correct?

My buddy got his mx6 painted red by macco for 600$. It looks good, I have no idea if they clearcoated or whatever, but right now it looks good. People say a cheap job won't last. But if I go to a good local place that sands/strips, primes, paints, and clearcoats my 1000$ paintjob should look good correct? I mean, it won't have the door jams repainted, the engine bay won't get painted, and there won't be attention to detail, but in general the paintjob should last if they sand/prime/paint/clearcoat correctly? Right?

My car looks terrible, the bumper is faded and spyderwebbed, the rear end is faded, the paint behind the t-tops is showing bare metal (white, it's that faded....goddamn crappy primer GM used in the 80s) my hatchback is also faded white....I don't want to spend 3-8k on a "perfect" factory job that COMPLETELY repaints everything.

I know the job won't have the attention to detail, but for 1000-1500$ the paint in general should look good and LAST right? I mean....from what I know when you pay more then 2k for a paintjob it's because they take everything off, take the car apart, and give a factory job....but I just want my body repainted cause it looks so bad, I'm not worried about little things you have to put your face up to. But will I get a 1000$ paintjob and in 4 years see it fade?

I hope someone understands what I'm trying to get at.....thnx

 

Even if you were to get your car painted in a high quality body shop, your going to get what you pay for. I use to work a body shop and for about two thousand, you get a very decent paint job, maybe you should save a little more money and get a good paint job. It's worth it.

But if you just want a paint job that coves your car and looks alright for a few years, just go with mauco (if thats how you spell it), and when you go get a estimate, go to different mauco's, I've notice that each shop prices a little different. You might end up saving some money like that.

 

Most of the time you get what you pay for. Maaco sucks! Don't even bother going there if you're serious about your car looking good.

I've seen that most people don't know what a good paint job should look like. If it's shiny they say it looks good but a cheap paint job will have:
-excessive orange peel
-over spray
-mismatched paint
-fisheyes
-dirt in the paint
-runs
-waves
-the paint will chip off in big pieces from stones
-won't hold up to normal wear
-etc.

You have to look at all angles, close, far, sunlight, artificial light, etc. to evaluate a paint job.

Ask around at car shows and find out where they got their cars painted.

I'd say for a decent paint job you'd have to pay about $3000. I'm not sure but that seems about right for an average paint job.

Dealerships and collision centers are generally not good places to go either because they are interested in quantity not quality.

 

I would never go to maaco, I was just using my friends car as an example.

I have a local body shop that has a very good reputation.

I'm trying to figure out the quality of the paint job. What differences will there be between a 1k and 2k paintjob?

I mean, they sand/strip the car, they prime it, they paint it, and then clearcoat. With a lower cost what corners do they cut to make cost? I'm just trying to understand what difference go into the ACTUAL painting of the vehicle. For a factory job they completely take the car apart, and paint EVERYTHING, I don't want that. I want the visible exterior painted...what differences would there be in the PAINT between a 1,500$ and 3k$ job? Do they use cheaper paint? Do they not sand as well? Do they simply not pay as much attention when they paint? That's what I want to know...cause it was my understanding you simply paid more for detail...if you pay 500$ your probably gonna have runs and imperfections.

If I find a good place, that has very good facilites, assuming they sand/prime/paint it correctly the paintjob should come out good. Why would a "cheaper" paintjob not last as long? What doesn't the shop do on a cheaper job?

 

I'm interested in this also. Maybe this should be moved to the appearance section. I thought 2 grand was about the going price for a good quality paint job myself. I think it also varies on the type of paint used. I think black and white are cheaper than metallic. Isn't 3 grand a bit steep also? Does anyone else have any first hand experience on how much they paid and what the job looked like? Oh one more note, sorry for thread jacking you here, anyone know of any decent paint shops in tampa bay, sarasota, bradenton or tallahassee?

 

1. This is the appearance section
2. Lets hope so, cause my car's black

 

Uh....I don't know where you live, but there aren't any places around here (Arkansas) that I know of that will strip/sand, prime, and paint your car for $1000. They might sand and paint for $1000.

$3000 would be a good guess for a good quality strip/sand, etc paint job that will last a long time. $4500-$6000 and you will get them to take it apart and do a color change.

I would be willing to bet the shop you are referring to is not going to strip, prime, paint, and clearcoat it for $1000. The $1000 will be a sand of your existing paint, probably primer over that, and a couple of coats of color and a couple of clear. The $2000 job might buy you more attention to detail on the sanding (I doubt they will strip the car for $2000), a sand after it's primed, then a reprime, followed by probably 4 or so coats of color and 3 or 4 coats of clear.

Just a guess, but I'll bet I'm pretty close.

 

It is all in what you want and how picky you are.

I just had my 96SS painted Millennium Yellow. Cost was $5000.

http://www.imagestation.com/member/j...d%3D4291380081

You can tell the difference between this paint job and a Maaco paint job for sure

 

Did they do the engine bay, Brent?

 

Paint will last no matter how much you pay. Spray paint lasts. A cheaper shop doesn't have as much skill, doesn't spend as much time, and doesn't have the same equipment, facilities, and supplies.

 

Nope. That's the only thing they didn't do. And, actually, I didn't want them too. WAY too much work plus, since my car was previously black, I like the way the engine compartment looks with the yellow hood and fenders. Here is a page detailing the painting...

http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/fbody/ssrepaint.htm

 

hmmm a thought just crossed my mind. what if, in theory, you were to take apart the car yourself and bring them the pieces to be sanded / primered / painted / etc etc etc, instead of having them take it all apart? would this save cash or would the final paint job just look crappy?

 

Well... what's the difference between a 1K job and a 3+K job is time... plain and simple. Most of a re-paint is R&I, Removal and Install. A 1K paintjob will most likely be a mask everything and just sand/paint.

The better jobs they will start to remove things.... the more you pay the better the job will be. The more attention to detail the place will pay. I'd say for a good paintjob you're looking at about 2-3K, which isn't bad, and that's removing most of the trim, necessiary stuff, and with very little if any body work, just sanding and spraying. You also want to look for a good quality paint, ex: Sikkens, PPG, DuPont, HOC.

One way to save some $ is to R&I all the trim stuff yourself. I mean remove everything you can, window trim, door handles, rocker covers, etc. Most good shops are willing to work on cars like that, figure a good amount of time to do all the stuff... and seeing the tech time at the shop that my brother works at is $40/hour, tech time adds up fast.

Also remember that any panel that needs "extra" attention will be more $ as well. If you look for a reputable shop, and go in there and talk with them, and discuss your options most will be willing to work with you on a price.

 

That's what I was aiming at formula.

I want a paintjob where they sand/strip the paint, cover the glass, spray my car, then clearcoat and call it a day.

That's it, NO DETAIL AT ALL, just paint it correctly....i want no prep work other then sanding/stripping it correctly so the paint stays on and looks good....i would think for 1500$ i could get that kind of paintjob and still have it look good and last....i mean....good paint is good paint...the paint shouldn't fade....if the car is sanded/stripped correctly the paint they put on should stay....it may not be a "perfect" paintjob....but it will LAST, i don't care if there is a run here, a little wave there, but im asking if for 1500$ i can get a simple straightforward paintjob that will last.....i hear people say that a cheap paintjob fades after 2-3 years.....i don't understand why it would fade if it was prepped correctly.....



brent, your car looks amazing....but for 5000$ i would expect that kind of work, they took your car apart and did a great job

i know that if you just mask the glass that they won't paint every part of the exterior, the trim and corners of the panels won't be perfect, but if you just look at a FLAT part of a panel, it should look almost as good as a 5k job, for example, they took your hood off, painted every part of it, hung it to dry, for mine they would just spray, the sides may not be covered, my question is, if you look at the TOP of the hood, will your ACTUAL paintjob be better, or are you paying 5k because they took the hood off and painted the sides and made sure the ENTIRE hood looked perfected, as opposed to mine which the TOP would look good, but the sides may be sketchy, i don't care if the sides are sketchy as long as when you look at the hood, it looks good

im 17 years old, i paid for my car myself, i pay for anything that happens to it, i have no way to get 5k to paint it, im hoping for like 1500$ i can get a simple paintjob that in GENERAL (without deep inspection ) it will look good, corners may not be perfect, but if you look at the door it would look fine.....when im 25 with a real job maybe ill do a factory repaint (cause i want to eventually restore my iroc) but right now i just want something to hold me off until then, but i don't want it to fade in 2 years

 

I think that you'll get what you're looking for with that price if the shop is willing to work with you. There isn't really a need to strip the car to the bare metal, even if you do a color change. If you were doing a show vehicle, then I'd say strip it. I've been told by a very experienced body man that sanded paint actually makes for a really good surface to prime/paint because of it's adhesion properties. If your car doesn't have any major imperfections, I think you're on the right track for what you want and what you can afford. BTW, my dad used to do business with Maaco (he makes HVLP spray machines), and he will never ever send someone to Maaco.