Paint Job Costs

[ProTouringCuda]

So a buddy of mine is to the point where the "rough" body work is complete on his 65 Mustang Fastback. He doesn't want to paint it himself, so he went to a local shop to get a quote on a finish body work (blocking) and a base/clear coat.

The guy came back with $20,000. I told my friend I THOUGHT THAT WAS OUTRAGEOUS!!



I mean, after all is said and done, if the car is worth $40,000 when complete - the paint job would be half the value of the car. I just don't see it.

I can't imagine paying that kind of money for a paint job. Am I wrong for thinking this?

[dhutton]

It can be done for less. It all depends on how the car looks now and what sort of quality he is looking for. Of course high price doesn't guarantee high quality. How rough is the rough bodywork? The use of that term worries me...

Don

[gotyorgoat]

I shopped about 15 places when I had my car painted. Prices ranged from 4,000 to 10,000 and my car was pretty rough. I went with a 4k body shop with 500 in changes for some extra repairs and it turned out great. I also went to 2 different Maaacos to establish a baseline and they were both 4k.

[srh3trinity]

I have seen 4k-30k. Most shops want to know what they are spraying over so they usually want to do the bodywork. There could be 3k or more wrapped up in supplies. Paint itself isn't cheap these days.

[jasonsnova]

As a body shop owner I can tell you you get what you pay for.....but with out looking at it I would never quote a price. Now that being said 20k seems high on a car that all they have to do is "final block and paint" .
On the flip side your friend may or may not have done stuff correctly and they may be factoring in redoing alot of stuff....

[snappytravis]

I worked at a dealership bodyshop for years, and have been beating on stuff since I was a kid, The first thing when someone says "It just needs blocked" that could be a minimum of 30 to 40 hours or more,, Then reprime, Then you have all the door jambs, bottom of trunk and hood and inside fenders, are they planning on removing all the glass? It seems a little on the pricey side but a good shop may charge more hourly. You have to realize that shops that have a steady workload are not going to give there time away for something they don't want to do. So they just give a outrageous price to prevent you from bringing it to them instead of just saying we are to busy.

[71maroesteban]

You get what you pay for you want it to just look good from far away or amazing up close? The painting process isn't what cranks up the price it's the countless hours of sanding,blocking and jamming to get to fine and smooth for the paint

[ProTouringCuda]

Thanks guys.

He and another friend basically have the doors and fenders blocked (they're off the car) and they're both mechanics, one of whom has done his fair share of bodywork.

Anyway, everyone he talks to (whom isn't in the paint/body business) says that it seems REALLY high, and I guess that's somewhat confirmed here.

[camaro jeff]

That does sound very high . Bothcars I had done were under 7 k but we're mostly new panels that I already fitted and back on car, they then marked everything ,removed doors, trunk lid, hood and fenders and painted off car then reinstalled. Both came out very good. I did let them have car most of winter and they used it as fill in work which saved me $ because I wasn't in any hurry. You maybe could try that with a shop, use as fill in. I shopped probably 5 different shops some were as high as 15k or wanted to do t+ m which I think is crazy that gives them an open check book.
Jeff

[Wall]

A guy I work with paid $13k for bodywork and paint on his 1st gen Bronco. The Bronco had been sandblasted and had all the bad panels replaced prior to going to the body shop. Seemed high to me because he wasn't building it to be a show vehicle.

[sccacuda]

The one thing I found out years ago is what each individuals perception of "good" is. I've seen some hideous paint and body over the years that 95% of the people thing is great. It's always helpful to have an example of the quality the shop does and the quality you expect. To get to the level the other 5% think is great, 20K is not out of round. Then again if a 5-7k job meets your expectations, then spending more is pretty pointless.

[snappytravis]

then you have the guy that wants the 20k paintjob for 5k,, A good friend of mine owns a concrete business and a few weeks ago he told me that he had a 10k budget for his 57 chevy he wants painted. I told the wife and she laughed and said I should have told him we have a 10k budget for the concrete pad for the shop I want to build. It always seems the guy that wants the low budget paint job, turns it into a showcar when it's done.

[Jetfixr320]

All the products to do body work and paint start to finish adds up fast.
Fillers
sand paper
primers
Paint and Clear

It's very easy to have spent $2-3K or more for quality products and depends if your paying retail or get a discount. I think I spent close to $2K for primers and paint with a discount on my Falcon.

Then to cut and buff and that product and time.

[csouth]

One thing I would say is spending that kind of money on paint will definitely limit what he plans to do with the car IMO. That includes places he will park the car and how he drives. I want a streetable paint job when done only because I plan on tracking my car. I won't have an stroke once something bad happens because it will....

[minendrews68]

I'm hoping to have under $500 in my paint job. But then, I've already got my new rollers left over from a bedroom I did...................... ok just kidding.

[MonzaRacer]

Heck I have seen several paint roller paint jobs. After seeing some expensive paint jobs that DONT impress me and have painted in cool weather, outside and got near perfect results.
Paint is 95% prep and 5% technique.
Sanding,cleaning, masking, and all that.
I can lay pretty much any paint and make it look good.

[minendrews68]

I saw a guy paint a Suburban outside with 2 cases of aerosol paint 30 years ago. Man it was awful. Then there was the guy that painted his little foreign car that was white, with house enamel. Never taped off anything (and I do mean anything) and painted it blue. ugh... it was awful too. It was funny though. He had two of the same kind of cars and painted the first one and thought he did such a good job he decided to paint the second one. Didn't learn anything from one to the other.

[MuscleRodz]

The best quote I ever heard was Roger from Ironworks. He said paint job costs as much as a bag of groceries. It all depends on what you fill the bag with as to what the bag of groceries will cost. I have done paint jobs ranging from $3500 to $30k. With the cost of material these days $3500 barely covers the materials and pulling the car in the booth and shooting it. And don't expect any type of warranty either unless the bodyshop is starting from bare metal. He will only guarantee his paint sticks to the old stuff, too bad if anything below that fall off or it cracks.

[Auto Rod Technologies]

The best quote I ever heard was Roger from Ironworks. He said paint job costs as much as a bag of groceries. It all depends on what you fill the bag with as to what the bag of groceries will cost. I have done paint jobs ranging from $3500 to $30k. With the cost of material these days $3500 barely covers the materials and pulling the car in the booth and shooting it. And don't expect any type of warranty either unless the bodyshop is starting from bare metal. He will only guarantee his paint sticks to the old stuff, too bad if anything below that fall off or it cracks.

Well put!!!

[jerome]

Can anyone comment on whether this estimate from the paint shop seems reasonable? The project thread is here. This would involve media blasting the body, minimal metalwork (body is solid, no bondo, no prior resprays), block sanding, and basecoat/clearcoat. This was reduced from a higher estimate in response to my feedback that this would be a driver, not a show car.

My issue is that I don't quite care what the truck looks like. I'm happy enough with the 25 year old faded factory paint, I just need to have the truck disassembled to powdercoat the chassis and to paint over all the bare metal on the underside and firewall and make it all the same color. With a completely disassembled body though, it doesn't make sense not to spring for a paint job, but $15k on paint and body is at least $5k more than I'd like to spend. Does anyone have advice on how to cut down the cost and what I should expect in terms of imperfections if I choose to go that way? DIY isn't an option unfortunately.