Body and paint...thoughts?

[bart325is]

I went out and got a couple of quotes today and was amazed at how much it will cost to paint my car. Cheapest quote was $4.5 and the other was 5.4K. That includes painting and installing new (used) doors and fenders. Only 1 door has a little surface rust. There really isn't much body work to do since those are the worst parts on the car. Just a few spots to patch up. Labour for installing doors and fenders was about $400-$450 so I could save that cost.

Is this the going rate? If so my next internet search will be titled "how to paint your own car". $4K buys a lot of replacement and performance parts. I guess that is my choice to make.

Thanks for your input.

[misschigga]

Are you planning to keep the car for a long time then i think it's worth it. You are preserving the car that way. If you want to buy something else next year or so then forget putting in this much money. I see you are driving it daily so maybe you should look into what is the most crucial to keep the car reliable and on the road and spend the money on that.

[Vrbovsky]

not worth it... these guys are taking you for a ride. I just had major body work done and half my car resprayed and it was only 1000$. my advice is to look outside the city, every shit town has a body/paint guy that'll likely do cash jobs. If you want a good but cheap job PM me I've got a contact an hour or so from windsor.

[bart325is]

misschigga: the car was pretty reliable when I picked it up last year but I have been replacing parts to make it an even more reliable car that I can drive year round. Only a few things left to do. I do plan on keeping it but it's very hard to justify this cost.

Vrbovsky: you have been pm'd.

[daveed]

Do some more research a $1000 paint job will not get you much. I'm not trollin' either.

[craz azn]

Originally Posted by daveed

do some more research a $1000 paint job will not get you much. I'm not trollin' either.

+1.

[noodles101]

ya i feel like most body shops rip you off hard if you dont have hook ups or know someone that works there .

[Vrbovsky]

Originally Posted by craz azn

+1.

-1

Look outside the cities. Look across the boarder. There's a lot of hungry body and paint guys in port huron. Toronto rates are double that of shit town ontario rates. Local guy here charges 40$ an hour if you're willing to wait for a spot.

[The Twin]

right now (middle of summer) body shops are starving for business.
it's a typically slow time of year for them (no winter fender benders etc) and they're in need of customers.

I just had my front fender done at a very reputable shop, however was all done with cash after hours.

saved myself about $300 doing it this way, and yielded the same results.

like others said, look for smaller shops in small towns.
are you planning on car-showing your car?
if not get a good quality job that will encourage the presevation of your car

[MaxBell]

Or Google $50 paint job.

[craz azn]

Originally Posted by Vrbovsky

-1

Look outside the cities. Look across the boarder. There's a lot of hungry body and paint guys in port huron. Toronto rates are double that of shit town ontario rates. Local guy here charges 40$ an hour if you're willing to wait for a spot.

The difference between a 1000$ paint job and a 4000$ one is leaps and bounds. Obviously, for 4-5k, it better be an 8 or 9 out of 10 in terms of quality... but may it be an E30, or anything else, it comes down to the prep... and there isn't much time you can charge within the window of a 1k paint job.

[BMW BMXer]

When I got my e30 repainted I went through a similar situation. 3400 - 5000 quotes that sent my head spinning as a dishwasher at the time.

I was eventually able to find a shop willing to do the job for 2000 and while it wasn't perfect it was very livable and it held up quite well (and is still doing so as far as I know).

Based on that experience I would never pay less than $1500 for a full respray. The problem with paint is that you get one chance to be satisfied and if you cheap out and it's not done to your expectations you are boned.

If there is any rust repair I would not cheap out because no matter the paint quality if the rust undermines it whats the point.

[Vrbovsky]

Put it this way.

Show car quality 5k min

Good enough for an older e30 DD 2k.

Just decide what you want. I thought abvout going with a total restore but I'd rather buy performance goodies and live with some paint flaws

[325isdan]

Rather send 2K on an OEM MTech II kit.

What colour are you thinking about painting the car?

[crxgsr]

Prices are different if you go base coast / clear coat. Acrylic enamel will be a lot cheaper, since it skips the clear coat process.