This may be a tough question to answer, as prices vary a lot depending on where you live and other variables, but... what is a fair price for a repaint?

This will be the first time I've had a car repainted and I'm trying to be as informed as possible before I hand my 89 S4 over to anyone. And hopefully not get hosed on the price or the sales pitch!

I've already done the disassembly work myself and I intend to do the reassembly also, so the paint shop basically has to strip, prime, repaint, sand, buff...

There's one rust problem, on the lower edge of the passenger side rear quarter window opening that's about 2 inches long by 1 inch wide. It isn't rusted through, but badly pitted. No other body work is required. No parking lot dings or dents to pull.

I've already made the mistake of using the words Porsche and restoration in the same sentence at one shop... where without even seeing the car, they responded with a price of $25,000! I couldn't believe it so I asked again and got the same answer. I let them know that I wasn't looking to BUY another 928, just get the one I had repainted! "But we give you a lifetime guarantee on the paint"... I kinda doubt I'll live thaaaat long!

So, anybody here that's BTDT and can offer some advice / insight, it would be much appreciated.

 

I've had two done, I stripped them down completely, had side trim removed, headlightwashers removed and rear washer removed. Both had minor body work done - a similar rust issue at the rear quarter window - and then I reassembled.

The cost was $1600 on one and $1700 on the other using Diamont with clear coat.

Neither are perfect, but it is a very acceptable paint job, but remember, I'm located in central Indiana where things like paint jobs are not considered "exotic".

$25,000 is silly in my opinion. Their paint work can't possibly be 12 times better than mine.

Rod

 

Mine was 8k and they did all dissasembly and reassembly, no body work, and it was done to show car standards, so they are smoking crack at 25, and I live in one of the highest labor rates in the US.

 

Just had a quote for my 90. If I remove everything and re-assemble they will shoot it for $2200.00 and depending on the orange peel I want removed, another 300-500.00. I have seen this guys work and it is nice. I also went to a shop that painted my jag and they gave me a price of 5500.00 to paint the door and fender....just have to shop around.

 

The way I approach this is some quick math. Paint is a few hundred dollars a gallon. Couple of gallons should do it. Supplies maybe another couple of hundred. Stretch it beyond that for safety and say 1000.

Subtract that from the quote so now 24000 dollars.

Take local rates and do the math for labour (say 100$ per hour). That is 240hours.

So they are going to have a guy working on the car for 8 hours a day 40 hours a week for SIX weeks!! WTF. You could do the job with a q tip in that much time. F-em.

If labour rates are less then even more ridiculous.

 

Rod great response!

Actually that is a good way to approach this. Assume the high end shops that can provide references or are wllling to share their work are going to charge a higher hourly rate. You pay for experience and skills.

 

Hmmmmm, lets see Sterlings car was in the shop for 11months. . . he did have a lot of work done but ?????????????????????????????????

 

At 25 grand they dont want your business, move on to a shop thats interested in painting your car

 

He has LOT of work done, by the "best in town" ack....cough....... and it was less than 1/2 that. Good lord, ask them if they are going to put a stroker motor in it also. It better wash its self too.

 

Rod Underwood - shaynes - Mrmerlin -
Thanks guys, I agree. I figured either they were shootin' for the moon or didn't want the job. But I just wasn't sure what price range was even realistic. And at the opposite spectrum, I realize that most "bargain prices" rarely are bargains.

69gaugeman, okay, your approach makes good sense. I didn't have a point of reference regarding the paint costs or the quantity needed. Now, how many hours labor should I figure a competent painter would need to complete the job?

And regarding the paint itself, any brand recommendations?

If I went with OEM would I be preserving any resale value or is that a bust no matter what with a repaint?

I want it repainted the same color which is/was Baltic Blue metallic + clear coat, paint code: L37B

 

My 83 was repainted 4 yrs ago in KC for 8700. I believe that included some R&R of some parts but mostly painting and new seals and beads. Seemed high to me but the paint is very good.

 

I paint cars our size for $2000 base/clear and buff all orange peel out. I use DuPont's best Chromabase system. Yeah depending on the color (blue is $260.00 a gal. Red is $410.00 ) You really have to shop around in your area, you will find guys just like me who do it out of their home who produce excellent "show car" jobs at half the shop price.



Brian Felts
www.geocities.com/southernohioauto

 

If they told you $25K then they don't want to do the job. Complete resprays are tedious and time consuming. Don't even consider the labor involved, think about what it costs the shop in terms of the actual time your car occupies their workspace. Let's say they charge you $10K. They can do 10 $1K jobs in less time then it takes to do your car. They might even be able to do as many as 12 or 13. What's the better option for them? In addition there is the quality of work involved. The average guy who spend $10K or so on a paint job has expectations that are much higher then the guy with a '04 Camry that had a fender bender. The Camry guy doesn't really care because he's going to sell it 6 months from now.

 

My son & I just finished painting my car Amazon Green. We used Sikkens . The paint, clear, reducer, respirator, supplies, etc. cost me 935.00 wholesale. That doesn't include the primer. We applied epoxy primer, then hi build primer to get everything straight. Then I sanded the car for weeks! I was told by my son (who is a body man) that it would cost about 10K for the job we did.

Hammer

 

You said "Porsche Restoration," not paint job. Restoring a classic or exotic car is expensive, and the paint job is a small to medium-sized part of that cost. If you'd asked about paint you might have gotten a different answer.

-Joel.