estimate for a paint job

[AlienInv8r]

Does it really cost that much for a decent paint job? What about the upper end of the bargain paint places. I found this place online - Earl Scheib Paint & Autobody. Has anyone ever heard of them? They do have a firebird on their main page, maybe that's a good sign. I was thinking about checking them out, paint comes with 6 year warranty which is probably longer than I'll own the car. Or do these jobs really just look like crap??

[hockeyman]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by AlienInv8r:
Does it really cost that much for a decent paint job? What about the upper end of the bargain paint places. I found this place online - Earl Scheib Paint & Autobody. Has anyone ever heard of them? They do have a firebird on their main page, maybe that's a good sign. I was thinking about checking them out, paint comes with 6 year warranty which is probably longer than I'll own the car. Or do these jobs really just look like crap??<hr></blockquote>

As bad as MAACO is, I'll go to them before I go to Earl Scheib. He paints ANY car for $99.95 (that's his slogan...really!)

-Marc

[Chris94Bird]

never go to maaco...never never never...ill vouch for that.

[Dominic]

I would say a good paint job should start at $6,000... A great one will run around $10,000.

I'm talking flawless no drip perfectly done paint, lots of layers of clear for depth of shine and weatherproofing, and complete painting of everything including the engine bay and areas which were only primed from factory.

If I'm going to have a car repainted, I want it better than showroom quality!

[AlienInv8r]

Wow, I didn't know that place was worse than maaco, haha. Holy smokes, $10k!!! That's so expensive, my car was only $6k, haha! Maybe I'll be reconsidering all this painting stuff and the color change idea from my other post. There's no way I can afford that kind of a paint job. wow man!

[ShortyV6]

I have a growing interest in auto body work...so I sorta got attracted to this post.

I understand what you guys are saying about that price being so high, but really I don't think you completely understand what goes into a REALLY good paint job.

When I started to get into all of this, I thought body shops were ridiculous too, but I figured you simply taped stuff off...sanded, primed and painted. It gets more complex than that. A lot of that prep is taking apart the car, including taking the front windshield out, rear windshield, hood, spoiler, and any other easily taken off body panels which are to be painted separately...off of the car. Oh yes, and the doors off too. There's a lot of taping involved, etc. I highly reccommend going to Brent Franker's site and checking out the Millennium Yellow painting journal on his 96 SS. It shows a lot of good pictures truly showing what is totally involved in a paint job.

You are getting what you pay for. My car needs some work also...some scratches and in places the paint is getting a little worn away. But a PAINT JOB IS WHAT IT MEANS TO YOU! Everyone would love a 10k paint job, but a lot of us don't need it because a lot of our cars are driven daily...not garaged show queens. Flawless is just that - Flawless - and soemthing that you dont' just see everyday.

Maaco isn't always bad...from the consensus I've heard, they all differ because they are all independently owned...I believe. Maaco won't do too bad of a job if you do some of your own prep work, because that is where they obviously lack (that is where the majority of the time and $$$) in a paint job goes.

Paint jobs aren't cheap...so i don't reccommend getting them all the time, because we do get scratches, etc in our lives. I hope this helps...I'm simply just learning more and more about it everyday. Hell...I've even thought about VOLUNTEERING and working at a body shop for a while just to learn a little more about how it's all done. It does take time and patience.

Mark

[christopher h]

amen

[gta8857]

Always remember, You get what you pay for!! I have seen 4 differant maaco shops in differant states. They all do inferrior work. Think about it. Body shops and dealers charge 3k for a paint job and maaco says 800.00. Hmmmmmm A good paint job will cost money, plain and simple. If you cant afford a good paint job now, just save your money and have a good shop do it for you. Ask to see there work. A good shop wont mind.

Maaco uses inferrior paint, prep work and they dont pull nothing off when they paint. I have seen them paint over stickers and dirt. If you go with Maaco, get lots of paint remover, cause you will need it for the over spray. And i hope you like Orange Peel.

Take everyones advice. STAY AWAY from Maaco

[darkthoughts5000]

ANY respectable paint shop would tell you that its better to just get the color of car you want right when you buy. $4-5000 is not outragious at all when you consider factory paint jobs arnt the best as they stand either. if you were to get your car painted a different color, youd basically be buying a lot better quality, and life to that new color. and besides, all the detail that goes into it. ive got a red car and say i wanted to change it to black, well outer paint would be the easy part. but when you get into painting the engine bay (engine comes out), trunk... hell, even my underbody is red, so that would have to be painted as well, without the exhaust or drivetrain being painted withthat (so those would have to come off... than everything put right back on). ya, ill go with Dominic on this one and say if i were to get my car repainted, im deffinately getting it better that "show-room" quality. that bit#h is goin to be custom with a capitol "C"!!!

[Tireguy]

I look at it this way, I have a '94 maro that has always been to the auto car washes, lots of swirls @ scraches from that, 114,000 miles of paint chips on the hood, 3-4 door dings, its black, I expect to pay $1500-$2000 to have it back to a good clear coated black. I got it this way used 2 years ago.. I will take much better care of it thar the past owner. With new stripes, $2500, works for me. Love my car, gonna keep it.

[Big Tymer]

i paid 650 at maaco.... 2 years ago for my mustang.... Still holding up just fine... metallic black

[MingisDew31186]

With 3-5 grand on paint, you'd be better of buying a new car.

[Loochy88]

its not too likely that a 3-5 thousand dollar car is going to have a wonderful paint job

[sam r.]

I would think it depends on how attached to your car you are. (hey that rhymes!) If you think you're going to own it for a couple of more years or so, I would say just get a paint job to spruce it up a bit and spend however much YOU want to spend. If this is a car that you want to keep for the rest of your life (hey, some people are that way about their cars) then I would say go for broke. Either way, it's your call. Bottom line, you WILL get what you pay for. If I were going to get rid of my car say in about 3 years, I would spend no more than $1,000.00.

[PC Firebird]

WOW... I dont post much but I came across this thread and thought I would put in what I think. I'm not sure where people on here are getting their info with some rediculous prices.

People saying it sould cost 6K-10K are going to the wrong shops and are getting their asses handed to them. The ones charging that much generally do high end expensive cars and charge alot. No harder to do a BMW than a Firebird yet you go to a high end paint shop and they will charge the BMW alot more.

Now, I have had my car painted 3 times and is going in for a 4th time soon. I have done a full color change and just about everything you can think as far as body work. Reason for me painting the car so many times is because I have kept doing stuff to the body and have had to repaint it.

First time I paid $900 for a full color change including door jams. Granted that is a hook up but you shouldn't be paying more than $2000 or you are gettin ripped. And I am talking full show quality paint job. Just my .02.