AFB - 944

I have heard multiple times that a paint job would cost an arm and a leg on this car....is that the case, or is that just if i was going for an incredible paint job. My guards red is in extremely poor shape, and my parents are making me paint it due to my motor vehicle record, and police officer's grudge against red cars. If anyone has information on what a decent....paint job would run me i would appreciate it. Also, is it possible to just get it painted at a local paint shop such as mako, or would that be risking the look of my porsche?

xsboost90

how does red effect tickets at all? i have had a ton of red cars and have been pulled over less than any other car ive had. I think that doing stupid stuff is what gets you pulled over. Repaint it red!

AFB - 944

yes, thats true. And it is what I tell my parents at least twice a week. But seeing as I am only seventeen, and i am still under their roof, they are telling me to paint it a diff color, or sell it. (you know how stubborn parents can get about pointless things)

Porsche-O-Phile

Repaints will always decrease the value of the car if they're not the original color. Quality is 5% a function of the type of paint used and the skill of the guy with the gun, 95% prep. work. It's also most of what you pay for. If you can do the prep. work yourself, great. You'll save a ton. If you have a shop do it, get ready to take it in the shorts. I've gotten quotes over $7,000 and that's for a pretty average early 944. Granted the guy does good work, but I'm tellin' ya' - these guys see "Porsche" and figure you've got money to burn, regardless of the truth.

I'll probably end up doing most of the prep. work myself and delivering the car in pieces to the paint shop (doors stripped and off, hatch and glass out / off, engine & drivetrain out, and fully sanded. All they'll need to do is prime & paint. I'll even do the reassembly. I figure this way I can get an uber-quality job for under $2K.

PCA 944

I've had estimates ranging from 1k to over 3k for a decent paint job. If you really want the paint to last, it will not be cheap to repaint a car.

As far as police officers grudge againt the color red, it's simply a fable. The color red on any car is going to make the car more noticable, but an officer won't specifically pick you out of a crowd. You shouldn't be worried about standing out anyways, don't speed or do anything against the law and you have nothing to worry about.

If anything a police officer has more of a grudge when they see your driving in a Porsche and they are cruising around in a over sized, bad handling Ford.

Clowd

lol, my dad just said "That bloody thing attracts attention, you better be careful." Irish accent and all.

Yabo

There are documented statistics that red cars get more tickets, catches the eye easier then a more natural color. The results may also be skewed because many people get sports cars in red, and thye obviously have a better chance to speed...
Just like there are so many of those guards red 944's!

AFB - 944

thanks for the input...I have never prepped a car before...how would i go about doing that, and do you think it would be possible for me to do it myself because of my lack of knowledge in this area?

BeerBurner

I'm probably the only person on this forum who will admit to getting my car painted at Maaco.

Three years ago I wanted to get her resprayed, but every shop I looked at quoted me $5-8k for a paint job that they admit wouldn't be perfect. And I got this quote right after they realized it was a Porsche.

On a whim, I went to the Maaco right across the street from my P-mechanics. They gave me a quote of $1.6k for fixing some minor dents, removing the stone gaurds, mounting the 951 valance I bought for it, and a base/clear coat spray. I stripped the car myself of everything but the front window and rear hatch (tape lines will be one of the major places for failures, so I eliminated any potential line that won't be covered up). I ended up replacing almost all seals/weather stripping, badges, rear speakers and the rear valance. All in all, it totalled about a $4k job.

All in all, they did a good job. Yes, it has some flaws, most of which I could have emliminated if I wet-sanded. The paint has held up well in the three years since, although it does chip easier. In the end, I think it's worth the several thousand dollars I didn't spend.

So, if nothing else, look into it and see what they have to say and look at the work they do (ask to see the quality level you'd be interested in because the cheap jobs are ****. And that said, don't go with the cheap jobs). Some shops may do quality work, others will suck. See how they do...

Oh, and keep it the same color...

BB.

944S2

Changing the colour is a BIG job...(if you do it properly), otherwise it'll look like crap. I'd keep it red! Or get quotes for it and give them to your parents, once they see the cost involved I think they'll change thier minds!

Good Luck.

MN87'944S

From my experience, red gets you tickets. A cop flat-out told me driving a red car like that, or something along those lines, i should not expect to get out of any tickets. He then wrote me a ticket for 19 over on a country road. Sad thing is it was my first time even being pulled over in my first 3 years of driving. Otherwise i don't know anything about paint jobs, sorry about the OT.

George Boss

It's not difficult, you just have to be patient and have the right tools. I've repainted the car myself (see below for the type used, but I mixed Montreal Blue and Iris blue to get it where I wanted to...I can send a pic if you want to see it) and found my value went up, not down. After 16 years, most cars need new paint to make them look good again. Look at old muscle cars, like the old Hemi 'Cudas. Look at their values. They've all been painted again. The point is, it's the quality of the work that counts. My paint job cost about $4 K of your dead presidents and took about 3 weeks. The body man (under MY supervision) removed from the car, in no particular order: the doors, the mirrors, the hood, the sunroof, the rear valence and all the lights. He primered and painted these seperately, so there would be no overspray. He removed all the rubber from around the doors and body prior to shooting. The primer was a zinc based compound (yellow in color and better than the gray cheap stuff that is usually used). There were 3-4 coats of paint and 6-8 coats of clear. He wet sanded it down and shot clear again. He did this for all the pieces he removed, not just the body. Then, it was simply a matter of re-assembling the parts again. My car looked better than new, and I've had it like this for 8 years now. My advise to you is if you have the cash, go for it. In the end, YOU drive the car, so it matter more what YOU think, not some wholeseller or used car dealer. And if someone wanted to buy the car from you in the future, they would appreciate the work you put into it. If not, they really didn't want to buy a Porsche anyways. Good luck!

Stephenwz968

My fiancee has had a red car for 4 years and has yet to get a ticket...knock on wood...and I recently got a red 968, and haven't had any problems...yet...

TrevorW

I got pulled over in my Hellrot (shiny-bright-red) 325is, right after I got passed by a multicolored 80's caddy. He actually passed me as we were going by the police office, on the right side, and I got pulled over! The cop asked me what I am supposed to do when I see a cop and I told him move over to the left and go 65, he said he clocked me at 77. I told him that was the car that passed me, I was going 65, he said he clocked him too and he chose to pull me over. We argued for a few more minutes and he wrote me a warning. It was obviously his mistake and predjudice towards red cars, or a 20 yr. old in a nice car or both. The best advice I can give you is you won't get tickets IF YOU ARE NOT breaking the law.

Burma Shave

Prices go up for Porsche owners because they are hard to please and high quotes are to chase them away. A two thousand dollar collision repair is out of the shop in 2-3 days. A two thousand dollar porsche all over paint job is in for weeks and then you have to deal with the owner forever. No offense intended but we love our old cars and are picky...and cheap...or poor. Not ideal qualities for a potential customer. Type of paint and skill of painter is far more important than 5%. The type of paint used at Maaco or other low end paint shops as a rule will last 3 months to 2 years(garaged), unless they upgrade to a true base/clear. By the time you do that and get a couple dents fixed you might as well go to a real body shop. If you only have a couple hundred bucks to spend go to maaco, refuse body work and live with the results. It likely will not last especially on a color change. You will have a hell of a time changing from red to anything else. Prevailing labor rate in my area is $40/hr and materials are $26/hr. Average all over would be 20 hrs.= 1320. For a proper job on a 944 w/ some disassy 40hr. = $2640. Add for color change, light bodywork and,prime & block 60 hrs. $3960..show quality not less than $5-7k..