Nissan-R

My car"s paint is not in a bad condition. The only problem areas are the hood, which has some little whitish marks on it. There is rust on the bottom front and bottom rear side skirts due to the salt and snow. And a little dent on the passenger side door molding. How much should i be looking to spend to get the aforemention fix and a new paint job for the entire car. Thanks for your responses.

Clayton

iTrader: (3)

You get what you pay for. Expect to spend at least 2000 - 3000 for a quality job.

nubiannupe

iTrader: (9)

Good Gravy, man!!!

I just got an estimate for my car, and it has a rather noticable dent in the driver's side quarter panel, assorted dents along the driver's rear panel, and a pretty faded spoiler. Even with the pearl they're gonna add to the factory paint, I'm looking at $1100. And that's from a VERY reputable shop in my area (NOT the so-called "ghettofabulous" paint man or the $99 Earl Scheib jobs either)!!

male

That sounds a little low dude. Are you sure they are not just pricing the body work..it would take at least a grand in billable time just to make repairs and do proper prep work..and by proper I mean removing ALL trim, lights etc, sand, prime, sand, sand , sand til it's straight (wavy paint jobs suck), color and clear on body, sills, inside trunk etc. I'd be skeptical, but I have seen some good local tradesmen whip out great body and paintwork for prices like this. Be certain before you plunk down your hard earned cash.

John in Philly

I'm actually going to a body shop for an estimate this afternoon. I'll let you know what they quote me.

Clayton

iTrader: (3)

I'm curious as to what kind of a paint job you'll be getting for $1100. I've been a few places locally for quotes on painting my whole car the original Black Emerald color. My car doesn't have any major body damage it does have some small dents, scratches, and it would need a good bit of prep work, but nothing severe, and I never got an estimate even close to that. A quality job to me is removing all trim and glass to paint, good prep work, good paint itself, and a decent warrany to go along with all that. The lowest estimate I ever got was from Earl Schweib (or whatever it is) and I'll be damned if I'm gonna take my car there - their idea of prep work involves masking tape and a stack of newspapers

Sudesh

$2,000-$3,000 is too much.

You can get a car painted with OEM quality for $1,200-$1,500. You just have to look around. Some of you guys are in locations where there aren't too many car shops, places like NY are overcrowded with these shops and prices are competitive..somewhat.

male

More than just good prep work, paint price will vary with the number of primer coats, sanding in between, and color coats, sanding in between, and clear coats, snading in between. The paint can look all good smooth and straight, but a few years down the road, thin coverage will certainly show up. My uncle has a ferrari 308GTS..not the ultmate, but it has an insane paintjob on it..15 coats of hand rubbed laquer. There is a small nick in it and you can actually then see the depth of coverage, like 1/4"!. It means alot. If they are going to spray two coats with top of the line prep work, it will look good and cost 1500-2000, but don't expect to win and medals for best paint. It all depends on what you are looking for. Most will be happy with factory quality. You can always wet sand it later (if they didn't skimp on the clearcoat) for a supersmooth finish. Just be sure to pay a pro for that!

John in Philly

Ok, I just got back from a reputable body shop and they quoted me a $2500 for a paint job.

Chris91SE

iTrader: (1)

personally i wouldn't pay anything less than 2k if i wanted a quality job

nismo1989

I did it myself. Body work, prep, paint, clear coat was estimated at $4200 and cost me around $800.

nstymax93

the really good body shop in my area told me it would be $1800 for a really good paint job!

male

Not everybody has the talent, facilities, time or most of all patience to DIY. But the obvious savings is in the manhours.

Maximajism94se

i'm not sure where u live (i was 2 lazy 2 look) but u have to consider that into your price...i live in fl where everything is cheap, so u gotta figure that inot the mix...i'm hoping to paint my car in the spring and was quoted 800-1k for just a job to keep my regular cheap white (i'ma do the prep myself) good job....

male

True about the region having an affect on price. You can definately get a good paint job for a grand if you keep it the same color and do the prep yourself. Check into CarCraft magazines archive of articles. They give great advice on how to paint it yourself for cheap and get good results. Good surface prep is key. My max had very poor prepwork and now it's peeling like mad. I just stopped caring for now because my pockets are thin, and if I did have $2k lying around, it would definately go into the HP and handling department. Good luck with your paint job and remember..you can never fill prime and block sand enough..it might look straight in prime, but put color on it and every defect will show! I HATE BODYWORK AAHHHHH!