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Old August 7th 2007, 17:05
djmatio djmatio is offline
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Cupertino, CA
Posts: 43
Unhappy Cost of full re-paint?

This is a loaded, generic question i know. I'm need to get my super re-painted and i'll tell you I'm very frustrated right now. I live in the CA Bay Area and I've been to quite a few body shops (maaco to top-shelf types) and no one seems to want to paint my bug for under $8000. Typically they say $8-20K. Even then they are very negative and don't seem to want my business. They all give me the brush off. I have good $$ to spend, and I'm willing to do as much prep as possible.

I'm a smart guy, and I've done a lot of homework when it comes to how to paint a car, so I understand the theory and all the basics and why it can cost so much. The issues i find are that:

1) re-painting is not that profitable, especially in this area compared to collision repair
2) No one seems to care about a vw bug as much as I do here.

Can any of you recommend a body shop/paint place in and around the California Bay Area? Maybe one that loves bugs as much as we all do?

How much did you spend on average for your paint jobs? If you can please list:

- brand of paint
- type of paint (enamel/urethane, etc)
- single stage, 2-stage (color/clear) or tri-stage (pearl, etc)
- pan-off or on?
- wet-sanding of clear? (or color)

I'll post a pic to give you an idea of what i'm working with. The body is straight, stripped down of all exterior and interior parts and has been steam cleaned. The car was re-painted is seems not longer than 10-years ago, but there are some slight rust issues.
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DJMatio
1998 BMW 540i M-sport
1972 1302
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