I'm considering this, but I don't want to end up with some poor quality paint job that starts to peel after one season of winter. My car is currently a tan/gold color. There isn't anything really wrong with the paint. The average rock chips on the hood etc from regular use over a 9 year period, most of which have been covered with Nissan touch up paint. I can wax my car and it will look nice, but it's still tan/gold. However, I'd much prefer black, silver, or titanium grey.

So who's done it and do you feel it was worth it in the end?

What did it cost you, and where did you have it done?

Was it the same color as the original paint, or totally different?

How was it done - did they pull the car apart to paint everything or just a basic tape and spray?

I've been quoted anywhere from $300-800 at Maaco (which I've heard Maaco does a **** poor job??), to $2500 at Herbers autobody.

I really only called 3 places, and plan to do more shopping around. I just want some feedback and advice from others who have already done it.

Most appreciated,

-ind

 

Cmon I need some advice, hard to decide if it will be worth it -- or even if I should do it. If I get a Stillen kit, I'll have to anyways (I'm pretty sure).

 

Had my car painted w/a custom metallic neptune blue..cost me about 1200. a good paint job will cost between 1000-5000 dollars.

 

What was your original color?

Damn, that looks nice. Do you know the process involved? Did they have to sand down your car first etc? My hood has quite a few tiny rock chips all over the front end.

 

i had rosewood as a previous color.

not sure about the process. i imagine the orginal color was sanded down and repainted and topped off with a couple clear coats.


Oh yeah, stay the hell away from maaco

 

Beautiful!

 

i was considering painting my max too cause there are dents, scratches, knicks, etc.. I was gonna get the dents fixed and might as well paint it a different color. I don't really like the pearl-white cause it looks kinda... dirty white lol.

I got ads for Earl Scheib for their pro3 paint job for $300.
But i dunno the quality of the paint so I'm skeptical. I emailed West Coast Customs just to get an idea what kind of price they charge (pimp my ride anyone?) and they say their paint jobs START from $5000 sooo....

 

Had whole lotta scratches and dents. Original calor was pearl white. Whole car was sended, primed and repainted in Sheer Silver. Some parts inside like doors and pillars were painted as well. Sorry for a crappy picture, it looks real good in person, I should update my cardomain. Job cost me 1200. It's not super perfect though, real tiny overspray on some rubber trim in a few places, but it is well worth what I paid.

 

How is everyone getting paint jobs for so cheap??

 

Where and who?

I mean everyone who wants to paint my car wants 2000-2500 for freakin black..

All I want is a factory re-do..

Your paintjob is absolutley sexy.. OMG.. Im thinking I want metallic superblack now .. If I could go your color I would in a hearbeat.
Proph

 

Exactly.....you guys must have friends in high *** places to be able to get it for that cheap....damn even maaco was trying to get close to $3000 outta me for black -_-

I would never actually get it done there though

 

White with a lot of blue pearl. That included door jams and all.

 

repainted my car...same color as yours...check out my page for pics: www.sounddomain.com/id/oekundar

 

Repainted my car Metallic Black. It was originally evergreen. Painted everything except under the hood. Got it done at Earl Schieb. Despite the fact they have as bad as a rep as Maaco, they actually did a hell of a job on it. So far I'm the only one here in San Diego with that color. Will be getting it redone though here in about 2 weeks because of some rock damage on the hood but it's all under warranty for the next 6 years. Cost about $1100 because they took a lot of it to bare metal to get rid of laquer checking that had took place on the hood, roof, and side panels. It was well worth it.

 

Earl Scheib may qualify as the one place worse than Maaco. Stay away.

Nismotic, did they paint the jambs too for that price? That's cheap! A color change is usually at least $2000-$2500

 

I have had my hood, and both bumpers repainted.
It was an exact color match, but the prep for the paint was poor. There is not a good quality job on there now. It has kind of dempled since I got it painted. It was cheap though....you get what you pay for with paint.

I would not recommend a color change. If you do, pay the money......like Nismotic.....to get a good one.

 

my door jams were painted as well. I had a some cosmetic bumper damage and the paint job was part of the estimate. It was a great deal.

 

$300 - $800 Is a tape and spray which is horrable. (MAACO WORK)
$2500 is a tare down and refinish, the job will be done properly.

Don't paint your car yourself, let a pro do it with the proper equipment, in a clean spray booth for a nice glossy, clean factory baked finish.

Proline Body & Chassis
545 River Drive
Elmwood Park, NJ 07407

 

Plug in maaco experiences on the net and you'll see that they do poor work. They charge so little because they skimp on the prep work and they skimp on the quality of paint. If your car is in a poor state then it may be better than nothing, but if you're looking for longevity you will not get it with maaco. It will peel and chip quickly.

 

had the back resprayed after hit, no one can ever tell. I know this body shop guy, family friend. he took only 300, did the trunk, bumper, spoiler, and blended into both quarter panels to the doors. looks 100% stock... you can never tell anything happened.

 

You know what I was thinking the other day, since my paint is looking bad (alot of age to it), I wanna completly repaint my car in the same color, but get some metallic mixed in with it.

Imagine a Metallic Crimson Blaze Red......

Ive got a friend who has been painting for years, and i bet he could do the entire car for under a grand. we'll see when tax season comes around....

 

that would be sweet!

 

i want my car to get minorly hit and have insurance pay for a nice *** paintjob ive got BAAAD scratches and the hood and front bumper have been raped with rock chips

 

My car got keyed VERY badly about a week ago..got a check from insurance for $3000 and got my 97 deep evergreen Max painted Daytona Blue (350z blue).Door jams,under hood...everything...$2000.got to save some money pics will be up soon.

 

This is the 2nd custom paint job for the car. The car used to be sage mist green. In '02, I had the car painted Lexus Blue, shaved the moldings, Sarona kit, all the jambs, trunk keyhole. That one only cost me $2K because a good friend runs a body shop. It would have been $5K+ if I didn't know him. He removed every piece, doors, trunk, hood, fenders, glass, etc. and everything was painted separately. Taping something off can be fine if they do it properly, but to get it perfect, it's best to paint separately.

I just had the car repainted this year. It's a similar color, but custom. It's a dark metallic blue, with silver pearl, and then some candy blue thrown into the clear coat. In the sun or under bright lights, it shows a lot of silver. Also had the Audi fuel door molded in, shaved the antennae, and had a CF hood custom painted. About the same amount of money as the first time.



Don't ever, ever, ever go to Maaco or any similar type of shop. They actually have decent equipment, but they do almost no prep work which is more important than the painting almost. You can have the most skilled painter in the world spray on top of bad prep work,and the car will come out like crap. On top of it all, Maaco does almost no finish work on the car. I have yet to see a halfway decent car come out of any Maaco, and I've seen dozens of them. Usually the guys who get their car custom painted there and think it's now a show winner. There's usually paint on all the glass, trim, headlights, radiator, tires, muffler. Then the color isn't always even, ie some places have more paint than others. Sometimes you can even see the previous color where they taped it badly. I've even seen where they painted the door jambs and there was paint on the carpet and door sills from where they didn't mask it all off properly.

 

Maaco sucks, period..

I spent about 4k repainting my car. And that was with a friendly hook up.

Another BIG factor is where you live. I hear of people on the east coast getting repaints for top dollar of around 1k-2.5k

Around here in norcal, a paintjob of the same quality will run you high 4k....

Repainting your car is ALOT of work, specially if your changing the color.

Be prepared for some empty pockets, and ask if they color sand after the job to touch up the orange peel if it has any, wich a good shop shouldnt really have too much of. I actually got my car repainted without a color sanding cause it really didnt need it. and they also recomend to leave the car alone (not waxing or buffing it) for about 1-3 months, just to let the paint cure properly.

Good luck tho

 

Thanks for the tips guys. Lots of nice looking cars. I will stay away from Maaco, - I did say I read some nasty reviews on those bastids.

-cheers

 

how do u get $3000 for a keyed door....maybe ill go key up my car....jp =)

 

his car got keyed....


keyed= brand new whole paint job

 

But doesn't your insurance go up?? I don't understand how it is that easy. Did you have to show proof of who did it or what exactly happened?

 

you dont have to show proof of who did it. Because most of the time you dont know who did it anyway. Also your insurance wont go up because its not your fault. Also like every1 says stay away from maaco. I got my car done there and im not completely satisfied. Had to take it back a couple of times. And that was like a month and a hlf ago.

 

Well I'll be back in about a month with a brand new paint job.....imma go make some enemies .......... jp

 

Haha,yeah WHOLE car was keyed.Insurance doesnt go up because its filed under comprehensive (vandalism) so its not your fault.They appraise your car,minus your deductible,in my case $500,and they send you a check and you can either paint the car or keep the check.of course they want you to paint the car,but you can do as you please.

Its how alot of people can get away with Insurance fraud,cuz insurance companies can never have proof of who did it or if you did it.

 

I do paintwork at my shop and I wont do anything (full car) for less than 2-2.5k inc. jambs

 

i got $3500 to repaint my car after this happened........
Before



After




i could take it to get it repainted the gave me $3500 and the guy said if the body shop needs they can submit a suppliment. my Advice to you is don't, save the money and invest it in something worth while or wait a while and buy a newer car. these are just cars the lose value so quick its not worth it.
i paid $6600 for my max and got $3500 back and i was able to clean off the tar although it did damage the clear coat.
what did i do with the money
B&M short shifter, leather interior and new cd player......total cost $750

 

HAHAH ^...truthfully,for my daytona blue paint job,it only cost $1500 cuz I have a friend with a body shop.Now buying cefiros,leather interior,tint,and finally getting all the turbo parts that have been sitting in my room put on the car.

 

thats cool i am sure if i were to look around i could get it done for about 1800-2000 but do i wanna spend that money on a car i paid $6600 for helz no. my max is just a pit stop on my way to my 350Z. can't have my brother thinking he is the **** with his G35 coupe....

good luck guys

 

when you're 18 years old,livin at home,goin to class mon,wed,friday and only working tuesdays and thursdays...you'd be doin what im doin.

 

Sounds exactly like me KTA cept I work 40 hrs a week and go to school full-time....but ****...it'll pay off once I get all the stuff I want for my car ^ ^

 

i am going to school full time and i am on Coop this semester.and will be graduating next august in mechanical engineering. i know what its like. i have i could afford to turbocharger/supercharge/paint the car if i wanted to just ,giving some free advice...