I'm interested in painting my car. But I have no idea what my options are, and what are reasonable prices. Any help? What kinds of paint jobs are there?

 

All kinds of options are available. it really depends upon what you want and what you are willing to spend. What's reasonable to someone else may not be reasonable to you. I paid $1300 for my paint job and that was the entire car except the engine bay. Shop around and price them. Look for repretable companies that offer warranties. Ask some of your fellow NY Maxima owners. They may be able to help you out.

 

check out rojo collision, it's in brooklyn, they do a good job, i've seen there paint first hand

 

your cheapest option would be same color. This way, they don't have to repaint the door jams, etc. That will probably run you $1500-2000 for a quality job. Maybe less, but I would walk in expecting about that much.

 

Yup, I've heard $2K mentioned a lot for same color, more for a change. I'm having my hood, front fenders and trunk lid done for about $500, but insurance is paying $500 after $100 ded for 1 fender and hood, got "egged" 10/31. Wish they had hit the roof also, but maybe next year, LOL.

 

Why would I paint my car "same color"? ...

Anyway...I wanted to get like a deep deep blue paint, and have those little sparkely things mixed in with the paint, and have the paint really deep and shinny.

See the thing is I want to know exactly what I want and what it is and how much it should run me, before I walk into a shop and trying to get work done.

 

chips, dings, scratches, normal wear, etc a good color change will probably cost you at least $3000 for a quality paint job.

 

I'm trying to paint mine myself. It's in bad shape (like everything else), and I am scouting around for places to puy primer/paint/clearcoat from. Two people I know have said to go to a body shop and buy from there, but that sounds shady, doesn't it? Anyone know of a store online or something?

 

goto autozone and get 30 cans of spray paint. i just did it to a 85 f150...looks Great! even did a coat of clearcoat... lol jk, goto maaco, $199, then u can do that once every 6 months for like, 7 years before u spend the 3000 expected for a good color change. by then, u'll probably sell ur car, and u will have saved $$!!!!

 

to paint it yourself would be around 6-9 hundred depending on your color, Pearls are expensive. A good bodyshop will charge around 3,500 or more for a good quality job.

 

Go to at least 3 bodyshops; check their jobs, ask them how long they warranty their paint job (many give you lifetime) and what paint brand they use. I good place will remove all door handles, mirrors, moldings, bumpers, etc..and very important that they have a paint heated booth. I paid $2500 for a really good paint job on my 92 Accord. Avoid Maaco, even best paint for $1000 will last you about 2 years. A decent paint same color will run $1500 and up.

 

Whats considered good paint?

 

what do you mean..... like material wise/brand of paint....

i can tell u a good paint job has:
nice even coats
durable finish
high gloss
minimal amount of overspray
good taping/covering of the car to prevent paint spray on muffler, wheel wells, rubber triming
completely smooth finish/no rough spots
good paint coverage on the edges of the body (edge of hood,trunk lid, doors)
use of high quality paint/primer/materials
good spray equipment and skilled painter

 

sikkens, glasurit,r&m
all are very exceptional paint but costly
most shops use dupont or ppg just because the cost is lower
its what most oem paints are. nissan paint is crap anyway so it doesnt really matter which you use. the more expensive paint has more solids in it to protect it from the uv rays and acid rain ect.
i use r&m myself just because i have no problems with it ever.