I just got off the phone with a local auto body shop, asking for some kind of ballpark on getting it repainted. It was the place I chose to call FIRST, because it's closer to where I live, and I've seen some pretty decent collision repair work come from there. I asked what it would cost to be repainted, and he asked what kind of car it was. '87 Thunderbird.
"HAHA. shiznit, that's pretty old. What kind of shape is it in. I don't know if it's worth my time."
I proceed to tell him that it's in really good condition, an Alberta car with very minimal rust. Less than you see on most ten year old cars. None visible, for that matter. I told him I would bring it in post any weld work and the first coat of body fill. Pretty much pre-prep.
"First you want it resprayed, now you're doing the body work yourself? I can't see it being worth it. Bring it in, I'll take a look at it, but I can't see it being less than about $3G. What do you mean, weld work?"
I asked him, "3 Grand just to paint a car? There are some repaired spots I did in the past, riveted steel, that I want to redo with welding. Nothing big, just a couple of spots around the wheel openings where someone had their bra clipped on. Maybe an inch or two of steel here and there."
"I don't know. Bring it in and we'll see what kind of shape it's in."
"That's alright." *click*
:beatyoass:
Well the 3 grand to paint actually doesn't sound too far off, I dunno...my cousin whos got a little shop told me it would be about that much to do my car.
Definitely eff him for assuming it was a rusting heap though. :rolleyes:
what a dick. I got my car painted including bodywork by a pro (he did it on the side in his home shop,cash deal) for $2500. My car looks as good (or better) than the factory paint job did. You need to find someone that likes working on old cars. It seems as if most body shops don't want to mess with a job unless there is insurance money involved.
$3k. Ouch. I was hoping my repaint + body work would cost about that, not just paint!
True. You have to find a body shop that does more than just collision repair. If you want really good work try to find a guy who does older cars or custom stuff on a regular basis.
sounds like he likes losing business
3K for a real good paint is fair, but I doubt you'd get it from this guy. It sounds like he gave you a high price hoping you'd go away. Many places these days would rather do collision/insurance work as it is often more profitable.
LOL...they only thing that would be worth his time, is his time. What difference should it make weather or not its an 87 turbo coupe, 66 mustang or 98 hyundai?
I had the same thing happen to me a few years ago, with getting estimates for the convertible. A lot of the body shops around here have sworn off older cars because "there's no money in it". In other words, they can't be bothered. Or, they simply make good money from collision/insurance repair and don't want to tackle a non-insurance job where they actually may have to (gasp!) deal with the customer directly. You can tell from the way that they talk that they're not interested. This guy didn't want the job.
Just keep shopping around, man. It's disheartening but you'll likely find someone. The dude that painted mine did so in his backyard garage and you'd never be able to tell. It's show quality. And it was about the price that you were quoted.
I think mjbtbrd hit the nail. These guys aren't interested unless there's big money in a job, so they go for the insurance repairs. I'm thinking he gave me a big number to either get rid of me or get me to let them do the rest of the body work so he can charge $5G. I won't be darkening his door anyway.
Ange and I are getting a fair bit of taxes back this year, so I've got a BUDGET! :hick: I already had a small budget to get it back to DD status (windshield, motor mounts, etc.), but today she said I should get some quotes on getting it painted. I just about fell off my chair, and I was belted into the passenger seat. :rollin:
Looks like I'll be painting it myself again, but this time with the Base Clear, not Acrylic Enamel. I guess you just have to learn some things the hard way. Do it right or don't do it at all, and cheap is... just cheap.
*edit*
Sorry Eric, you posted after I started typing. You pretty much said exactly what I did.
One last piece of advice for all of you. OVER-PAY YOUR TAXES!!!!! :D You really won't notice an extra $20 a week and come March you've got a really nice surprise year after year.
Amen to that. I've been claiming 0 since we got married and had Spencer and believe me the money back from Uncle Sam is nice!
WOW! 3 grand!?!?!
I am really glad my son is in auto body at school! LOL I will be getting the 97 done for much less, including the repairs.
I am amazed at how much this boy has learned about painting and the paint itself. He can look at a vehicle and tell what kind of paint was used and how many steps were used for it. Many of the newer cars use a three step process. He can also tell you how much it costs to do it all.....and this is his first year.
He's going great in it and I think he really has found his calling.
Right now he is working on a fender from an old Ford truck...he has to remove the dents and repaint it.
Here are some samples of work he's done this year, and the fender he's working on.
(http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/60/m_a4fffe5852b249d9be82f271d65e00cb.jpg)
(http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/9/m_12016a1472364fc78c34423f1cbdb9e3.jpg)
(http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/57/m_357445f9abd3457c94391a4faa4c3423.jpg)
(http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/22/m_f7b4e44c41f340d199c1b4bccd1d908c.jpg)
(http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/55/m_7682a9e52b4c4da18f630095c7b66827.jpg)
Like said insurance is what they want. when my hood blew up on mine, I needed an estimate $1800, just to fix the damage and "color match" I asked how much more to do the whole car, they got weird with me like we don't or can't do that. I fixed it my self and bought afr heads .
That sounds like the time Angela got rear-ended driving the C-10. I took the cash, bought a roll-pan from Texas, and still had over $200 in my pocket after putting it on and painting it. I didn't really want another step bumper anyway.
Macco.
I know i know macco sucks.
However you get what you pay for there,if you pay the 399 special that's what you get.
They do sell a base clearcoat deal though which is what i had done to my 75 when i had it painted 13yrs ago.
I think it's call ambassador or presidential or something along those lines.
My cat is just over 19ft long and it cost me 1200 tax in base clear.
I've had many comments about the paint over the years and she's still as shinny as the day i got her done.
I'm sure with inflation the cost will be more these days, but it's worth checking out.
The guy at the shop i had mine done at(in edmonton AB at the time)said when a cust came in for the cheapy special, they painted the car and kicked it out of the booth without baking it ,but for the customers that paid the money(like i did)they would bake the car for x number of hours(i think it was 6-12 for mine can't remember).
With them it's all on how much you spend.
I'll do mine myself. Screw paying loads for someone to do what I already know how to do.
FWIW a phone call isn't gonna be the way to get the info you want. While you may be serious, how many phone calls similar to yours do places get where the person on the other end is pipe-dreaming? Better to walk in with VERY recent pics of the car or drive the car there. You'll get a better response from the person you want an answer from IMHO.
That guy tossed you a scary quaote to chase you away. It's common practice among body shops and also mechanical shops - I have done it myself on several occasions (notable ones being a leaking rear main seal in an AWD Isuzu Impulse and a guy that had his Z34 Lumina towed in with the DOHC cylinder heads in the trunk, wanting me to put it back together for him).
Few body guys will blow paint onto somebody else's body work. It's their pride on the line - they know that no matter how good a job they do, it'll look like shiznit on somebody else's body work, and when people see it the first guy to get the blame will be the guy that painted it because most people don't know that paint and body are two different things. Maaco will paint anything, though...
I say paint it yerself. If I can paint a car and have it turn out decent, anyone can, and you've alrady painted it once. Hell, I'm mildly considering painting mine again, even though it hasn't seen the road since I painted it, just because I'm starting to think it'd look better in a bright red...
Time is money. No matter how you look at it. He obviously is well enough off not to want any business. I have no sympathy for people who do business like that and fail.
Time is money, Money is Customers, Customers are time. Take one away and see how well you do.
I wouldnt take my car there after they said I dont know if its worth my time. Guess your money isnt the same as others because you drive a 22 year old car.
Depends on which one you take it to too. Lady that had my car had a Macco job done. 2nd most expensive they offered and it looks like ass. Even when I got it 4 years ago it was not the best.
Same experience here - you'd think some of the local guys would want an old car buff to say where their work was done, but no. "Replace and spray" I call these shops and I was rejected from several before I gave up. All these shops want is quick insurance jobs on completely non-rusted cars as stated above. :punchballs:
My car was painted by a guy who does custom stuff, not out of a "body shop". I could have gotten better, and I would have had to pay more to get it.
Talking to him recently he mentioned material pricing has gone up from when he did my car, and all said and done mine was $2,800.00. I did no body work , but stripped the car as much as possible. There was a little rust here and there, but nothing major.
$3K sounds fair for a decent respray, but I doubt you would have gotten that from that guy.
Well, I've got a big piece of sheet metal left after doing the rockers on my Grand Cherokee. Something like 4' square was the only size NAPA sold. Time to get practised up. Thinking about it, if I do it myself, but really take my time this time, I might be able to afford the two-tone paint job I really want. Don't want to get too ambitious though. I'd much rather be able to say I did it myself anyway. I'm still waiting on a phone call from another good shop in town. Angela's distant cousins, or something. He was supposed to get back to me at work, but he must have been on the call he was on after lunch (it's also a tow company). I'll call tomorrow morning and get some kind of idea, but the more I think about it, the more I want to take another crack at it.
I guess it's time to search the board for paint threads. :)
You'd be much better off taking the car in for the estimates. I've done a lot of work for other guys and there is no way I would give even a ballpark estimate over the phone. Your idea of "very little rust" and my idea of "very little rust" may be two completely different things. If you called me, I would ask you to bring it in. If you're not serious enough to even show me the car, how serious are you to get it painted? Anyway, if you paint it yourself, take your time and I'm sure it will turn out great. Good luck!!
If you have skills, I would seriously try to do it yourself. I can send you to a great place with all the info and tools you need to do the job yourself. It's really not that hard to do. just takes a little patience that's all. If I didn't do all the upgrading. my car would be on the road already. and the bodywork part of my car only cost me about $400 to replace all the panels, rockers and floor. It's now just the price of paint on top of that. ;)
I was quoted 4000 for mine, and it's a rust free California car. But I found a small shop that did it for 1600. It's not show quality, but it's virtually as nice as factory paint.
There's a local guy on the way to town who paints cars. I'll call him tomorrow. Angela found out about him at work and called him up. He said he's still doing it and for me to give him a ring. This might be what I'm looking for.
Here are some shots of the worst of it. Mostly it's just one area that's rusting at the seams, and my riveted repairs are separating. The first one shows the damage to the paint that happened on the train. A cardboard box fell over and did that. Hard to believe, but it shows how thin the paint was to begin with.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/oldraven/Tbird/HomeMarch2009001.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/oldraven/Tbird/HomeMarch2009004.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/oldraven/Tbird/HomeMarch2009005.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/oldraven/Tbird/HomeMarch2009006.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/oldraven/Tbird/HomeMarch2009007.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/oldraven/Tbird/HomeMarch2009008.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/oldraven/Tbird/HomeMarch2009009.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/oldraven/Tbird/HomeMarch2009011.jpg)
I'll be painting these black now, since no one ever sees the interior at the same time they see the scoops, so colour coding them with the dash didn't make much sense.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/oldraven/Tbird/HomeMarch2009012.jpg)
It's still in pretty good shape though. Nothing terminal, and it's clean underneath.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/oldraven/Tbird/HomeMarch2009010.jpg)
Everyone in the auto body industry is an asshole.
.... kidding, but shops will often throw out high numbers to scare off what can sound like a PITA job.
In all honesty, I would charge about 2 grand plus paint to paint a car. Plus extra for repairs. But you really have to see something before you could give a ballpark quote. It really takes about a good week to prep and do a good job, including a cut N buff as a finish product. And that's on the cheap end of it..
Hey, Oldraven - looks like you need a tail light lens ;)
Eman hit it on the nail most big places are insurance only i deal with it all day becouse my tow buisness i deal with 95% insurance only and 5% is repair shops and motor clubs.becouse insurance is job security for my company lol.best thing is a hole in the wall body shop and 9 times out of 10 they do a hell of a better job than the big guys
Yeah, you know anyone who's got any? ;) I was talking to Ange about heading up that way to pick them up pretty soon. She's got family in Mt. Uniacke that she wants to visit, so we should work something out here.
pay it back,,
call them about your collision on your 2008 BMW,, let em kiss your butt then tell them they may not be worth your time because you heard about thier customer service. A good friend of yours has a paint job and was treated less than zero.
HAHAHA, the ultimate slap in the face for them!!!!
Not exactly true, but close. Most shops are busy 9-5 with insurance work like the body shop i work in. We do take in cash deals and yeah on the phone we usually shoot a 3k starting bid. Sometimes it goes down a bit sometimes it goes up... A LOT! patch panels and all of the sort take hours of time.
If you are just looking for a slick paint job i would suggest doing the bodywork yourself. A monkey could patch sheet metal if it was patient enough.
even if it takes you half a dozen shots of primer, sanding and guide coat prior to delivery to a bodyshop and you will save $1500-2250 and be have the pride of your own body work.
Painters are @holes in general, i joke all the time at work thats why we put them in the back shop away from all the normal folks air.
next time you get in a accident, show your insurance company that the only blue book that still exists on your car is the collectors one. Then they'll have to pay you the better portion of $5000. Then fix all the parts with junk yard stuff and get it painted with the insurance money.
As awesome as that sounds, it's a 1987 Thunderbird. A busted taillight would write it off.
I'm going to do this myself. I have sheet metal, access to a welder, I've done body work on a few of my rigs before, including this one. Thanks for the advice everyone, but it sounds like the guy wasn't trying to scare me off and this is simply how much it costs to get it done. Money I don't have. I've got $1200-1500 to do this on my own, and most of that will be the cost of paint. A friend who's a painter (Edmonton) told me it's about $800 a quart, and it will take 2, plus clear. I'm going to have to try and find a deal on paint, though. That said, if I can't do it right this time, I'll wait another year.
That's crazy,you can get dupont duplicolor in quarts from napa for around 100.00 bucks.
No it's not sikens but it will definetley work and provide a decent finish.
Is that Base/Clear duplicolour? I have Duplicolour Acrylic Enamel on it now, and it was super cheap. It cost me about $300 to do it myself last time, but I don't want to go that route again. I need something I can buff without worrying about buffing through.
*edit*
I just looked at the Duplicolor website and see they have their Paint Shop line, which is a Base/Clear setup. http://www.duplicolor.com/products/paintshop.html It looks like they don't have much of a selection of colours, though. It's bright red or find something else, I guess.
I would use PPG paints myself.
hehe...it's the truth though...most i''ve seen are also stoners
Well thanks alot. I know who I won't be sending a christmas card to.
Not me :D I'm more intelligent than that.
They sell both the base and the clear coat.
Would not be more than about 300.00 for the base,clear and hardner.
I know duplicolor is not the highest quality stuff but i've been impressed with the stuff they've put out the past few years.
I use strictly Dupont everything, primer, sealer, base, clear, solvents, etc. I really like their Chroma/Chroma Premier line. (That's what was used on the TC in my avatar.) My guess is closer to $700-$800 for the paint materials. You really don't want to skimp on paint supplies. My $.02.
I guess everybody has there preference, I myself always had trouble when ever I used the Chroma products. PPG has always been my choice since I switched to it. But they are both good products to use, and I don't want it to sound like my choice is better. I say use what's in your budget.
I was thinking of trying House of Kolor on my car when it's done. I'm still searching for what I'm going to use myself when it's time. ;)
Well said. I didn't mean to imply Dupont was the best either, it's just the brand I've had the best luck with over the last 25-30 years.
Jerry, it's funny you had trouble with Dupont. Not funny ha-ha, but funny in a bad way. I tried PPG on my wife's 71 Mach 1 (because that's what was already on it) and I had all kinds of problems with it. Obviously, it was just something I did as PPG has great paint. Anyway, my only point was don't buy . It doesn't have to be Dupont or PPG, but don't skimp. Pretend you're in a NAPA commercial and "Get the good stuff".
DuPont, PPG, or others.... but the trick is to stick with one brand for better compatibility. I'm a PPG guy myself, but then again, I got their coffee mug, sweatshirt, P-books, and tour of their facility in the twin cities....thanks to my college training. :)
I'm really liking that the Paint Shop line doesn't require any mixing, since I'm really not that experienced with properly mixing reducer and hardener.
Thats not as hard as you may think.