Is it possible to get a OEM quality paint job without breaking the bank? I have a couple older vehicles that are repaints and the paint comes off easily, chips, etc. Does MAACO or one of the other chain auto painters do a quality job? I know the sky is the limit on cost, depends on what you want, but what is a rough estimate for a nice paint job, OEM colors, nothing fancy?
The trick is in the prep. And also how thickly each coat of paint is applied. LOTS of careful prep, and the paint will adhere properly. The good news is that you can do most of that yourself, so the cost, in money, is quite reasonable. Your time value is something you have to figure for yourself. I don't know about there, but around here, body shop labour is about $65 an hour. For every 10 hours of prep labour, you are looking at $650 and that adds up in one big hurry! With the paint, 3 or 4 thin coats is much better than 2 thicker coats. For one thing it has to do with how the paint cures. With thicker, or wet on wet coats, the top of the paint starts to cure and it seals the off gasses from the under layers, preventing that paint from curing properly. Thin coats with drying time between allows all the paint to cure to a hardness that allows for durability. As for price, part of that depends on the paint you choose. Good quality paint is EXPENSIVE. The better paints can run $800 or more for the paint alone. Figure a good paint job to run about $2,000 using good paint and the shop not needing to spend a long time on the final prep. The more you do ahead, the less the final tab will be.
How big is your bank?? Sounds like your other cars weren't prepped right. Maaco can't do a quality job for what they charge. The only way to do it right is to strip the car down to bare metal and I don't think Maaco does that. The paint and clear for my Vista Cruiser cost 1200 bucks alone, 2400 bucks to paint the car with another 1200 bucks labor. All the shop had to do was pull the doors, tailgate, and hood to paint them off the car, took them three days start to finish and it was beauteous. I did all the prep and that was about 400 bucks for the sandpaper/discs, epoxy primer, lead, glazing filler, and other miscellaneous stuff. It would probably have been another 4K for the shop to prep the car at the very least. It's not an easy job but I never did a car and actually had it painted when I got done. It only took me 40 years of practice to get it right.
Thanks, I was hoping it would be around $2K. I can do some of the prep work. I've got more time than money! If I do the math correctly, BlueVista, your paint cost over $5K?
