Mike Kast

I'm looking at a 911 that may be what I'm looking for besides the paint. If I decided to buy and repaint, does anyone know what a repaint on a 911 coupe might cost? same color of course. I have to price it into the car.
I believe original paint is ideal, but if the paint is shot doesn't it make sense to repaint? If its just a repaint with no body work, can it be done by any reputable paint shop? Or should I find a Porsche person?

Martin S.

To paint a Porsche right, you have to take it apart. Off come the front febders, the bumpers, the hood...all trim has to be removed...lots of labor. Figure at least $5,000...at least that is what it costs at a primo paint shop in California.

adsc4s

Keep in mind that no matter how straight you think the body is, there is still alot of prep work to get the job done right. Sanding, blocking, primer, glasurit paint and then a clearcoat. And as Martin has mentioned, all the trim, body panels, mirrors, etc have to be removed and then reassembled. Lots of time. I would say $5K is average. I have had quotes from $3.5K to $7K. This was a quote for my cab which involves the labor intensive exercise of removing and then replacing the cab top. Good luck.

Doug&Julie

I looked into getting my 72 T painted, and most of the reputable shops in the Cinci area were saying "a good $4k - $5k" with a little trepidation in their voice.

As long as you get your paint done by a very good shop, your car will be more valuable with a quality paint job than with a shotty one. It won't be worth as much as the same car with a perfect, factory paint job, but if the car you're looking at has a really bad paint job, it will increase its value. The big key is "IF" you get it done by a quality shop.

RANDY P

shoot, wish it was as cost - effective here, all I can remember is $7-10K. Most shops around here consider a "complete" a PITA...

Must be local laws affecting price or something. Heard it's cheap in TX to get it painted..

comments?!

rjp

bungler SC

Here in Chicagoland, I've been quoted $5,000 - $6000 for paint at a reputable shop which does only high end euro cars. Disassembly seems to be the key factor. Pcars are not Earl Schieb candidates.

Jim Michaels

Around here it's less than $1k. And they use those little narrow paint brushes too; not those big wide ones.

zzopit

Your paint budget should be based on a reasonable value of the finished project. A $15000 car with a $5000 paint job may very well yield a $16000 car. Then again, a $15000 car with a $1000 paint job may actually undermine the value. I know it ain't all about the money (hey we do drive Porsches...) but just a thought....

Jim Florance

I Just brought my car to a shop that paints only Porsches, Vettes. Ferrari's etc... I did all the dismantling (Fenders, lights, bumpers, trim, etc...) The painter will be putting the fenders bumpers back on after painting, I'll be putting the rest of the trim back on. The car is being stripped, prepped, primered, blocked, color/clear coat, color sanded and polished. The cost is going to be a little over 4000.00. The price for him doing all the dismantling work would have been 6500.00. It is'nt that hard to do the dismantling work yourself, just keep track of the parts. Talk to your mechanic and people in your local PCA/POC, clubs, especially the concourse guys they should be able to give you good references. Next talk to the paint shop owners, ask for the names and ph.#'s of past customers. Look around the shops, is it neat and clean? If a shop owner can't keep his own house in order, will his sloppyness show up in the quality of your paint job? Is there a good representation of nice cars in the shop to be painted? A lot of nice cars usually means the shop has a strong reputation and attracts people from all over to have their cars painted there. A lot of shop owners will keep photo albums of their work and are usually proud to show you the pics of past work. I'm doing a complete color change. I've heard that the cost is a little less if you are keeping the same color. I'm sure that high quality original paint cars are always going to be preferred but they are getting so rare and so costly that quality re-sprays are a really cost-effective option.

kenrinc

Mike

In the SF bay area a comparable factory paint job runs about $8k. I've never ever seen a paint job on a 911 that I considered good. 99% of the time their "tape and paints" and as the 911SCs and late 70's 911s come up for sale on regular lots it's fairly typical to see bad paint work as a quick sell. Modern urethanes can really fool people into buying a car just because of the "shine".

I'd never seen a quality repaint until I met a guy I was competing against in a concours at Carlsen last year. Car was an 87 Carrera. Had it painted the original factory color (venetian blue metallic) and the shop did a wonderful job. Don't remember who did it but I remember it was a place in Oakland. Cost was $7500. I believe this was a bare metal repaint.

If the paint on the car is original, that means the car has never been painted, that would be the best substrate for a quality repaint. If there is at least one re-paint you'll need to strip to metal. That is of course just my opinion. A quality job would include removing all the glass and replacing all window seals while their in there and removing every single piece of trim. Most people are just not willing to go to these lengths. I have seen a few people do good jobs with the glass and seals in but it really depends on the painter and the time he takes in prep.

Most shops are not willing to take the time because it's not a money maker. In fact I have a friend who runs the shop of a pretty high profile BMW refinishing facility and he says they stopped doing full repaints because it just wasn't worth the hassle; they make sooooooo much more money from the insurance companies on spot and collison repair.

$.02

Kenr-
PCA Zone 7
89' Carrera