So I am Thinking about a paint job or touch up on the whole car. But if its too much too paint, ill just have the whole car re-done. Thinking while i got it in the paint shop, Ill have the stock wheels professionally painted and done right. So my question is how much should I anticipate for a full paint job? Thinking of just touching it up if its too much for a full paint job. But I do want to paint it black or obisidian black...if Its not too much. I did take the max to maaco and they estimated it for a full basic paint job too be around $500, but I know that after a yr it will start chipping and fadding and looking ****ty, and thats the last thing I need. So anyone recently paint their maxima or take it to the bodyshop? what are some good rates for just a standard a black paint job. And maybe black painted wheels. The maxi would be so cleannnn if i did that. I just get nervous about doing something like that bc it seems like me CEL is on every other month.

 

A factory quality paint job will start around $2500 to do it right. You want a shop that will sand down and fill any chipped areas, remove all lights, moldings, mirrors, pull the bumpers down, etc and use quality paints (PPG, Spies-Hecker, etc) and proper wetsanding (removes excessive orange peel) and follow-up polishing.

A paint job is not something you want to cheap out on. Believe me, as a detailer, I see low quality paintwork all the time and it isn't pretty.

 

2500 is about right... sounds bad, but it costs $ to look fly.... You can, however, search your local area on Craigslist and look for a painter... There are plenty of reputable places hurting for business nowadays and if u can find a good price for a place that has the right stuff (paint, proper paint room, etc) you can probably save some cash.

 

thanks.

 

Yeah I think Scott has it pegged pretty close. $1500-3000 for a good job, the higher the cost the higher the quality usually, good paint, sanding, prep supplies, guns, etc. are NOT cheap. I wouldn't even want to see a $500 paint job, that's gotta be a joke.


As far as touch-ups, you can't touch up the whole car, it's possible to touch up one small area, but it usually requires a crapload of wetsanding and numerous tries to match the paint, because your paint is faded, they can't just go off the OEM colour code.

Keep in mind, painting a car a standard colour properly should take at LEAST 3 days. Pearls, especially white, take longer.
Any place that quotes you a turn around time of less than 2 days should be avoided, and also ask about warranties on the work, some places offer as little as 30 days!!!

Oh, and changing the colour always costs more than just repainting. If you were just repainting you could probably cut the price by at least $500, probably more.

 

+1 on spending the money to get it done right. I had my entire 5.5 repainted because it needed too much touching up in random places, and since the pearl white is a pain to match, it just made more sense. It was a $3200 job.

 

Yeah Pearl White DEMANDS 3 coats, there is no way around it. Most other paints you can get away with two, or even one coat. The 3 coat takes longer and costs much more. I don't ever want to have to paint anything on my car man. I was going to get some spray balm mixed up so I could do a couple trim pieces as a project.... needed 3 cans = $60-80!!! No thanks.

 

I have a friend who owns a great paint/body shop and I've sent him a good $150,000 in business over the years. He'd cut me a pretty good deal for a better than factory paint (extra clear and wetsanded flat) but since his shop would be working on other cars too, he'd probably have it a few weeks. Would need to factor a rental into the cost.

 

I agree with scott on that price but i will say i have a friend that paints like crap but when he sands and buffs it,it looks mint like a pro did it.The prep and final finish are the most important steps in bodywork and detailing.

 

Take care of your mechanical issues before you start worrying about little cosmetic things like imperfections in the paint. You'll regret it down the road if something goes wrong with the car and you addressed the paint instead of your CEL's.

 

Agreed. I see so many obvious repaints because the painter lacks the skills to properly wetsand and buff a car without trashing it with buffer swirls all over it.

 

Getting my car painted with rally stripes fo around 1700 so 1500-3000 range is accurate and I'm only getting a discount because my family just got 3 cars from the guy recently. Experience is everything my mechanic has been repairing and painting cars for 30 years

 

rally stripes?!??!

 

This forum is just so freaking cool dude. You know what, no, it's bloody RADICAL.

 

I should be getting mine done for 1400 or less my friend knows the painter so getting a discount it is expensive then you gotta watch out where you park at stores so nobody doesn't F#4K it up....Good Luck post some pics...if you do ....

 

thanks for all the input..and information always appreciate some good intel. and BTW my CEL just went off today. My bud just picked up a 07 sl its super sick..just got done setting up his bluetooth hands free. But as for as the paint goes..I think im going paint it black and murder it the f out. lol...so now I just have to find a bodyshop or good autobody. Ohhhh hmm that reminds me my other bud just got a job recently at a autobody..funny how things work out..who would've thought. lol. Also hey guys i am just rolling over 170k..is this silly to paint a car at this high mileage? i know thats kind of a stupid quesiton but i would like to hear other maxima owners opinions. Thanks guys!

 

ya thanks man, ill definetley get some b4 and after pics..always wanted to black it out think im finally just gonna say f it and do it. ill keep u posted...keep youre eye on that photo gallery...for my car.

BTW----> nice youtube vids on the caatman..sounds dope man congrats!

 

Think twice about black paint, if you want to keep it swirl free, you need to plan on spending 2-3 hours a week on it. Hand washing with microfiber towels only. You can never take it to a tunnel car wash or use a brush on the paint again ever. Trust me on this.

You can see in this picture the difference between swirled up black paint and corrected (swirls removed):



This BMW was really bad, took me 7-8 hours of polishing to remove all the swirls. If you don't take proper care in washing your car, this is how your black paint will look in the sun in just a few months.

Before



After



Then you have the problem of body shops not being able to polish out their paint jobs properly. This shows on the left side of the car an extreme but not all that uncommon example of poor polishing after a repaint (car had hail damage).



So unless you can find a shop that can actually lay down black paint with minimal orange peel (the paint has a sort of bumpy look like an orange-excessive orange peel makes the paint look dull) and can polish it out correctly (ask to see a couple cars they've buffed in the full sun) and then have the time to spend keeping your black paint from ending up like that BMW, pick an easier to maintain color.

 

what color do you recommend? silver maybe or that charcoal/grey lustre color...


btw thanks for the pics..

 

Sure thing. I figured pictures would be easier to show what I meant than simply saying it.

My grey luster 5.5 gen was pretty easy to take care of, metallic paint tends to hide swirls a bit better than a solid color-of course, I removed them anyway when I bought the car.

Silver is very forgiving and you can make it look super wet...proper polishing, Optimum Opti-Seal (a very easy to use sealant) and Optimum Car Wax (sprays on, wipes off, looks incredibly wet).

 

+ 1 on silver.

But if you change the colour you have to change your name!

Black is harder to keep clean in every aspect. Price out the difference in cost.

 

NO SILVER NOOOOOOOOO!!!

Friends don't let random people on car forums get beige cars, silver beige included!

If you are thinking "silver," get the Gray Luster 5.5. But, really, you want the Majestic Blue. It makes people cry when they see it--it's that beautiful.

But, if you want to be unique... LeMans Sunset. HANDS FREAKING DOWN. It would look a lot like ShiftIce's photoshop:

Good gods, that would look amazing. Every time I see a LeMans Murano, I weep for the color. There can't be more than two 350Zs still in this 800K person city painted in that color.


Anyway, on topic:
I brought my beat-up Sterling Silver (code: Purpleish gray beige silver gold crap colored car that 70% of 5.5 gens were painted) to the best body shop in town for a repainting quote. They gave me an estimate of $3500 and, get this, wouldn't even give me a quote on painting it Majestic Blue instead! Their master body shop guy there gave me the number to someone who would be willing to do it for roughly the same price, but he strongly recommended I never even consider repainting it a different color--there are far, far too many areas that basically can't be painted. The labor involved in disassembling a car... Yikes.

So I'm kinda waiting to grow up and be more responsible (almost 22, yeah!) and keeping my eye out for a fully-loaded Majestic Blue 5.5 gen 6spd LSD, like one of the ORGers has here, because it's cheaper to buy a new car than to repaint the one I have--considering losses I would take on selling mine and buying another.