General painting cost question

[Jendon2]

Hi I'm just trying to figure out what the average cost is for a paint job specifically with a car that doesn't have any dents and just has old faded paint
and no rust fixes

Thanks for your help out there...

D smith

 

[DaveG]

Twice as much as you estimate....
DaveG

 

[Stan]

No surprises, no rust, no hidden poor bodywork....$10 - $12K
you remove and replace: bumpers lights, trim, roundels, grills, side gills, interior and any other parts you can.

Then pray nothing ugly emerges.

Also assume you are keeping the same color and not adding a clear coat.

 

[Bwana]

Whole car including trunk, engine compartment, sills, etc? Or just the parts you can see when standing next to it?

The former, yes, $10-12,000 easy, probably more.

Just a good quality respray I've found to be between $2-4,000, depending on the quality/quantity of prep work you're willing to do.

Painting a car is not really that difficult. The hard parts are the body prep and keeping the area clean when you're painting it (unless you have a dedicated booth)

 

[bert35csi]

Recently got a quote from a high end body shop in San francisco http://idealautorebuildersinc.com/. Bare metal respray with necessary minor corrective body work (not major rust repair) is around $15K and knowing how things work, add another $3-5K to the total. Major body and rust repair...add another $20-25K.

 

[jmackro]

Hi I'm just trying to figure out what the average cost is for a paint job

I agree with the numbers that others have thrown out. But you would get a better answer if you clarified a few things:

- Who will disassemble-reassemble the car? As Stan pointed out, you can save some money by doing this yourself. There are a LOT of hours involved in removing and reinstalling the trim on a coupe.

- As Bwana asked, are you changing the color? If so, the engine compartment, trunk, and door jambs have to be done. Adds a lot of disassembly-reassembly.

- How long do you want it to last? Want it to still look good after being parked outdoors for 10 years, or just want it look good enough to sell next month? The quality and cost of the materials changes with your answer.

specifically with a car that doesn't have any dents and just has old faded paint and no rust fixes

Are you certain that nothing is lurking under the existing paint? As Stan wrote "pray nothing ugly emerges" once you get into it. You would be amazed to see what previous owners will do with newspaper and Bondo.

 

[WALTER]

Maybe a good question would be has anyone out there received a complete respray (no major body work) for less than $10K and been satisfied with the work?

Before I really understood the black hole of rust repair in coupes I got a whole body respray done in DC back in the late 1990's. Everything, including a bumper swap, cost about $3.5k. The paint looked fantastic, but it was only a year before the rust started bubbling up. Though the paint was still pretty nice a few years later, the clear coat was starting to wear thin. Had the car no prior rust issues, I believe it was a 5 year paint job, maybe more if I had a garage and didn't use it as my daily driver.

When I was stationed in NC a few years ago, I was contemplating a respray on a different coupe; some rust repair would have been necessary. The quotes were all around $3.5K, but labor rates in that part of the country were dirt cheap and I don't know if they knew what they were getting into. Cali shops are on the high side from the start because of the labor rates, but if you have people (anywhere) who know what they are doing, it is worth a premium because, chances are, they will do it right the first time saving you from having to do it again.

 

[Bwana]

Maybe a good question would be has anyone out there received a complete respray (no major body work) for less than $10K and been satisfied with the work?

Yes. Got the wife's 540i resprayed black on black for $2000 a few months ago. Minor trim removal (2001) and a brilliant job. Zero runs, no orange peel, perfect. Even looks good under floursent lights. Don't know how it will age though, we'll see. The guy has "low overhead", i.e, no lattes in the fouyer, TV in the waiting room (not one of those either), but does have lots of wrecked 1/4 mile racers parked here and there in the fenced area.

Stunning work though. Don't judge a book by it's cover.

You SoCal guys market is strange/distorted. Has anybody checked out any paint shops down by The Forum? Seriously? (Dates me but is it still there?)

 

[Nicad]

I'd bet there are some quality shops in Mexico that could cut the cost of labor. . Probably a lot of shops that would paint it with a brush too.

 

[nimble_n_quick]

It's hard to find a quote for paint in Southern California from a respectable shop for less than $8-10K.

Non-metallic colors can be had for less, as they can be color sanded to remove mistakes and/or imperfections. Metallics - e.g. polaris silver - are more difficult to shoot, and can run. This adds to the cost if you want an up-front commitment that you will be satisfied with the work (i.e. this may mean re-spraying the whole car if the painter makes a mistake).

Below is one quote I got for my coupe. I shopped all the well-known shops, as well as some "on the side" guys. I got multiple quotes, did all the disassembly myself (including chemical stripping), and will do the reassembly myself. This quote reflects the median from my searches.

When selecting a shop, I recommend looking at the other in-process and finished cars in the shop to assess attention to detail and quality level. It is also telling to see what types of cars are there; I’m not saying that insurance shops do bad work, I am saying that presence of “special” cars indicates that others have also chosen that shop for their projects. It may be commonsensical, but ask for referrals from current and previous (e.g. >3 years prior) customers.

 

[x_atlas0]

Man, that makes my body work seem like a bargain! My coupe was painted and had significant rust repair for ~8.5k, then I added a pinstripe paint (under the clear) CSL stripe to bring the total to 10k. I looked for about 4 months to find someone that was willing, able, and reasonably priced. I stripped the car before delivery and drove it there/back.

 

[IS3FIFTY]

... I’m not saying that insurance shops do bad work,...

My experience is that insurance shops don't even want to do this. They prefer bolting on a finished fender on a modern car and billing the insurance co. A lot of them don't have skilled employees to do the basic restoration work, anyway.

 

[bimbill]

The shop that will be doing the paint on my car charges $65/hr. labor. I will take it to them on a dolly, completely disassembled requiring no rust repair and minimal final panel work. They will do basecoat/clearcoat Glasurit and a final polish. They estimate 100 hours and I am planning a 20% to 30% overrun. They estimate materials at $2500. That makes a range of about $9,000 to $11,000 plus tax. Add the cost of plastic media blasting and it's at the $12,000 mark.

Although I haven't gotten estimates from the area shops that do Pebble Beach quality work, in talking to people in the know the cost would be at least double and perhaps triple the above number.

 

[echappe]

I got my coupe painted in idaho 8 years ago....Rocker panels were cut out and replaced as well as front lower fenders. car taken down to bare metal. $9500. Again like the southeast this was a depressed area with low labor rates. Car still looks good

 

[rb1971]

2 years ago in SF - right at $22k for major rust repair and a show quality paint job. This does not include the additional fender and door that I had to source once I figured out how bad some of the rust was, but does include additional body strengthening.

 

[p.smitty]

Where to paint

IMHO,
You might consider taking your car to another county/state when having your car painted. A lot of counties do not allow solvent based paints to be sprayed any longer and have resorted to the use of water based paints. The word is that the water based paints SHOULD be as durable as the older, solvent based paints. But, with this much time and money invested, wouldn't you want to be sure of the quality and durability of the older paints? For example, if I still lived in S.F., I would probably take my car out east toward Sacramento to save on labor costs and the possible pollution standards of S.F. county.
Also, applying the paint is the easiest part of the paint job. As you know, prep is everything. I mean, there is no sense in trying to polish a turd. And after it is sprayed, a good paint job will involve a lot of wet sanding and polishing to get it to a glass smooth finish. It takes a lot of time, care, and skill to do it right.

 

[m5bb]

I had my 88 M5 painted last year. Metro Atlanta area.
No body damage or rust. Hood was stripped. One dent in sunroof.
I removed all the moldings, bumpers and lights.
Had a glass guy remove front and rear glass. $300 R&R at body shop.
No door jams, under hood or inside trunk.
All those areas were very good.
Single stage paint. No clear coat. Black of course.
$5000
I put it all back together.
Won best 5 Series at the Vintage last year and a first in a local BMW concours.
Everyone comments on how nice it looks.

I had prices from $2500 to $9000.

HTH
Gary

 

[m_thompson]

You could always paint it yourself. That is a much younger me in the picture.

 

[shanon]

+1 paint it yourself

I think I had about $800 in paint (two colors, bases+clear), $50 tape & paper, $450 for the larger compressor, and $300 for the a pro shop to wet sand after it was done. Have enough left over paint almost repaint the hole car.

Time to actually spray/gun it: two guys (brother & I) + two colors = two days.

The experience = priceless.

;-)

 

[Bwana]

+1 paint it yourself

I think I had about $800 in paint (two colors, bases+clear), $50 tape & paper, $450 for the larger compressor, and $300 for the a pro shop to wet sand after it was done. Have enough left over paint almost repaint the hole car.

Time to actually spray/gun it: two guys (brother & I) + two colors = two days.

The experience = priceless.

;-)

+1 on that if you have the room. I painted my Datsun Roadster and yes, the experience is priceless. And if you screw it up, you just sand it off and start again