Need Comments/Advice on paint & Body

[Uber Affe]

This morning I went to a guy that was refered to me as a "good" paint and body guy. All talents aside...he was fairly pompous, but this is moot.
After a brief "looksy" at the car(all of 5 minutes) he quickly quoted me a price of $2,500.00 and a time of 1-1/2 to 2 months for completion.
For this "low,low" price I (me not him) would have to dis-assemblr the vehicle (e.g. remove glass, fenders, doors, interior items etc.)

I felt like i was getting bent over to say the least.
I have recieved various quotes of $2000-$3000 from "legitimate places"
and between $800 (I do all prep work and priming) to $1200.00 plus what ever they deemed necessary to add on later.

Can anyone tell me if they have had similar experiences or can they tell me what a "fair" price is before I get shanked by some scammer/ self described "michaelangelo of car paint"?

Also...
If I end up going carbon on body bitz like fenders/decklid/etc...wouldn't that actually be cheaper on the paint job since I intend to go au-natural w/ the c/f?
$2,500.00 could buy me a hella lot of performance parts rather than a paint job I could have done myself.

What is the cost of painting a bug myself?

PLAESE HELP ME!? =P

Uber Affe

(Gabe Sainz)

[Uber Affe]

This is a crappy pic...I know, but it explains a bit just the same.

[NO_H2O]

The more complete the job the more it will cost, but this will mean there is less chance that something(rust, etc) will come creaping out of an unprepped area. When you get your quotes, find out what materials and methods will be used(sealer, primer, paint, etc). Will all the bare metal be etch primed with an epoxy etch primer to prevent rust and bubbles later or will they just sand and paint the car. To do the job right it will take a complete tear down of the car, remove rusted metal, weld in new metal, etch prime all bare metal(very expensive primer), seal prime all the remaining old finish, high build prime(2-3 coats), block sand the car flat, surface prime, then paint. That does not include color sanding and buffing. You can wrap up $1200.00 in primer and paint material cost alone and still not buy the best products available. Most "good" body shops will not cut corners or use cheap products so their price will be more than a place that will do a quick (sand and paint) job. You will have to decide how long you want to keep the car and to what degree you want to preserve it. You can go to an Automotive paint supplier and get prices on all the materials to be used by the shop and see what that is going to cost, then add sand paper, blasting media, tape, etc and get a good idea how in depth the shop is going to go on your car. The supplier can also tell tou the differance in the quality of the materials to be used.

[justdubbin]

Well I don't know what the average price is in the US for paint, what I can tell you is that you won't get much here in the UK for £1300 ($2500 @ todays rate)
I would ask to see some of his previous work, you want to see cars that have been done for six months or more to see if his work stands up to time.

Another thing to ask to see is some cars in prep stage, after all it doesn't matter how well the top coat has been applied if the prep work is no good then it will show, maybe not straight away but it will show in time.

[zen]

trying to compare prices will 99% of the time end up apples and oranges. follow the above advice and go on reputation (ask for and call references and go see the work, check with the Better Business Bureau for complaints, etc) and a fair price. you get what you pay for with paint jobs. decide how much you can afford to spend up front. oh, and ALWAYS double the time estimate.

[Bullyboy]

Ahhh the dreaded body shop. We had a very bad experience that took two years to fix and cost us $10G for a completely useless paint job and body work. During that process we found out the actual cost of the materials for paint/primer/misc supplies from the auto body supply shop to be $1000-$1100cdn five years ago to do the job right.
Go with your gut feeling and always get references from the shop. The good ones will gladly give them.
Dorinda still kicks herself for picking the guy, we ended up having to sue to get the car back. She didn't feel right about him after he had picked up the car and was being evasive about when it would be done.
Live and learn
Mark

[super vw]

I work in a restoration/motorsports shop and i gotta say that finding GOOD painters is HARD! you do not ALWAYS get what you pay for to, and from first had experience, referals are not always good aswell.
I think the only way to shop for a good painter is to go to the shop and TOTALY scope it out, from the facilities, materials they use, how pro they run the place. then look at their work and ask people who have dealed with them.

we have had cars with $6,000 paint jobs look like $900 paint jobs by painters that lots of people recomend. it's stupid.

it's also hard to find some one who will do a complete (not just insurance work... at least here)

I really dont like painters!

for me, the good old saying "you want it done right, do it yourself" is the way to go. I am going to paint my own car (so it gets done to my satifaction).

From friends who have painted their own show cars (all beetles and busses), they said they had about $1000-1500 in materials alone, not counting tools. this is with good qulity products (ppg paint...ect). it could be cheaper depending on what you want and what you use.

[rustbucket]

I recently had a bad experience with bodywork. I did my homework, checked reliable references, etc. My advice is to find someone you trust, is realistic about the work that needs to be done, and is willing to let you check up on their progress often. Give a deposit to cover materials only, leaving the balance due when you are satisfied with the work. Get a written estimate of the work, and check up on your local laws that cover auto repair.

The best way is to do it yourself. Provided you have time and space. If that's not possible, find someone you trust with your car. If at any time you suspect it's not going well, take it out of the shop or work it out with them. Take notes, write everything down. If it goes sour, at least you'll have something to back you up.

[hybrid_john]

The advice given above is good advice man, listen to it and you shouldbe fine...heres a little something for ya (dont know if it was mentioned before or not). If you do the prep work your self, like sanding and minor repairs, and you get the car prepped right it will cut the costs down a large amount. I talked to one of the local body shops and they told me the things that rack up the most money are the time consuming thing like body work. because there your just paying for the man-hours, when it could of been done your self. He told me that if I prepped the body and did the body work my slef it would cut the cost in half. Well Im doing the whole thing in my garage now, I have little experience (painting bikes and a flat bed). The supplies I hae gotten and am going to be getting will cost me around $1200....but I already had a good compressor and two spray guns (one gravity fed and the other air-less). It is cheaper and your can control more of the end results, its also very stisfying! :D


Good luck man...

[justdubbin]

The advice given above is good advice man, listen to it and you shouldbe fine...heres a little something for ya (dont know if it was mentioned before or not). If you do the prep work your self, like sanding and minor repairs, and you get the car prepped right it will cut the costs down a large amount. I

Good luck man...

The only problem you could come across doing this is the paint shop might not honour any paint guarantees, because they will always argue "ahh well it's not the paint, it's what underneath"
If you are going to try this route then get the body shop to provide you with what products to & what not to use.

[Uber Affe]

I am glad you brought up that point about the base coat/ primer...

[hybrid_john]

Thats a good point you made there...I never thought of that :rolleyes:

[721302]

when i had my 72 painted i did all the disassembly of the car and stripped it to bare shinny metal before i took it to the shop. They knocked $1500 off the price for me doing all the disassembly and stripping. And i bought all my repair panels so i didn't get a body shop mark up on them (which the shop said was a good idea to save me money) and i put it all back together when it was painted. All said and done using all Dupont materials i spent 1200 and i think i got a very nice job. it has been 4 years and the paint still looks very good.

[hybrid_john]

1200 isnt bad...Im using Dupont as well...except I cant seem to find a dealer near by. :(

Doese anyone now where I can find an online store or dealer that can do custom mixing?