Reasonable price for getting a vehicle painted?

[Sadden]

So dads estimating about 5000 to get my car painted black.
To me that seems wayyyyy to much.
Sure there is some bodywork to be done but im going to do that myself.
It just seems like if i get it painted "under the table" by one of his friends if i have alrdy done the bodywork...
I dont know.
So my question is.

With NO bodywork required what is a reasonable price to get my car painted black.

[ChilinMichael]

It would be hard to name a reasonable price. There's so many variables. How many coats of paint/clearcoat...quality of the work....paint used....

[petraman]

Maaco can paint it for like 800, but you never know with them...

[ChilinMichael]

Yup, they would be the cheap paint. It really depends what you want, what I want is around 2800 for my car, a little more with dent removal and proper work beforehand. Some of these old cars when getting painted cost $15k for a paintjob, just so you understand what it CAN be. It really, REALLY depends what you want.

[Sadden]

I want a simple coat of black paint with a normal clearcoat.
Maybe a little cheap so its not as expensive right now.
I can repaint it when i get a full time job later on in life.

[Need For Steve]

i've been wondering about this lately as well. i've been trying to find some decent prices on a simple spray job (i'd be doing prep and purchasing paint, clear and thinner myself), but lots of ppl won't even quote spray jobs, only full labor jobs...

[Sadden]

my exact issue

[repinS]

What colour are you now, and how much rust do you have?

[00Beast]

It's obvious you guys have never seen the steps it takes to get a remotely good paint job. There is a reason it's called body work. It involves a lot of time and materials to get right. Maaco can give you an $800 spray job, but it's not going to look good at all if what's underneath is still crappy. Fixing dents, patching rust, fixing and aligning panels all take time, as well as bondo work and blocking primer. Then there comes the actual painting and sanding/buffing.

[01bonneSC]

Bodywork prep is HUGE!!!! But i have seen MAACO jobs that end up pretty good. I had a buddy get his 87 Camaro done there and after we wet sanded and rebuffed it looked pretty *dang* good for under a grand and some elbow grease.

And you will see EVERYTHING thats wrong with the body when you have a black paint job. It makes it all POP out.

[Need For Steve]

And you will see EVERYTHING thats wrong with the body when you have a black paint job. It maked it all POP out.

i can attest to this...my '95 camaro had a wrinkle in the door from old bodywork and it was disgusting to look at from an angle...

[skregal]

Take from a guy who has had many black cars and a few repainted ones. The repainted
black will not hold up like the factory unless it is an expensive, high-quality job with clearcoats. Water spots, bird poop, and even wet leaves will put permanent marks on black paint that is poor quality. You also need the acid rain protection, which I believe used to be a polyuethane based paint, but may be something better now.

[Sadden]

What colour are you now, and how much rust do you have?

Dark Blue. One tiny spot on the rear (?)side fender..
And a couple door dings...

It's obvious you guys have never seen the steps it takes to get a remotely good paint job. There is a reason it's called body work. It involves a lot of time and materials to get right. Maaco can give you an $800 spray job, but it's not going to look good at all if what's underneath is still crappy. Fixing dents, patching rust, fixing and aligning panels all take time, as well as bondo work and blocking primer. Then there comes the actual painting and sanding/buffing.

Actually I have spent a fair bit of time in / around bodyshops... I know firsthand how much work is involved.
Im saying that Im going to do all the prep even if it takes 3 weeks to get it right. And then dads friend (who works in a bodyshop for a LIVING) will spray it for me.
I know that body work is expensive thats why i will take the time and effort to do it myself.

Take from a guy who has had many black cars and a few repainted ones. The repainted
black will not hold up like the factory unless it is an expensive, high-quality job with clearcoats. Water spots, bird poop, and even wet leaves will put permanent marks on black paint that is poor quality. You also need the acid rain protection, which I believe used to be a polyuethane based paint, but may be something better now.

Usefull. I will need to make sure to ask about these these things in particular thank you.

[BonneMe]

A Majority of the cost of a complete respray is all the labor, removing EVERYTHING off the body, and then refitting it, and gapping panels correctly. Badges lights, trim, wheel wells, spoilers, etc all have to come off.

How much work is required depends on how much you want painted. Getting door jambs and the hood painted right takes longer. You wont get the inner fenders

The actual paint and spraying isn't terrible. Make sure you get a normal 2 stage base + clear paint setup. Anything else isn't worth the cost IMO.

[Sadden]

All the "labour" that you were talking of there dad and i can do.
All i want is to get his friend to do is spray it down in his shop and then dad and i can go in there and reattach it all slowly and properly. But thats usefull as well.

[K-OtiK]

for someone who came to me


with no body work
removing bumpers
masking everything off
spraying the jambs
& a complete wet sand and buff out
we would charge anywhere between $1300 & $1500 with a few depending factors


but i know how some people can be, doing it the "cheap" way will save money and time
keeping all bumpers, spoilers, etc...on
& masking off all the jambs
with a wet sand and buff out, about $1000




edit....all Base Coat/Clear Coat....no single stage used here...if you wanted single stage it would be even cheaper

[Peterg22000]

i've been wondering about this lately as well. i've been trying to find some decent prices on a simple spray job (i'd be doing prep and purchasing paint, clear and thinner myself), but lots of ppl won't even quote spray jobs, only full labor jobs...

thats because it usually turns out to be just as much or more work to paint over a DIY prep job. I can tell you that I wouldn't do it, I take to much pride in my paint jobs too... infact I don't even paint the prep work thats done by the PREPER at my work, I paint ONLY my prep work... its usually a matter of pride.

[K-OtiK]

i've been wondering about this lately as well. i've been trying to find some decent prices on a simple spray job (i'd be doing prep and purchasing paint, clear and thinner myself), but lots of ppl won't even quote spray jobs, only full labor jobs...

thats because it usually turns out to be just as much or more work to paint over a DIY prep job. I can tell you that I wouldn't do it, I take to much pride in my paint jobs too... infact I don't even paint the prep work thats done by the PREPER at my work, I paint ONLY my prep work... its usually a matter of pride.

ditto

[ChilinMichael]

K-Otik, I am about to drive to you next year to have my car painted if you are serious about those prices.

[Bugsi]

I'm not disagreeing with any of the comments here, but I want to say a few words about Maaco.
Lots of people will just globally tell you that Maaco does horrible work, they suck at painting and that they use cheap paint that won't last very long.

All of this is true, and at the same time, isn't always true. Maaco uses cheap paint that won't last, and they do very minor prep work and minimal masking, IF YOU BUY THEIR CHEAP PAINT JOBS. On the other hand, they can use absolutely top quality factory paint and do everything right. BUT IT WILL COST YOU. You just have to tell them what you want, and let them tell you what it will cost. I've paid Maaco more to paint a bumper than some of their entire car paint jobs cost, because I request factory paint and clearcoat. If you want factory paint, you have to tell them to quote you for that.

Also, every Maaco is different, so the quality of job you may get at one is not representative of one you may get at another Maaco. If you're considering having any work done at Maaco, I suggest you stop by your prospective Maaco for several days in a row and take a look at the quality of work they did on the vehicles they just finished. There's usually a couple cars each day waiting to be picked up. Take a look at them and check out the quality of the work. I've seen everything from great to horrible.

I've never bought one of those entire-car paint job specials that Maaco advertises, and I've never seen one of their completed paint job specials that I'd consider acceptable quality, so I cannot recommend ever buying one of those from them. I've had Maaco paint an entire car that I've owned, and it looked great, but it cost more than any of their paint job specials. I've had them repaint bumpers and other panels that came out great, but again, it cost more; although I had slightly more expensive estimates from other shops.

I suppose any of this advice could apply to ANY paint shop, but Maaco has made a name for themselves by advertising very inexpensive whole-car paint jobs, and everything considered, those just are not quality paint jobs that you want on your car.