What is the “stuff” that makes paint so pricey? I’m looking at top of the line auto paints and they run $200, $250, even $300+ per gallon. I can see some pigments, maybe they are derived from something rare or whatever, lots of processing. But even some of the clear coats run $300 per gallon. What gives?
Getting paint to apply evenly on metal, and withstand the elements, for many, many years, is not as easy as you might think. The reason it costs so much is because people are willing to pay that price (apparently).
Yes of course people are willing to pay that, and more.
But what is in the stuff that makes it cost so much. Thought I’d ask here, similar inquiries by others on the web don’t seem to have much info. Some suggested that paint costs were tied to oil.
Another “paint guy” suggested much as you did, “because they can get it, pure greed” etc. I dunno.
Between the cost of paint, and labor costs associated with body work think I understand the popularity of “patina” and original paint jobs now.
A decent quality paint job is probably $10,000 minimum now easy.
I can’t attest to this site, but CostHelper gives $1,316 as an average price for paint jobs that get a “happy with the job” rating.
$10,000 maybe the minimum for top quality, museum display, no detail left wagging type of job.
Like most car parts, the car makers squeeze for the best possible price from the paint makers. When the after-market customers come around, they don’t have that kind of leverage, so they have to pay whatever is charged.
If you buy a replacement bumper, you’ll pay a lot more than Toyota did for the same part.
It’s really good paint. It has to last a long time in really bad conditions. The aftermarket is high priced, but the volume is low compared to manufacturers so the aftermarket distribution has to be profitable on it’s own. And yeah, it’s a seller’s market.
My paint guys says prices for both paint and application have skyrocketed because of environmental compliance costs.
Lots of nasty volatiles (and dust when sprayed) in that stuff.
On the flip side, my family is 1/2 DIY, and 1/2 “would like to, but can’t afford it.” We have a tendency (which I’m sure some people would find highly distressing) to just use ordinary spray paint.
No, the REALLY good paint jobs are way more than $10k, am including the labor involved with body work and such. It’s really just hours and hours of prep. For a showroom or carshow level on a classic maybe $20k?
Hell at those kinds of prices I’d not want to keep a lot of inventory around except in a vault or deliver via armored car. Would be a target for thieves I’d imagine. Who’d a thunk it.
I second the goverment oversight and environmental concerns for price. Not to say greed isnt a factor as well. Ive been lead to believe that Lead was a wonderful metal that was put into paint which has now been replaced with chromium? Aluminum? Or other more expensive metals. And sometimes the replacement metals are found to be hazardous, so they must find a replacement for the replacement, or so ive been told
In all honestly idk why they dont allow lead paints for professional paints with all the ppe that is required, lead shouldnt be a concern for the applicators, but I suppose there are still environmental issues…
the “really good” paint jobs cost that much partly because there’s a lot of manual labor after spraying the paint to get a smooth finish. it’s hard to avoid some degree of “orange peel” on sprayed paint. so glass-smooth paint jobs have a lot of wet sanding by hand which takes time, and as we all know, time=money.
though it is true that automotive paint is more expensive than the stuff you buy in rattle cans at the hardware store. That’s because automotive paint is expected to be low-VOC (volatile organic component,) and catalyzed (two-part,) and has to be resistant to things like weather and UV for a long time. Car buyers got sick of their cars looking like faded, peeling crap when they were only a few years old so automakers set out for paints which could be hammered day in/day out by ionizing UV radiation but still look decent after 10 years.
plus, a lot of automotive paints have pricey fillers like mica (for “pearl” effects.) and don’t get me started on that color-shifting stuff.
Got it in one.
It is one of those widely held misconceptions that items that carry a high price must be more expensive to produce. The truth is that it is all supply and demand.
If it costs a lot to produce, the supply is likely to be low, and even with a low, but steady demand, the price can remain high. But, if the demand is also low, it could be cheap. If the supply is high enough and the demand low enough, it could even be cheaper than it costs to produce.
If it is very cheap to produce, but the demand is very high, the price will be high, at least until the demand drops off or the supply increases to meet the demand. Take a look at the cost of a beer at a ball game. Perhaps $8 or $10 for a 16 oz serving, that costs, what, maybe $0.25 to produce (if that much). Sure, you have delivery and some middlemen to pay, too, but the reason it costs a sawbuck at the stadium is that they can get that much for it.
You also typically can’t color auto paint at the counter, as is done with household paint. The color formulation has to be done at the initial mixing stage. IIRC, you can push colors around a little at the end stage, but you can’t take a can of “Base Tint” and turn it both Corvette Blue and Grabber Orange. Multiply that by hundreds of basic colors and you’re looking at a more restricted production process of fewer units per item.
Beer costs so much there because they have a captive audience, and nobody is allowed to bring their own.
Anyway in the case of paint here, if it’s mostly greed (or regulation) as some assert then there should be plenty of competitors who are willing and able to sell a less expensive product, maybe dramatically so, particularly from overseas from You Know Where, who are not troubled by such niceties as environmental considerations. Wonder why that hasn’t happened.
It looks like you guys get ripped off. My local bodyshop would do a complete respray (so long as the original was sound) for £3000 to £5000. Most of that cost is the hard work of preparation: Taking trim off, rubbing down, spraying, rubbing down, spraying the lacquer coat and baking. Then spraying the bumpers and other bits, before re-assembling the whole thing. That’s a lot of hours.
You’re right. If there same quality products could maintain a market at a lower price they’d be available.
The highest prices come from low volume, custom colors and formulations used only in one-off applications. Simpler epoxy paints can cost $100 gallon, two stage paints with the colors people want on cars will increase that, for a blend that is rarely requested $200 or more a gallon isn’t unexpected. People who spend as much as $10,000 or more for show quality paint jobs will pay for exorbitant markups just because they think they’re getting more value that way.