Painting car...

[NIGHTfall_240sx]

ok, i never hadda get a car painted before, or really know anyone who has. I dont want a cheap looking paintjob, but a decent one. I wanna give it the new look, but i hate my current color. I plan on inspecting the car like crazy for a weekend and pulling dents and as much body work i can for a 17year old kid. i plan on painting my car white because i heard it makes it harder to see blemishes. i have alot of plans for my baby. I wanna know about how much everyone here has spent on a paintjob? Any info ya got for me would be great. oh also, would it be any less (and about how much less) to not paint the hood... i plan on gettin a CF hood when i paint it, so why waste the money on paint? thanks much guys

[hadokenny]

my paint job cost around 2k. I had them put on my body kit and do a full paint. It was pretty high quality. They painted basically EVERYTHING including the engine bay and behind the hood. I am guessing if u dont need them to paint ur engine bay and hood, it will cost 2-300 less? I am not too sure tho. I personally dont like white that much because its hard to keep it new. It's true that white hides scratches better, however, it also loses its shine quicker. IMO, dark blue or black are the best colors.

[solaris22]

$400, plus he fixed the cracks in my bumper and filled holes from the spoiler, it's not showroom quality but well worth the $400, yet another plus being in japan, cheap paint job.

I also think black hoods on anything but a black car looks retarded. Just paint the CF hood.

[NIGHTfall_240sx]

i dono, i am kinda ricey in my own way, i like the blackhood on white cars... but no stickers for me except the nice big VTEC badge i am puttin on my base model S14, will sure fool them guys into thinking im fast.....

ok nevermind..

anyways, i know white will loose its look faster, but my car, i think, has been fliped once before, that or people who painted it the first time really cant sand an made nasty waves in my roof... anwyays, anymore people paint their cars? 2K is too much, 400 is the sh1t but not in the states, hummm... more feedback please? thanks much to the people who posted, and thanks to those who are about to

[groundhogday1976]

I've gotten quotes in the $1.2K-1.5K range. However, if you're changing to a new color, it's usually more expensive. I wanna get mine painted too but I can't help but think of the performance items I can buy for that. Oh well, most of us are on a limited budget and have to build our cars one piece at a time.

[NIGHTfall_240sx]

danm... that much for the same color..... i fuking hate the color it is now if its gunna be that much i guess i am going to just be rice and primer it... i seriously hate the color it is. its too fukking girly My friend Jesse was suppose to work at a paint/body shop and he said he can paint if for free, but umm, i donno where he been

[Toahk]

Nice HVLP Sata gravity feed paint gun, $150, paint $250~ for 2 quarts and a gallon of clear, all you need is a nice room to paint it and a nice big compressor. Im painting mine silver over cristmas break at my uncles place, has a nice big shop, got some nice heaters to heat up the metal inbetween paints, and a big 175psi compressor.

[NIGHTfall_240sx]

i would fuk up trying to do it myself.

[hadokenny]

If you are not looking for high quality paint...just avg quality then i think u can get a different color paint job for around 1k to 1.5k...It would be even cheaper if u dont need them to do ur door jams...so i am guess u can get an ok paintjob for around 1k? I know this place in LA that paint mostly rice rocket cars can do a full paint job for around 1k...so just look around

[NIGHTfall_240sx]

iight thanks much for the info guys

[89240sx]

my quote was for a little bit over $2000 and that's with all the small dings and scratches and the NISSAN on the front bumper filled.

[Altiman94]

most paint jobs around here have been around 2k depending on body work needing to be done.

[SilSweet80SX]

I painted my car. AIM me at Str8Craft if you have any questions.

[daniel240]

$2000 is not bad for a good quality paint job. my friend spent $3500 on his paint job and its very nice. the quality pretty much depends on what you want to spend. also, the more prep work you do yourself, the less it would be. thats the hardest part, getting it ready to paint. and white is a good color, and it does not loose its shine faster than other colors if you take care of it properly. the reason people think that is because white does not show dirt as bad, therefore people do not clean and wax it as much, so it fades faster. just dont get black, it looks good, but its a ****** to keep looking good.

[ride4lame]

word, my friend has a black car and it always looks like sheot, all scratched etc.

What do you guys suggest to do to pre-prep the car to save money? take off trim peices?

[s86d]

nightfall hit me up on aim about this and the ocala trip

[180fan]

well taking off your trim pieces...that's really dependant on how far you're going to go in the paint job. If you're not going to get the jambs and trunk bottom, underside of the hood done, then sure pre-prep with a bunch of sanders and primer could save you some money. Personally though, I've seen what a cheapo job like that can result in. If you're going to do it, strip the paint to the metal then primer. If you're going to leave vast sections of paint and primer on there, you're going to get crap and swirls in your paint. I've been quoted by a family friend for a complete paint job at 3k, but they pull the doors, fenders, hood, trunk, windows, pull out the carpet, spare tire, interior pieces that cover the rear of my hatch, all body dents pulled and smoothed, sand blasted and painted so there will be basically no real risk of the paint chipping off. Once again, the term "you get what you pay for" applies here.