The body shop wants $2500, a paint shop wants $1500... and then there's Maaco coming in at $350. It just costs way too damn much to get a good paint job. That is all.

Ben

 

Get what you pay for? *Agrees*

 

my fav. part of tryin to get my car painted is how i get treated like **** at every frickin body shop i go to. at least the fact-o-bake guys talk to me, answer questions, and (their biggest selling point) act like they want my business . when the small elitist body shops run out of friends' cars to paint and go out of business i just hope i'm not to big of a man to stand out front and point and laugh as they close up. >

just a lil frustrated w/ body shops here in jax

 

Will a Maaco job be any worse than an old factory job? And I'm going to be putting on a front bumper and rear GS-R spoiler that need painting. And the paint job on the rear half of the car is a bit different than the front half because the car had body work done about three years ago. Is the best way to address these issues to just forget about the front - rear discrepancy (barely noticable only in bright sunlight), and to get the spoiler and bumper painted standalone, or to just paint the whole thing? Or should I just go look for another driver to run into me so the insurance company will pay for it?

Thanks,
Ben

 

The paintjob might not be so bad but they don't prep the cars very well. Buy yourself a book on painting cars and learn to prep yourself. All it takes is hard work and some motivation. It'll save you a lotta money.

 

he's right, try and find a paint shop that is cool and willing to work with you a little. Tell them you'll drop the car off and remove the bumpers, headlights and anything else you know how to remove. Also, instead of having them wet sand and buff the paint, have a detail shop do it, usually there cheaper. Doing some of the prep yourself will save you a nice chunk of cash, after all, a good paint job is a good prep.

 

I repainted my first (yellow) CRX Champ White, and paid $2300.

 

I used Maaco to change the color of my car, and it looks great. They even did bodywork and it turned out nicely. Go for the ultra-urethane and it should work out

 

I got my teg painted for 1300, everyting...

 

Agreed, it costs way too much, I would like to have my 99 Taffeta White GSR repainted but I'm not gonna spend that kinda money for it, rather spend it on performance mods.

 

ok boys and girls here is a clinic on re-painting cars 101
i work at a body shop so none of this is bullshit................here we go....
the actual painting of the car is not expensive,
when you take your car to a quality repair and paint facility, all the parts thatarent being painted are removed from the car.... i.e all glass , mouldings mirrors , door handles, the bumpers are painted off the vehicle also. some of the mouldings are advesive backed and can only be replaced once removed. misc. clips and fasteners that break when **** is taken off....... for everything done there is a standard labor operation time involved... because the whole car is being repainted alot of **** has to come off of the car and its very labor intensive ..... the reason for all the parts being removed is so that the entire panel is painted... if you just tape everything off , you only paint to the tape line and then in a few months the clear coat starts to flake and peel and the car needs to be painted again.......
taking your car to scheib or maaco isnt a bad thing, some places do nice paint jobs, but like someone said they dont do a good job preping the vehicle and they dont color sand and polish at all, they mask everything off with tape , paint the car as is with a single stage paint ( no clearcoat) , clean up their overspray and deliver the vehicle as-is .... it looks good for awhile but after a year or so you need to have it re painted again....
its a matter of prefrence, either pay thru the nose for quality once or have the vehicle re-painted eevery couple years

 

I paid through the nose and I'm still not happy with it.

If I could go back and do it again I would never do any custom body work and custom paint. But I did it and can't undo it.

But you live and you learn. I just hope the paint last awhile. It's been a year and a half and for the most part it still looks good.

 

Where can you get the clearcoat applied after the paintjob then? I'm looking into this option after getting the whole car ready for them. They can't be all that bad at spraying averaging what, 2-3 cars a day per painter? I would be doing my own sanding and afterwards probably wetsanding/buffing it myself, but where do I get the clearcoat applied at? thnx.

 

i got my car painted for 800 and it looks brand new, local body shop

 

If I were to learn how to paint a car, using a book or something, and had access to painting facilities, could I do a better job on my own car than Maaco would? Or is it more an art than a science? And considering my time and materials costs and everything, would I save enough money to make it worthwhile?

Thanks,
BenOriginal Poster

 

I edit it and give it a


[Modified by project_DC2, 9:49 PM 9/11/2002]