Paint shop rip-off???

[NCArachnid]

I had the afternoon off today so I decided to visit a few body shops to get quotes on painting my spider. I took 10-12 8x10 pictures of the cars' current condition (all chrome and trim removed, stripped to bare metal, emblem holes silver soldered, skim coat filler over any dings, 100% no rust).

I picked out 5 shops to visit that were recommended. 3 have gone out of business or moved. The first shop was a restoration and hot rod shop mainly old Chevys. They did have an old Rolls and a late 70's Jag in the shop. The guy guess-ta-mated $4000 but wouldn't commit to that without seeing the car in person. He suggested a pay-as-you-go hourly arrangement (read as Blank Check!). He did have a nice 1970 El Camino with a very nice finish on it but not perfect.

The second shop was a higher volume paint and body shop. The owner was really nice but explained that to primer/fill and block it out 2-3 times would take about 100 man hours just to get ready for paint ($4200) and then the paint supplies would run about $1000. Finally he said it would take close to $7000 to get it "done right". He did offer to come by the house to see the car to nail the estimate a little closer.

Am I being unrealistic here? I thought I could get a decent paint job for between $2000 and $3000, especially after doing some of the prep work . So, should I keep looking for a shop that will do it for less or should I get out of the 1980s and pony-up for the "pros".

The phrase, "You get what you pay for" comes to mind. But isn't there a point to where you aren't getting much more visible quality?

[azygoustoyou]

drive it up to Pa where NJFiat got his painted. It cost him less than $2000. He can clarify the price though. I'm guesstimating. PM him.

[MJSSpider2K]

Wow, these paint shops are all a little unrealistic, I can see $7000 for a full concourse paint job, and yes if you used top of the line PPG tri-coat paint or some exotic color, the materials could be close to $1000 retail (no shop pays retail so he is marking up the supplies), but 6000 in labor is astronomical considering that you already began the process. While the money is in the labor and a great paint job is going to need a little time with a long block, 100 hours still seems way too high. The materials for my car will be under 500 and that is for a great SPI primer and clear and a mid grade single stage color. Try talking to a Macco, there are good ones out there and if you specify the work you want done up front you can get a show quality paint job for around 3000. Just tell them you want to do a final inspection before the car is shot with color, spray at least three coats of clear and plan to spend a day color sanding and buffing.

Just my $0.02

[TulsaSpider]

Yup I'd agree $3000 would be about right for a very good paint job. Color matters. The lighter the color, the more forgiving of flaws. I thought mine was in descent shape but my step brother said it was in really bad shape. It came out nice though and I am happy with it!

[cutchaguy]

My cousin just graduated from Auto Body School and will be painting my for the cost of the supplies. (I'm going to kick a couple of grand his way regardless if I'm getting the family discount or not.) I'll have some of his business cards and will give his name out to those who ask.

[Jimb]

With any kind of estimating the same rule applies...the less that is known, the higher the estimate will be.
What you need to do is some research. Figure out what kind of paint you want, and what kind of finish. (hand rubbed clear-coat?)
Then have them look at the car and give you a "quote" instead of an estimate.
I've seen paint jobs that are in excess of $10k and for my money (because I'm into concours, I go for the most I can afford.
Cheers,
Jim

[MNspiderman]

Ohh, Ohh. Better get Maaco

[SpiderJim]

Regards paint job cost. Having just finished mine in the spring I can attest to the amount of work that is required along with the expense. Having an original desert car with hardly any rust but lots of small and a couple of large dings from ten years in storage. I proceeded to get it to concourse level. I spent around 180 hrs stripping everything off including the paint. Dings where hammered out not filled except for finishing putty. Two coats of epoxy primer along with many coats of high build and many days of block sanding I was ready to take to my friends paint shop. George a forty year veteran ran his magic fingers over every square inch and said it was 95% perfect but needs another three days. So he and I began priming and blocking once again.

Finally into the booth where I had the interior shot in a rubberized sound coating along with the rockers in Euro stone guard. Sealer, Pearl three stage then several clears later it shone like it was wet. A couple of weeks to harden then a final color sand then several stages of buffing.

Cost for shop time including labor, booth and paint application & finish $1300.00
Materials with 35% discount $1800 includes everything from block sander pad to seam glue etc.

My time total around 210 hrs excluding the labor I paid for. If I charged myself what George charged as a favor ($25 hr) then in would be $5250 or double this if normal price.

So total cost $8350.00

Now I must admit it looks very nice and straight with lots of wow! comments. I was just recently at the hot August nights in Reno where I just moved to. Compared to what I saw I would say that my paint job would be around the middle or lower of the road compared to the ones I saw. Some of those guys paid upwards of $20 - 70k plus depending on body change and or work required. So in my experience a 3-4K body/paint job is not going to get you much of anything other than a pretty finish. A true paint job and what we pay for is hardly ever seen cause it is under the finish.

So it all comes down to are we willing to spend more on a pretty finish than what the car is even worth? Add to this my custom touches and a complete handmade custom interior along with a complete new drive train/ brakes etc I would say that I am nuts and should have just driven it with dings an all.

[NCArachnid]

Thank you everyone for your input. I guess I do need to shave off the mullet and toss my Journey cassettes and embrace 2010.

I am planning to visit 3-5 more shops to find someone I'm comfortable with. I am a perfectionist so it would really bother me to spend even $3000 on a paint job and have the body wavy or a dull finish. It just just doesn't seem sensible to spend more money than the car is worth just on a paint job. I guess this is a decision that is best made with the heart and not the head. I am after all never planning to sell this car.

[MNspiderman]

What.... you don't like over spray on the muffler? How about an unprotected windshield that you can hardly wash after a paint job? Masking tape ridges, I especially like those . My friend Mario Lopez give you good deal, just for you buddy

[Jazgeek]

I paid $1800 for my paint job at a very personable gentleman who had been painting cars for almost 30 yrs. Unfortunately he's gone out of business now, but I couldn't see myself paying more than $2k for a paint job on a car that's not worth more than 10k.

that's my 3cents.

[Zippy]

I'm gonna have to increase my insured value!

[DUCeditor]

A lot depends on the use and purpose of the car. A driver with a cap on the dash is not going to need the same level of quality as a concourse-quality show car.

Some years ago I got mine painted for a thousand dollars. My car was a very clean driver that did win any number of awards, but was not 'concourse quality' - the type of show where they go over the car with white gloves. I made a deal with the owner of a very reputable body shop that they could do the work at their convenience when the spray room was otherwise not being used.

I never regretted approaching it that way, but I knew the character of the man I was working with. I don't remember exactly how long the job took (A few weeks?), but I do remember being surprised when he called ask if I wanted the pin-striping back on (I think he was hoping I'd say "no.") And I was really surprised when I picked it up a day or two later. It was beautiful!

-don

[tonyfromjersey]

Keep looking around, and also see if you can find any local car clubs that may have some references for you. I had the same experience until I randomly found crazy Dave up in the Poconos. He's a 2 hour drive but well worth it.

The problem with most of your local shops is that they really don't want to do that kind of work. They want to do insurance work where they can bill big bucks. If you keep looking around and asking everyone you'll find someone eventually.

I think 3K is reasonable depending on the man hours. I got mine for a steal from crazy Dave, but that's a whole novel worth of writing.

[mdrburchette]

I would think, with the economy, you'd be able to find a little better deal. Granted, my husband and I had a paint and bodyshop for several years so I know how much is involved, but you may want to check some of the new car dealerships in the area too. If you're willing to bring up to W-S, I can check some of the guys around here I know that do good work and see what their preliminary estimate would be. Shoot, even Ron might be interested in doing it over the winter months.
Here's a pic of mine that a fellow forum member took at the FFO this year. You can see the quality of work and materials that Ron put into it by the clean reflections in the panels. My car has been painted now for 14 years and it still looks great.