thrills

What should I REASONABLY expect to pay for a street worthy paint job? OEM color, basecoat/clearcoat with no body damage. Ive been quoted by several people less than $2K for cash in hand but I really don't have that much extra cash and would prefer to pay it out over a few months on my credit card. Anyone with recent paint experience care to comment on post recession prices?

Sweet 90

Carrying it on a credit card is just legal loan sharking.
Save up for it until you can afford it

pologreen1

If you can't afford it you don't need it. IMO.

Frizlefrak

I'm with Sweetsie....Cash is king. (I hate it when that damn cat is right ) Debt is indentured servitude.

BUT...to answer your question, it all depends on where you live and how many hungry painters are around. There are a LOT of guys who paint for body shops and dealerships by day, and moonlight to pay for their kids college tuition. Ask around your local car clubs and see who is doing it out of his garage after hours. You may find you already have enough cash.

A good paint job these days is north of $3500. I paid $2900 to have my 84 painted back in 2001. Granted, that was a "like new" quality job....paint jobs run the gamut of $600 Maaco "scuff n puff" specials to $10K show jobs, and everything in between. Find the job that best balances how you want the car to look with what you want to spend.

Good luck

kenv

GREAT advice (ask me how I know:o) however, a decent painter in my neighborhood, is going to repaint my neighbor`s 2 tone `85 for $1100 in bc/cc.

CorvetteMike2024

2K is a good deal. When ever I go buy automotive paint, they dont give me recession prices on there paint. Materials to properly paint, and supplies needed to do your car from Dupont or PPG will run me 500 to 700 dollars.

cv67

last time I got the itch to do paint myself I spent 800 on paint primer sealer reducer etc etc. Not counting all the prep supplies, tools, guns, etc. Wanted a nice job with good paint not something that would look ok for a yr. If you wanna put cheap stuff on there you can but it will show to someone who knows paint.

2k imo is a steal. They still got materials and overhead to cover so its gonna cost "so" much. Beat the guy up on price and he will be shortcutting it guaranteed. Get what ya pay for most the time.

chuck13

one of the forum vendors was advertising in the parts for sale
section.as i recall it was some kind of summer special,for i think
$6500.a good paint job,lots of hand sanding between coats and
all.bit out of my league tho.

here it is.....


PRICE would be $6000.00 - $6500.00 depending on repairs that would have to be made

Complete Repaint (color change extra) / Minor repair included
1. Car is looked over completely for repairs that need to be made
2. Completely disassemble car
3. All parts washed and prepped
4. All parts wet-sanded/scuffed
5. repairs are completed
6. All parts are repainted per factory spec
7. All parts cleared (3-4 passes)
8. Wet sand all with 800
9. Re-clear (3-4 passes)
10. Wet sand 1500 then 3000 ** NO ORANGE PEEL**
11. Cut and buffed to high gloss
12. Re-assemble vehicle
13. polish and ready for delivery


i'm in the process of painting my '86...we'll see how well it
turns out

thrills

Chuck hope yours turns out beautiful, though I cant see investing that much on the paint of a car that's not even worth that much

As for the CC, my credit score is top 5% my interest rate is lower than even a personal or home equity loan so that's a non issue. I'd really like to offload my $5K diamond wedding band and engagement ring set for the paint job but thus far haven't found some poor sap who wants to take the plunge and paint the car in exchange for the ring. That would be ideal, he would be out the materials and I'd be rid of that useless ring set

The Green Rocket

The Auto Buffs $6k paint special is a genuine deal for a high end paint job. That is a tremendous amount of work and high quality paint products they are using. Unfortunately it makes little economic sense to spend this kind of money on a low value C4 unless you really love your car and plan to keep it for a long time.

At the other end of the price spectrum I have heard more good than bad from Maaco customers. http://www.maaco.com/

The sub $2,000 paint jobs from moonlighting painters has plusses and minuses: you have to be confident that you will be happy with their work and quality of materials used - because if you are unsatisfied you may be on your own without much recourse.

Most consumers do not know the difference between high quality materials and multi step paint process - most people only care that it shines when finished. Just remember that initial new low cost re-paint shine may only last for a couple of years vs. a high end re-paint that should look good for a couple of decades.

You do need to be honest with yourself about how long you will be keeping your car after it gets repainted. Without any doubt in my mind, I can safely say that the Auto Buffs re-paint will look better for many years longer than the Maaco paint. Its just the way it works, you really do get what you pay for when it comes to paint longentivity.

With your low CC interest rate, maybe you should just get a cash advance and pay the $2k painter that way. Alternativey offer up that you will be glad to charge up whatever the painter, or the painter's family, needs up to the agreed price.

Thomas

thrills

Seeing the car look shabby is really discouraging for me, on one hand I dont want to get rid of it at all but on the other I can't stand to look at it and see how much the paint as gone downhill since Ive owned it.

90sundevil

I got an estimate of 6k to being with to repaint my 86 yellow Vert, having a hard time justifying that when the car cost me 8k.

moserbe

Like it has been said....you get what you pay for. If you're lucky, the neighborhood back yard painter might do you an excellent job for a great price. You take your chances. Good luck with your decision and your shiny paint.

bigkat

I am in the process of having my 90 painted by a guy here in Houston. I told him I wanted it back in 3 weeks and also told him the car cost my $5k and that I did not want to put another $5k into a paint job. He owns his own body shop and was very happy to except my $1600 for going red to black and painting the door jams. Base coat clear coat and like someone else mentioned a friend of a friend from someome's brother's nextdoor neighbor who knows a guy in our Corvette club here locally...Good Luck!!!!!!

Flanders85TPI

Just don't get raped on the whole car getting painted thing. And don't pay up front, don't let them tell you it costed more than what they figuired. You might be better off going to MAACO, it should last 4 or 5 years and by then in 5 years you can get a really good paint job.

tblt44

A roller and a few gallons of exterior paint from Home depot 50 bucks

: rofl:

just kidding.

Maybe try doing it yourself or macco if your tight on cash