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+--- Thread: Has anyone here ever gotten their car painted? (/showthread.php?tid=39727)
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Has anyone here ever gotten their car painted? - the_poochies - 09-12-2007
The exterior of my 1997 Subaru Legacy GT is getting a little long in the tooth. The white paint has turned yellow on the bumpers and the paint job has plenty of little nicks and chips missing. I also have a 6"x1" strip of rust above my rear passenger tire.
I'd like to get the rust removed and have the car painted (white, the original color), because the car only has $70k miles, has an immaculately clean interior and runs like a champ.
Has anyone ever gotten their car painted? My mechanic said that a chain like Maaco is cheaper and will do just as good of a job than a local body shop.
How much do these jobs usually cost? Any caveats I should be aware of?
Re: Has anyone here ever gotten their car painted? - Robert M - 09-12-2007
Poochies,
Painting a car is expensive. A 1997 Legacy GT with a exterior that shows its age but a clean interior and engine and just 70K miles is probably worth between $3K and $4K. A quality paint job can easily run you nearly 50% or more of the value of the car. A low quality paint job is a waste of money. If you're truly in love with the vehicle and plan to keep it for several more years, spend the bucks on a quality paint job.
But, If it was my car, I'd have the car detailed to protect the exterior to prevent further deterioration. A good detailing job will cost under $200 and may even revive the exterior a bit. So, it's definitely worth giving a try before dropping the bucks for a new paint job. The money you save by going this route can then be placed into a "replacement vehicle" fund.
You will have to replace the vehicle eventually and having cash in a "replacement vehicle" fund can go a long way towards the new set of wheels.
Robert
Re: Has anyone here ever gotten their car painted? - Robert M - 09-12-2007
Poochies,
One followup... I had a 1996 Crown Vic. The car was in beautiful shape except for an aging exterior. There were a few spots on the roof and the hood of the trunk that faded and looked worn, despite regular maintenance. It cost me nearly $1000 to have those sections repainted. I went to my regular body shop who charges fair prices. The paint job included prep, color matching, making sure the new paint blended with the old paint properly and finishing to ensure it was protected from the elements. Blending is vital else you'll be able to tell the new paint from the old. Repainting the entire car and replacing the pin striping would have been significantly more expensive.
The only reason I got it done is because I received an insurance settlement and had the extra cash. That and I planned to sell the car and the paint job would have increased the value enough to pay for itself. So, it was worth it. Funny, I ended up keeping the car and the transmission of the car went kablooey nearly a year after I got the paint job done. I neded up dumping the car because the cost of replacing the tranny was nearly 2/3 of the value of the car. Not worth it.
Robert
Re: Has anyone here ever gotten their car painted? - wurm - 09-12-2007
I'll second the detailing as a first try to save some money. My daughter's '94 Corolla was really showing its age and she had talked about wanting to maybe get it painted. I thought about Maaco, but enough people here on the forum warned about shoddy work, etc. there. Anyway, I had a coupon for a $99 detailing (regular $139) so I figured we'd try that. Damn. The car looked practically new...well, as new as a 13 year old car with 150k miles can look. Money well spent as far as I'm concerned.
But now you can look forward to the fun of deciding where to get the detailing done. There are a bunch of folks out there who claim to be the best. And prices can range anywhere from $75 to a few hundred. Try to get some referrals.
Re: Has anyone here ever gotten their car painted? - ajakeski - 09-12-2007
I have painted a lot of cars in 17 years of working in the collision repair industry. The average for painting a car complete is about 30 hours of labor plus the cost of material. My average cost of quality materials for a complete is about $1000.00.
Like everything else in life, you get what you pay for. Maaco may do it for a few hundred dollars but they are giving you limited color choices and low quality materials. Plus, how will they prep the car, and will the rust they fix come back in a few months?
Re: Has anyone here ever gotten their car painted? - papercup - 09-12-2007
I'll paint any car, any color for twenty-nine nintey-five.
Re: Has anyone here ever gotten their car painted? - BigGuynRusty - 09-12-2007
[quote the_poochies]The exterior of my 1997 Subaru Legacy GT is getting a little long in the tooth. The white paint has turned yellow on the bumpers and the paint job has plenty of little nicks and chips missing. I also have a 6"x1" strip of rust above my rear passenger tire.
I'd like to get the rust removed and have the car painted (white, the original color), because the car only has $70k miles, has an immaculately clean interior and runs like a champ.
Has anyone ever gotten their car painted? My mechanic said that a chain like Maaco is cheaper and will do just as good of a job than a local body shop.
How much do these jobs usually cost? Any caveats I should be aware of?
Why take care of it now?
Just get it detailed, make sure that rust is on the surface.
Keep it waxed.
Paint job is in the prep.
BGnR
Re: Has anyone here ever gotten their car painted? - davester - 09-12-2007
I agree...detail first. Of course, if the paint is flaking off already then it's too late. I'm not sure about the rust...if it's only surface rust perhaps you could use some rust neutralizer (available at most hardware stores) then do a little bit of wet sanding and find some matching spray touch up paint at the auto parts store or dealer. A detailer or ding repair place might be willing to do this for you. If the rust is all the way through the fender there's not much to be done short of the body shop.
Another thing, is there any way to keep the car covered or garaged while parked at work or home (after it gets detailed that is)? With a lightweight quality custom fit cover it only takes me 30 seconds to cover or uncover my Bimmer, and the 12-year old paint (bright red) looks like new still.
Re: Has anyone here ever gotten their car painted? - tenders - 09-12-2007
I had a Buick Century for many years and had it repainted twice by Maaco in 1998 and 1995. In both cases I think the money was well-spent. The paint jobs were OK but the car, no showpiece to begin with, looked like it had been repainted if you knew where to look. The car was silver, and the Maaco silver color was a reasonably close match.
A few years later I had another 11-year-old Buick repainted by a proper collision shop at significantly higher cost due to an accident and insurance payment. It was an odd color, sort of metallic dark purple, that wasn't anything close to a standard Maaco color, and changing the color would most definitely have been a problem. Repainting only the panels that had had the damage wasn't an option either. Anyway, the car emerged looking brand new, but a few months later I started to regret spending so much money on cosmetics.
If I had a ten-year-old car that I liked I'd definitely have the rust repaired properly. I don't know that I'd go for the whole-hog paint job though. I would be thinking: how many more years do I really expect to keep the car, and how smart will I feel about feeling mad about new nicks, scrapes, and dings on a 10-year-old car?
Re: Has anyone here ever gotten their car painted? - the_poochies - 09-12-2007
Thanks for all of the advice. The rust is starting to bubble up the paint, and it has gotten larger. Even my friend who details cars for a living recommended that I paint it.
My Dad just told me that he got his 1995 Corolla painted at Maaco for $600, and the car looks nearly new. They did a very nice job. So perhaps I will give them a ring.