How much are paint jobs...?

[Dennis]

I was wondering about getting a paint job this summer... I've heard they can be pretty costly but I've also heard you can get them cheap if you're lucky. I was wanting to repaint the car from white to a dark blue, probably a custom color... or maybe another color like the Kia Sephia stock blue color "Brave Blue II"

Anyways, how much do they usually run? Thanks.

[Dibbs]

You truly do get what you pay for w/ paintjobs. That's not to say that your car won't look better w/a $400 paint job (as long as they don't everspray on your tires and radiator), but the more you pay, usually the better the car will look. When you go to whatever shop. Make sure you know what is included in their price. Do they paint the inside of the door jams, under the hood, etc. Is this a bake job or is it a clearcoat? Do they remove the lights/trim/emblems or do they tape over them? I think Kicker1Solo is into painting cars so you might want to PM him to get a better opinion.

[k-roy]

It all depends on how much you want to spend. I have seen $250 paint jobas and $25,000 jobs. You need to look for attention to detail of the shop. See if you can view a sample of work they have done AND what they are currently doing.

You can save money by doing a few simple things.
Pull off your door trim, window trim, wipers, bumpers, taillights and center section, liscense plates, front corner markers, grille, popup "eyelids", antennae.

If you want the bumpers painted you can leave them on there. I reccomend pulling all the trim off because it may just be masked over and not come out as good. You can mask off just about everything minus the wheels yourself.

I reccomend having all the fake chrome painted black, just my opinion. Also have the wiper arms painted.

You can wetsand down the whole car just before you have it towed in as well.

I perfer to go to a shop with a paintbooth and an oven, you get better results that way. Clearcoat is a great idea too.

When you take the car back have it towed on a flatbed because the paint will still be sensitive to chips. Let it sit a couple of days in the driveway so teh paint can dry completely.

As soon as you get the car back go crazy with Meguiars polish and wax. The job will look 100% better over time if you start out taking care of the paint the right way. I can not stress this enough, Meguiars is the hardest wax you can use and it offers the best protection. Sure its a little pricy but you will not be disappointed. I guarentee it.

Then get some Meguiars plastic cleaner/polish and go to town on the lenses. You can make them look like new again. I do not like to use it while the pieces are still on the car, it is a little dangerous around paint. Also I reccomend Meguiars (yet again, I should sell the shit) plastic/vinyl shine. It will make the middle door trim look better than new. It kicks the shit out of Armour All. Its great on the interior and it smells good too. Also get some 3M glass cleaner, it will make your windows cleaner than you can imagine. It is good on the interior too.

[Dibbs]

I was told not to polish or wax a car for like a month after it's painted. Maybe someone into paint could clarify this?

[Dennis]

Kroy... Dibbs... thank you both alot for helping me. I'm glad I have about 6 months before I have to spend any money on a paintjob...

[pearldrop]

You are not supposed to wax a car for 3 to 6 months after it is painted. This allows the paint to cure.
A paint job including a color change that is equivalent to factory quality generally costs around $2000. If you want the car to look better than stock, be prepared to spend a lot more, if you just want to change the color and you don't care if it really looks that good, spend less than $1000. This is in general of course, there are some deals out there.

[kicker1_solo]

Originally posted by pearldrop
You are not supposed to wax a car for 3 to 6 months after it is painted. This allows the paint to cure.
A paint job including a color change that is equivalent to factory quality generally costs around $2000. If you want the car to look better than stock, be prepared to spend a lot more, if you just want to change the color and you don't care if it really looks that good, spend less than $1000. This is in general of course, there are some deals out there.

Nothing more, nothing less.

[Bloodlust]

My paint job was only 500 bucks.

[k-roy]

I had a talk with a paintshop once. The painter said wax was ok after a week ONLY if it has been baked on. I would suggest letting the car sit in the mechanics lot a few days before bringing it home. Then let it sit a few more days before doing anything.

[Y3G]

you get what you pay for
my paint job on the yellow car was $2100

[blazin3gen]

Originally posted by Y3G
you get what you pay for
my paint job on the yellow car was $2100

damn u paid that much for a banana yellow color! meng i would of done it for $1 ahaha jk jk we love the Y cough 3 cough G

[Mike89Accordcom]

It's all about what you spend. You want a good paintjob you'll pay a pretty penny for it. I paid $2K for mine, and it was the best damn $2K I ever spent on my Accord. You want to spend a few hun then take it to macco. It also depends if you change the color of the car, paint the door jams, the hood, the trunk, inside the engine bay area. Many factors come into play as far as pricing goes.

[RobT5580]

A few years ago when i looked into taking my car in i was getting quotes for $1700-2100. But now it seems i can find any in that price range. A friend of mine knows a shop that does a lot of custom work and would fit into my price range but im very picky on where i bring it cause its got to be near perfect. I know someone from when i was at Audi/Porsche but he wants $2400 plus me to buy the paint which was more than i expected from him. So it all depends on what you want and my quotes are all from top notch places so they can charge what they want. But trust me it pays to get it done right.

[danronian]

If you want a cheap job to look like an expensive job, just do all the sanding and prep work yourself and make it so the shop only has to tack and spray. People really never believe me when I tell them my malibu has a Maaco $800 job. The only difference between a high dollar job and a Maaco job is prep work. If you do the prep work right the Maaco job will in many ways look better then a $2000 job. The thing I didnt do enough on my malbu was block sand everything. Sure I did block sand the bodywork, but next time it'll look alot better. The hard part about changing colors is the door jambs. The only way to get them perfect is by taking out the whole interior.

[blazin3gen]

Originally posted by Mike89Accordcom
It's all about what you spend. You want a good paintjob you'll pay a pretty penny for it. I paid $2K for mine, and it wast he best damn $2K I ever spent on my Accord. You want to spend a few hun then take it to macco. It also depends if you change the color of the car, paint the door jams, the hood, the trunk, inside the engine bay area. Many factors come into play as far as pricing goes.

yea actually mike your paint job shows that it was actually worth 2k since it always looks New and shiny :super:

[AccordArizona89]

macco does it 299 any regular

[EvilPenciler]

500$ you can get a paintjob round here

[Mike89Accordcom]

yea actually mike your paint job shows that it was actually worth 2k since it always looks New and shiny

Yep thats why it was so worth it ghost.

[pearldrop]

Originally posted by AccordArizona89
macco does it 299 any regular

That is like telling somebody you are shopping for a sports car and having them suggest a Daewoo Lanos.

You get what you pay for. A paint job is more work than anybody who hasn't done one can imagine.
Besides the fact that just for good paint you can easily spend over $500.