Dropped car off at paint shop on friday

[jamesmost]

Pictures in 2 weeks

[CrimsonQ]

same color?

How much are they asking?

[Haitian_King]

Found this while searching for paint advice.

How much did it end up running you?

I went to three shops today and came back with three different estimates. $1278, $2000, and $3500.

I'm curious to see how much yours turned out. From the pictures I've seen, your car came out looking pretty sharp. If you don't mind my asking, how much was it and how long did it take?

One of the shops told me he'd need the car for a week at least.

[maxnix]

Paint is kind of like tires except it requires a lot more time to do correctly.

You get for what you pay.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Yup. Biggest risk you run with repainting the car is having new paint that looks really good (especially compared to your old paint) but doesn't stay that way for long. That's the primary reason I've never repainted a car. I figure early 90s Infiniti paint quality (the Max had an Infiniti paint job) in bad shape is better than Maaco in good shape.

If I could get some sort of 5 year guarantee with the paint job or something like that I'd be much more inclined to take the plunge.

[Haitian_King]

Yup. Biggest risk you run with repainting the car is having new paint that looks really good (especially compared to your old paint) but doesn't stay that way for long. That's the primary reason I've never repainted a car. I figure early 90s Infiniti paint quality (the Max had an Infiniti paint job) in bad shape is better than Maaco in good shape.

If I could get some sort of 5 year guarantee with the paint job or something like that I'd be much more inclined to take the plunge.

If it wasn't raining today, I'd take pictures of what I need done. Nothing major, but to me they've become unbearable to keep looking at.

I'll never take my car to Maaco.

[Haitian_King]

Paint is kind of like tires except it requires a lot more time to do correctly.

You get for what you pay.

Would happen to know any quality paint places in the the PA/NJ Metro area? You pointed me in Keith's direction, hopefully there's another gem out there who specializes in Infiniti paints.

[qship96]

Visit a few local custom car shows in your area and ask the owners who painted their cars- you will quickly learn who the real artists are.

[maxnix]

I really can't help you there. Custom car show paints are for show more than durability. The Infiniti paints are a two or three step process.

Ask the Infiniti, Lexus and MB dealers who use outside shops who they recommend and go look at their work.

[qship96]

Dealer recommended shops are some of the crappiest places to get a repaint, as they specialize in speedy turn-around and low paying insurance work. You want a independant, owner operator who caters to finicky owners of classic and custom cars, not a volume based body and collision super-center.

[bullittandy]

Nothing wrong with Maaco if you do the prep work and they use base/clear to paint it (and slip the masker $20 and the painter $40).

[qship96]

Maaco is a crapshoot at best, as they are all individually owned and operated. Years ago I took my 1982 red 200SX there to be repainted- it looked OK {some overspray on trim if one looked for it} but the paint chipped and flaked off in several areas within 24 months.

[maxnix]

Nothing wrong with Maaco......

Other than incompetence and shoddy workmanship? MAACO is incapable of duplicating the Infiniti paint requirements. Many others are also.

Good paint jobs are not cheap as there is too much labor, a high degree of skill and the right (expensive) equipment involved.

[Q45tech]

I'm not sure it is possible to BUY 90-93 Q45 paint depending on color that is oem quality because of 1994 and 2000 EPA rules prohibiting certain chemicals.

The Fluorine coat.

It might be secretly imported from Japan in a mixed engine container?

[Infinitiguy19]

I'm not sure it is possible to BUY 90-93 Q45 paint depending on color that is oem quality because of 1994 and 2000 EPA rules prohibiting certain chemicals.

Does the fact that the color name was changed affect the paint and the chamicals used in the paint?

DARK GREEN<8908-9207> BLACK EMERALD<9207- >

Source: Nissan FAST

[NightRiderQ45]

As qship stated, you need to go to a quality, independent shop. I had one of my old cars painted House of Kolor Candy Apple Red. To this day, the paint job looks great because of the amount of prep work needed to spray a candy paint job. Everything has to be taken off, sanded, primed, base coat silver, candy paint, clear, wet sand, clear again...

It wasn't cheap but d@mn it still looks good. I wish I was back home because I'm looking to repaint my car black.

[Q45tech]

I would think date of manufacture of paint is more indicative. Same with urethane clear coats.

[bullittandy]

Other than incompetence and shoddy workmanship? MAACO is incapable of duplicating the Infiniti paint requirements. Many others are also.

Good paint jobs are not cheap as there is too much labor, a high degree of skill and the right (expensive) equipment involved.

Have you inspected the 500 Maaco shops across the country? You can verify that EVERY SINGLE ONE is staffed with "incompetent" workers who do "shoddy" work?

Also, how many cars have you painted in your life?

Paint is about prep work, you do that yourself then almost any paint will stick. If someone has $5000K to spend on a paint job then go get one but if you don't and your car looks like sh*t then a $500 (good single stage)-$1000 (cheapest base clear)paint job will do the trick.

[Haitian_King]

Paint is about prep work, you do that yourself then almost any paint will stick. If someone has $5000K to spend on a paint job then go get one but if you don't and your car looks like sh*t then a $500 (good single stage)-$1000 (cheapest base clear)paint job will do the trick.

I've heard too many horror stories about Maaco.

I don't have $5k to spend on paint though. The car doesn't look like s*** either. It's more for my own pleasure and ego. I see things that I didn't do to the car and I'd hate for people to think that I'm a terrible owner.

Now that I'm nearly finished with under hood work, I'd like to concentrate on aesthetics.

Visit a few local custom car shows in your area and ask the owners who painted their cars- you will quickly learn who the real artists are.

I met a man at a local car show who owned an Aero Colours franchise. He had some of his cars on display and told me he had done the work himself. He took a quick look at what I wanted done and told me he could fix it for $500. At the time, I had begun considering the $4k I'd been quoted by another man at the show for a complete strip down and repaint. When I was ready, I called the Aero Colours guy and found all of the numbers I had for him were no longer in service. I went to the Aero Colours website and found that he was the only franchise in PA/NJ.

As qship stated, you need to go to a quality, independent shop. I had one of my old cars painted House of Kolor Candy Apple Red. To this day, the paint job looks great because of the amount of prep work needed to spray a candy paint job. Everything has to be taken off, sanded, primed, base coat silver, candy paint, clear, wet sand, clear again...

It wasn't cheap but d@mn it still looks good. I wish I was back home because I'm looking to repaint my car black.

Can I ask how much it was? All I really want to do is keep my same color, fix all the little dings and scratches, and repaint the trim because the yellow underneath it is showing in places. The gray around the license plate holders is fading and I want to rejuvenate that as well.

Simply put, I'd like to return my car's exterior to factory/showroom, or as close as I can get it.

I'm not sure it is possible to BUY 90-93 Q45 paint depending on color that is oem quality because of 1994 and 2000 EPA rules prohibiting certain chemicals.

The Fluorine coat.

It might be secretly imported from Japan in a mixed engine container?

Would the black from a 94-96 be able to work? I've seen places online that say they can sell me factory paint or at least really close matches. I wonder if supplying my own paint would help lower the cost.

[Infinitiguy19]

I want to do the same thing, but the trunk on my car has bird crap that is etched in (benth the clear coat) (Previous owners fault, I carry a can of bird crap remover in the trunk). so I am contemplating:

1. Replacing the trunk with another one

2. Adding a spoiler to my current one and grab one as a spare incase I want to go back to the spoiler-less look

3. Paint the trunk.

But I also want to fix the Half a** touch up paint that covers the surface rust too.

But I can't wait to hear more responces.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Have you inspected the 500 Maaco shops across the country? You can verify that EVERY SINGLE ONE is staffed with "incompetent" workers who do "shoddy" work?

Also, how many cars have you painted in your life?

Paint is about prep work, you do that yourself then almost any paint will stick. If someone has $5000K to spend on a paint job then go get one but if you don't and your car looks like sh*t then a $500 (good single stage)-$1000 (cheapest base clear)paint job will do the trick.

You're right that prep-work is a huge part of it. But a lot of it has to do with the paint process, too. You simply cannot get the same finish quality and durability out of a respray. The processes involved in a factory paint job cannot be duplicated on an assembled car in a spray booth. You'd have to strip the car down and give it an acid bath to achieve the same quality. MAACO definitely doesn't do that. That's where the longevity issue I mentioned comes into play. You may well end up with a great looking MAACO paint job if you do your prep- and homework. But it won't have the durability or longevity of a factory paint job. Not possible, even if the workmanship is top-notch, because the processes are not on par with factory processes. So instead of a beautiful paint job that might last 20 years if cared for properly, you'll have a beautiful paint job that might last 5 years if cared for properly. Just something to be aware of, especially if you're just looking to repaint to cover up some relatively minor blemishes. Are those blemishes worth sacrificing the overall quality of the car's paint job?

[Jesda]

When I sold used cars the dealer I worked at used a local Maaco to do cheap $100 paint jobs. Took them a couple weeks to do it, but once completed it was an easy way to sell an abused heap. I had many uncomfortable moments working there.

My brother used Maaco for his G20 when the factory paint flaked off. The Maaco job flaked off a few months later, but it was under warranty so they did it again.

They also took the change from his coin tray to buy themselves sodas.

[bullittandy]

Remember, we're not talking about painting an 09 M45. We're talking about painting 15-20 year old cars that are worth at most $4K.

I encourage everyone who has thousdands of dollars lying around to buy the best paint job that you can but for eveyone else who needs a paint job they should not rule out any paint shop or car painter. I've painted about 10 cars in my life and would consider myself a complete amatuer. But it has given me the experience to know that most people "bench race" about paint-they talk about paint quality , longevity and dream of spending thousands but most don't.

Factory paint is a million times tougher, better, etc etc than any re-spray. I prefer polishing old factory paint first as a decision maker about painting the entire car.

As for stripping a car? Factory paint is an excellent substrate for new paint as long as it is in good shape-I'd never recommend stripping factory paint. Also, factory paint may "last" for 20 years but chips, dents, wrecks and poor upkeep kills paint more than anything.

Hey King, plan on spending about $1K and do the prep yourself and keep asking people until you find a painter you like. Car painters make an excellent living doing "side jobs."

[NightRiderQ45]

Andy is completely right. There is NO WAY I would spend $4-5k on a paint job when the car, especially the G50 isn't worth that much. I would purchase a FGY33 00' model before I spend that much on just a paint job.

King I spent $2k back in 01 for that paint job. That was a lot of money at the time since since I was a college student. I'm quite sure his prices have gone up for new comers, but I can still get the same price or cheaper if I were to visit him again.

[Haitian_King]

Andy is completely right. There is NO WAY I would spend $4-5k on a paint job when the car, especially the G50 isn't worth that much. I would purchase a FGY33 00' model before I spend that much on just a paint job.

King I spent $2k back in 01 for that paint job. That was a lot of money at the time since since I was a college student. I'm quite sure his prices have gone up for new comers, but I can still get the same price or cheaper if I were to visit him again.

I see where you and Andy are coming from in terms of spending the money on a nearly 20 year old car.

To me, it's worth it. I love this car with a serious passion. People make jokes about how obsessed I am with it, and how quickly I defend it when brought under scrutiny.

I think I may ask my uncle about taking the car to where he got his latest 3 Series from. He's friends with a body shop owner in Brooklyn that purchases damaged cars at auctions, repairs them, and sells them. He got my uncle an 03 3 Series that looks pretty nice, for $8k.

I wonder if he would be able to do something similar for me, as far as paint goes.

I want to do the same thing, but the trunk on my car has bird crap that is etched in (benth the clear coat) (Previous owners fault, I carry a can of bird crap remover in the trunk). so I am contemplating:

1. Replacing the trunk with another one

2. Adding a spoiler to my current one and grab one as a spare incase I want to go back to the spoiler-less look

3. Paint the trunk.

But I also want to fix the Half a** touch up paint that covers the surface rust too.

But I can't wait to hear more responces.

I'm in the same boat it seems. My hood has some bird dropping damage. Either I replace the hood with another black one, or have it repainted. The shop quoted me an extra $200 to do the hood.

[bullittandy]

I think I may ask my uncle about taking the car to where he got his latest 3 Series from. He's friends with a body shop owner in Brooklyn that purchases damaged cars at auctions, repairs them, and sells them. He got my uncle an 03 3 Series that looks pretty nice, for $8k.

I wonder if he would be able to do something similar for me, as far as paint goes.

This is exactly what you should do. Tell him you will take off much of the trim and even offer to tape it at his shop (if he'll let you) and then watch them paint.

[JeffTepper]

A total repaint of a car can be a disappointing and expensive adventure so proceed with caution, be realistic within your budget, and avoid prepaying too much if you can.

First, you need to consider what level of quality you are willing to pay for. Generally, people will grossly underestimate the cost of a "nice" paint job and overestimate the quality of "nice" paint job. Take the time to make your expectations clear. Communication is critical when it comes to selecting a painter and reaching a meeting of the minds on what you are buying. Ideally, you want to have a specific car to use as your target, preferably one that your painter has personally painted and one that he agrees is the standard for determining quality for your car.

Second, as others have said, preparation is everything. Unless the car is stripped to bare metal, don't expect your painter to warrant his paint job if it is sitting on someone else's paint or body work. Even if the job is a bare metal respray, a warranty is only as good as the person making the warranty. For example, a guy painting cars out of his garage on weekends will not likely have the financial resources to stand behind his work.

Third, keep in mind that high quality paint and materials can easily run $1000 for a nice quality paint job. Add to that the hours of prep before and finishing (color sanding and polishing) after. If the going labor rate in your area is $50 per hour for professional quality painters, it doesn't take that long for a labor bill to get into the mid 4 figures and sometimes much higher. Be realistic if you want high quality.

Fourth, from the standpoint of being a for profit business, a paint and body shop usually falls into one of three types. At the low end are the high volume shops (Maaco, Sheib, etc.) that generally make their money using lower quality materials and get the cars in and out in the matter of a couple of days. These jobs are generally priced in the $500 to $1000 range. There are exceptions in some cases where the franchise owner actually likes working on older cars and is willing to settle for less profit per job. These jobs are generally priced between $2500 and $4000. Moving up the ladder, are the insurance shops that make their money doing collision repairs. Generally they will avoid total repaints unless it is a "fill job" where they have an open time frame and use the car to fill in the gaps in their schedule when the insurance jobs are scarce. If you are willing to wait ( 6 months plus) these jobs are generally priced between $5000 and $9000. At the top of the market are the rod and custom shops that will do it right at a cost of $10,000 to $25,000 and take 6 months or more depending on what the customer wants.

Speaking from experience, 4 years ago I spent $7500 on a bare metal total repaint where I did all the disassembly and reassembly. I got a high quality driver paint job and I am very pleased. A couple of buddies of mine have each recently done bare metal total repaints on their cars with similar quality requirements and the prices ranged from $8000 to $12000 and took about 6 months each to complete.

Factory Infiniti paint is of very high quality and if you are looking to duplicate that quality, be prepared for an estimate at the higher end of the spectrum. Good luck what ever you decide to do.

[Haitian_King]

A total repaint of a car can be a disappointing and expensive adventure so proceed with caution, be realistic within your budget, and avoid prepaying too much if you can.

First, you need to consider what level of quality you are willing to pay for. Generally, people will grossly underestimate the cost of a "nice" paint job and overestimate the quality of "nice" paint job. Take the time to make your expectations clear. Communication is critical when it comes to selecting a painter and reaching a meeting of the minds on what you are buying. Ideally, you want to have a specific car to use as your target, preferably one that your painter has personally painted and one that he agrees is the standard for determining quality for your car.

Second, as others have said, preparation is everything. Unless the car is stripped to bare metal, don't expect your painter to warrant his paint job if it is sitting on someone else's paint or body work. Even if the job is a bare metal respray, a warranty is only as good as the person making the warranty. For example, a guy painting cars out of his garage on weekends will not likely have the financial resources to stand behind his work.

Third, keep in mind that high quality paint and materials can easily run $1000 for a nice quality paint job. Add to that the hours of prep before and finishing (color sanding and polishing) after. If the going labor rate in your area is $50 per hour for professional quality painters, it doesn't take that long for a labor bill to get into the mid 4 figures and sometimes much higher. Be realistic if you want high quality.

Fourth, from the standpoint of being a for profit business, a paint and body shop usually falls into one of three types. At the low end are the high volume shops (Maaco, Sheib, etc.) that generally make their money using lower quality materials and get the cars in and out in the matter of a couple of days. These jobs are generally priced in the $500 to $1000 range. There are exceptions in some cases where the franchise owner actually likes working on older cars and is willing to settle for less profit per job. These jobs are generally priced between $2500 and $4000. Moving up the ladder, are the insurance shops that make their money doing collision repairs. Generally they will avoid total repaints unless it is a "fill job" where they have an open time frame and use the car to fill in the gaps in their schedule when the insurance jobs are scarce. If you are willing to wait ( 6 months plus) these jobs are generally priced between $5000 and $9000. At the top of the market are the rod and custom shops that will do it right at a cost of $10,000 to $25,000 and take 6 months or more depending on what the customer wants.

Speaking from experience, 4 years ago I spent $7500 on a bare metal total repaint where I did all the disassembly and reassembly. I got a high quality driver paint job and I am very pleased. A couple of buddies of mine have each recently done bare metal total repaints on their cars with similar quality requirements and the prices ranged from $8000 to $12000 and took about 6 months each to complete.

Factory Infiniti paint is of very high quality and if you are looking to duplicate that quality, be prepared for an estimate at the higher end of the spectrum. Good luck what ever you decide to do.

Ouch. Fantastic and informative post Jeff.

I need this damn rain to stop so I can take pictures so you all can see what I need done. I was told I wouldn't need a complete repaint by the gent at the car show, but the body shop that quoted me $3500 told me I'd need to have a full repaint.

My realistic paint budget is $2k. But I want the BEST job for the money I'm putting out. Part of me is considering doing the work myself.

[Haitian_King]

This is exactly what you should do. Tell him you will take off much of the trim and even offer to tape it at his shop (if he'll let you) and then watch them paint.

Would it matter that some of the trim is also what needs to be painted?

[Infinitiguy19]

You can do the trim your self: zerothread/138647. You just need to find this old paint.

Why does nobody look at my signature where that link was in.