Cost for a good full paint job?

RAWKUZX3-2K · Jan 10, 2007

Hi all. I tried searching first but didn't really turn anything up that's conclusive.

What I'm looking for is a good approximate cost for a full re-paint job. It doesn't have to be show/competition quality but closer to showroom stock quality and better than Maaco is what I'm trying for. I have a black 2k ZX3 and would do black again unless another color is easier to do properly.

I've seen pics of the 2008 Focus and now I'm considering just refreshing my car, exterior, interior and mechanicals, rather than getting a new car. (There really aren't a lot of cars out there today that I think is worth buying new for the price range I'd be looking at.

Thanks - any info is much appreciated (oh - btw - I'm in Canada if that matters).

steedafocusgirl · Jan 10, 2007

A good full paint job can run about (a boot) J/K $2,000.00. But also keep in mind that you get whatcha pay for.....

RAWKUZX3-2K · Jan 10, 2007

Thanks - that's all I needed. If anyone else can provide approximates - it would help. (So $2000 - this would involve removal of the old paint? and includes a clearcoat layer or two?)

Being that my car is 8 years old now (140k km - not miles) - I wouldn't have a problem after another 2-3 years to pay ~5-6k USD for a full "refresh" of the whole car (paint, mechanical and interior) if it meant letting me drive it in pretty good condition for another 5-7 years after that. (The paint has got a dozen cancer spots and peels) but otherwise runs great.

aiden1983 · Jan 10, 2007

Well if you want a really good job done then it will be more like $3000 CND. Just make sure they will colour sand your car. They will more than likely not remove your old paint the usually use it as a base. If they strip your car to bare metal then do the paint and colour sand then you will be looking at $5000+. Also go to the shop and check their paint booth to see if it is really clean and check out other cars they have painted to see if you like what they do. Don't believe them if the cars they have done look like crap and they say yours will turn out much better as they are just bsing u. Good painters don't do crappy jobs for anyone, they always want it to look great. I have painted a few myself and have had 3 cars painted for me now and these are all the lessons I have learned. Hope this helps.

Kelric · Jan 10, 2007

There are a couple of different ways you can go. Black is the hardest of all colors to spray and get it to look right (lots of swirl marks/etc, and black just shows imperfections alot more than any other colors).

They never remove your old paint, just scuff it with sandpaper. If you want the old paint removed, that's a sandblast job and can cost a couple grand on it's own (but there's no need for that).

It's not so much the quality of the person spraying as it is in the price of the paint. You are always paying more for the labor than the parts, but step up to PPG or dupont paint and it's going to last awhile. You can save a few bucks with Omni (hell, the shop will spray Omni and charge you for PPG), but the good stuff lasts longer and is a better quality overall.

You do have another option though. Unless you have deep gouges and scrapes where the paint is actually missing, a lot of the time you can just pay a couple hundred bucks to have the paint reconditioned. 90% of bad looking paint is the clear coat and not the paint itself. A few hundred bucks ($200 - $500 depending) will get the clearcoat wet sanded, and recut and repolished. This involves no spraying at all and alot of the time will look like it was just resprayed.

Hey, it saves you a bunch of money and can look as good as a new paint job.

Any decent respray is gonna cost you $2000 - $5000 depending on how much the shop charges. Try to get a fixed price quote (we'll do it for $X) rather than an hourly quote (we'll estimate 4.5 hours at $85 an hour plus materials). You're always going to pay for materials, but if they slack off and take a smoke break, you typically don't get charged for it on a fixed price quote.

Good luck with whatever you decide. I've seen some really nice paint jobs come out of some seriously crappy looking booths. It's not so much about how the spray comes out as to how well they prep it between the color and clear and after the clear.

You do indeed get what you pay for.

aiden1983 · Jan 11, 2007

If the booth is filthy then you have a 99.999% chance of getting crap in your paint, that's why I say check the booth. And ya I forgot to say get really good paint as there is a big dif. Oh and make sure they bake the paint for you.

2xtremefocus · Jan 11, 2007

Omni is made by PPG. We use it at school. It's good stuff, not as good as PPG's global line of products, or some of their new stuff like the Vibrance line. Anything from PPG is quality. I've used most every line of product they make, and have never had problems with any of them.

It's all a matter of finding a reputable shop. Like it was stated before, make sure the booth is clean, has good filters in it. A downdraft booth is preferable as opposed to a crossdraft booth, it lessens chance of getting dirt in your paintjob. Quality tools are also a good thing to check on. DeVilbiss guns are good, Sata guns are even better. I've used both. We shoot primer with DeVilbiss guns at school, and base and clear with Sata guns.

When I did my fender on my car, I used Martin Senour (by Sherwin Williams) single stage black paint over Ford sonic blue, which the fender was when I got it. Sanded it down to take down the clear and give my paint something to grab onto, cleaned it down with some PPG DX330 wax and grease remover, tack ragged it, and shot it with the single stage paint. It laid out so good for me out of that Sata gun, that I didn't even have to rub it out, it matched the rest of the car damn near perfectly.

Single stage isn't something you probably wanna do a whole car with, unless you're looking for a cheapo job. Basecoat/clearcoat is the way to go.

Any questions, feel free to PM me.

Oreo · Jan 11, 2007

If you take a car to be completely repainted, do they usually remove things like rubber trim & seals? (like, around the windows & doors?) Or do they just mask over it? I would think removing that stuff would give the better quality job, but would probably be expensive as all hell for all the additional labor time. Anyone?

2xtremefocus · Jan 11, 2007

A good shop would completely de-trim the car before painting. Door handles, moldings, door seals, everything is taken off the vehicle.

This is one of those things you need to find out in your process of selecting a shop to paint your car.

ZX3autoxtasy · Jan 11, 2007

Around us, $1000 for a back to stock paintjob.

A friend paid $1500 for a GOOD paint shop near us to do a few graphics and repaint the car.

RAWKUZX3-2K · Jan 16, 2007

Thanks for all the info. As always - [FJ] continues its tradition of helpful posters. Much appreciated.

I guess if you guys could answer one last question: how long should this take? As in - how many days will my car need to be at the paint shop? And how many manhours would be a reasonable amount to expect? Thanks again in advance.

RIHLMANNcom · Jan 17, 2007

And forget about changing the color of a car, that would require removal of everything off the body, even all the glass for a proper job. I wouldnt recommend it unless you do it right.Depending on the shop you take it to, i'd say a reasonable amount of time would be 2+ weeks. Once again depending on how much you pay would dictate how many hours it would take.

aiden1983 · Jan 18, 2007

I have had paint jobs done within a week. It all depends on how much work they have to do and how busy their shop is. What every they tell you add a week. If they say more than 2 then you might want to look somewhere else (unless they are the best). Also do not tell them you are in no rush (but don't rush them, just ask them how long and leave it). I have seen jobs that have been rushed because of the customers and they should have just waited the extra few days for a better job.

Cost for a good full paint job?

RAWKUZX3-2K

steedafocusgirl

RAWKUZX3-2K

aiden1983

Kelric

aiden1983

2xtremefocus

Oreo

2xtremefocus

ZX3autoxtasy

RAWKUZX3-2K

RIHLMANNcom

aiden1983

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