Hey automotive experts: Looking for advice on having a car painted

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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My wife’s early-80’s Volvo sedan is solid as a rock under the hood, but the paint job is somewhat the worse for wear. I’m considering having it repainted as a birthday present for her. (It’s been very well maintained, and like most Volvos of its era, it can be expected to last a few more years yet. I knew a guy once… um, different story.)

Anyway, I don’t know the first thing about auto paint, and with all the car enthusiasts on the board, I figured this’d be a good place to solicit a little advice. Several questions:[list=1][li]How much should it cost? Roughly speaking, that is. I’m in Seattle, which is about three-quarters of the way up the cost-of-living scale (with Manhattan at the top, and, say, Starkville, Mississippi, at the bottom).[/li]
[li]Are there any extraneous services I should decline? Y’know, like the infamous “undercoat” or whatever on new cars. I’m assuming the paint will be stripped to the metal, the body re-primed, and so forth. Is there a step that’s commonly added on that doesn’t need to be done and that I can skip?[/li]
[li]Is there a minimum price guideline? In other words, if it costs less than a certain amount, is that an indication of shoddy work?[/li]
[li]How long should a new paint job be guaranteed for?[/li]
[li]Related question: Is there a particular brand of paint I should be looking for that’s a good balance between cost and longevity/quality? Are there brands to avoid?[/li]
[li]Should I go to a chain or to an independent shop? Does it make a difference?[/li]
[li]Does anybody know of a consumer-guide/clearing-house type service or website (besides the obvious) that collects feedback and experience on this kind of work?[/li]
After it’s done, are there things I can look for as indicators that the work was or wasn’t great?[/list=1]These are all the questions I can think of off the top of my head. Any other advice or words of experience anybody can add will be much appreciated. Thank you!

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  1. The toughest call. It really depends what shape the rest of the body is in. It could be as low as $1500 to as much as $5000. If you want to go with a “good” base/clear, and the body is in “really good” shape expect to pay around $2000 for a decent job. Additional bodywork will be extra. Those small dents that don’t look too bad now look way worse with a fresh coat of paint on them so they must get fixed. Also, bear in mind that a different color than what you have now can be quite a bit more as more work is involved.

  2. Undercoating and rustproofing IMHO is a waste of money. If a person keeps their car clean (this includes washing under it) and wax it, the paint should last for years.

  3. Yeah, you get what you pay for. If you see a $200 paint job offered by MAACO on TV, and wonder why “Top Notch” auto is asking $2000, yes, there is going to be a big difference.

  4. Again, a real tough call. I would think 3-4 years, but really it should last for 15-20 with proper mantainence.

  5. Not that I’m aware of. I’ve heard good things about PPG and DuPont though. Your body shop should be more informed than me though.

  6. Personally, I would go to an independent. Many (but not all) chain shops go through their staff and have a hard time keeping their employees. A small shop in my experience worry more about quality and take their time. A good thing. Ask friends and co-workers. Word of mouth is the only way most of these guys advertise.

  7. No idea.

  8. Well, once again its going to depend how much you pay. You will have to pay extra to get the door jams painted (almost a must if your going a different color). Look for runs, and masking problems/overspray around the trim/windshield.

Hope that helps a bit :slight_smile:

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I just want to emphasize one thing here. That $2000 is a number I just pulled out of my ass. It seems reasonable to me. However, remember that any body work that has to get done can and will quickly and severely add to the price. That “little” bit of rust you have on the rear quarter may not be just a “little” problem.

Slight OT

Proper prep work for paint is 95% of a good paint job, and all those little imperfections have to get done, as well as all the sanding and filling. That is where the real skill comes in, as the “painting” itself is pretty easy (relatively). Very rarely will they go down “to the metal” when you get a re-paint unless some body work is getting done in that spot. Usually the sequence is roughly this: the paint is sanded down, primed, sanded more, primed, sanded, washed then painted. Then cleared. Sometimes this continues another 2-10 times depending on the “depth” they want to get on the paint.

The prep can be very labor intensive and this is one of the main reasons why painting can easily cost several thousand dollars. The paint and materials alone is usually only a few hundred or so. The rest is labor.

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Some tips for finding a good body shop:

Ask your insurance agent. They usually have some experience in dealing with body shops and can usually recommend a good one (or at least ones to avoid).

Get estimates from several shops. Ask them the questions you’re asking here. Get guarantees in writing. Ask for references.

Talk to freinds that have had body work done recently. Like bernse said, word of mouth is a big deal in the paint and body world.

Don’t forget to check dealerships. Some of the best work I’ve ever seen has been done by dealers’ paint shops. They don’t do a lot of expensive custom work and usually specialize in making things look like new.

Don’t depend on the size of the shop. The best painter I know used to work under a circus tent out in the boonies. When he wasn’t stoned, he did awesome work. I watched while he did my car to make sure the job went well, not that I’d recommend anyone else going that particular route. Many smaller shops do outstanding work and depend on their reputations for new business. Bigger shops have advertising budgets to get new business.

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Cool! I knew working at a Body Supply Store would come in handy. :smiley:

Let’s see. You get what you pay for. If you see an ad for “$300” paint jobs, what you’ll get is someone with an paint gun and a choice of three enamel colors. Ick. What you want will cost more. Sorry, no way around it. Specify what you want, a good shop will be able to tell you in great detail what it’ll take.

Take a look around the shop. You’re looking for downdraft booths, taped up vehicles, NEATNESS (to a degree…) The guys painting should be wearing at least a full mask, if not bunny suit and full mask.

I’m familiar with Dupont, so I’ll speak about that. There are two or three types. Centauri is the value-stuff. Good, durable stuff, doesn’t need clear-coating. A lot of older vehicles use this, believe it or not. Can cost $25 a gallon, depending on region and color. Imron is for fleet applications, unless you really think Imron+ the teflon clear coat would be cool. I was sorely tempted, but it’s a tad hard to lay down.

Modern Paint is all clear coat these days. You have the primer, base (color) coat, and then the clear coat. This comes in Normal, and request only Chromapremier. Chromapremier looks wicked, but it’ll cost ya. (DuPont’s Chamelon Colors start at $225 a PINT. It takes 8 to cover a normal car. I know a guy who did a drum kit in it, looked wicked. Cost him $500 tho.)

So, what you’re looking at is probably primer + color, and maybe clear coating. A good job around here (MS) averaged at one time $500+, depending on the paint and labor. Oh, I think the PNW will cost you more, if you have stringent air-laws.

Generally, as in all things, you get what you pay for. Dupont’s value level stuff will last you a good while, with the occasional waxing. Oh! Red fades fast, then yellows, and orange. Keep that in mind. :slight_smile: Look up a Body Shop Supply store and drop by. They should have color books you can look at, should be able to help you out, and are in general neat places to check out.

Hope this helps, shout out if it doesn’t.

I hope some of this helped.

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Oh! Something else you may need to know.

In the beginning, there was Latex. Icky to deal with. I had to mix about 2 quarts total in 13 months in the paint room. Will shred your sinuses faster than a chainsaw if you inhale it deeply. Both quarts were for a guy repainting a 50’s era car and a Model T.

Then came Enamel. Better quality and shiny.

Most paints now are Polyurathane Enamels. Great quality paints.

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I need info on this as well. Angie & I own an '89 Dodge Shadow that has peeling paint in spots. Peeling paint is so common a problem for late 80s-early 90s Chrysler products, the company was the target of a class-action suit. Looks like one of the previous owners repainted the left rear quarter and deck lid. We don’t drive much, so the car should last another ten years or so. I’d like to have all the exterior paint stripped and repainted, which should take care of the peeling problem. For now, we’ve been spraying clear enamel on where the bare metal is showing.

8

Great advice otherwise but this is wrong. Most American body shops use basecoat/clearcoat because this used to be the best way to get a great finish. Modern single-stage paints can give a great finish (go look at a new Mercedes with non-metallic paint for an example) with a considerably smaller investment of labor. The problem with most body shops and single stage paints is the level of skill. It takes an extremely skilled painter to get good results with single-stage. If you find someone good, you can usually get by cheaper with SS than with BC/CC and have a paint job that is just as good, if not better.

Most body shops will tell you that SS is now illegal. That is not true. That means that they have not yet upgraded their paint booth to the standards the EPA requires to use single-stage paints (which usually contain more solvent). One of the root causes of this myth (IMO) is that DuPont and PPG are American companies and most of their non-OEM paints are BC/CC. BASF is the world’s largest supplier of single-stage paints and is a German company. There is probably a little bias on the part of the good ole boys.

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Well, to be fair, I haven’t been in the Body Shop business for about 3 years now, so my knowledge is out of date. :slight_smile:

I didn’t realise Mercedes was using single stage paints again. I’ll have to go look.

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I’d recommend you talk to your insurance agent, as sewalk recommended, or an insurance adjuster.

Other places to check would be parts stores, or repair shops or garages that do do mechanical repair. They should have an idea who does a good job or has a good reputation. This way you won’t be asking them to recommend someone who performs the same service they do.

Another option might be a local high school career center or college auto shop program. They may be able to do the job for you at a great price if you’re flexible. It might take longer, for example, because the kids may not be there 8 hours a day, or the instructor may want to hold off on doing the job until all the classes get a chance to see what needs to be done. Get some references first, and check 'em out, and find out what happens if you don’t like the results, too.

Good luck!