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Getting Set for a Repaint..... What Questions Should I Ask?
I feel pretty confident over the past year that I have gotten everything up to snuff mechanically with my car, now I want to move on with handling the exterior. I have a black on black '90. Initially I was pretty excited to change the color to something completely different, reaching out to other forum members with questions about their car colors. Fashion Grey was the direction I felt I would go. I put numbers together to include all new exterior rubber, pulling the motor, removing most everything, paint and put back together.
But after doing the math................. sticking with black made much more sense.
A great small shop here in town that does a lot of high end vehicles was recommended to me so I stopped by late last week. The work I saw looked great and I liked the folks I talked with. Below is their quote and comments. In addition to painting, they'll install all of the new rubber/plastic exterior pieces less the sunroof felt. I am sure there must be rust somewhere but I haven't seen any. It'll be a glass out job. They said there would be no overspray or paint lines.
What questions should I ask? Is this price in line (I believes so)? I've never done something like this before. I don't want any surprises. Another thing to consider may be my car in general. It has 116k miles, drives very well and is straight. Fine mechanical condition. Everything works as it should to include the heat/air. Not a highly optioned car. The interior is in good shape but the seats need recovering/replacing. It came with Cup 2 wheels, which I still have.
Thanks for any help. Here is what they had to say:
"Good afternoon.
Thank you for bringing your car by the shop. I have run an estimate for $14,000-$16,000 barring any major rust repair that needs patches or panels installed.
Surface rust is included in the estimate. We estimated about 220 hours in dis-assembly, minor rust repair, bodywork, paint time and re-assembly.
I allotted $3027.50 - $5500.00 for paint and materials cost depending on if you want to customize the black or leave it the original color. We usually color sand and re-clear to give it an ultimate deep finish which takes more product.
I hope this helps.
We look forward to working on your car. If you have any additional questions then please let me know."
At first glance, it seems on the high side for not including a color change. With that being said, I don't know the extent of the work your car will need. If they do great work, you will pay a premium and as long as you are happy with the amount and end product, then you did not pay too much. Good luck, can't go wrong with black.
Are you absolutely 100% positive that the body surface cannot be polished and (if required) wet-sanded back to something you'd be happy with? A repaint always takes substantially longer than quoted. And even when they remove the seals you'll notice the masking lines on the body. It costs a fortune and then when you get the car back, you'll end up being afraid to drive and enjoy it because you just spent $15K. I've done it and would never do it again unless the paint was peeling.
Labor rate under $50/hour seems low for a quality shop.
does the price include door jams? Frunk? Engine compartment?
I’ve seen prices range from $10k to $50k depending on the level of dissasembly and paint coverage. It would help to have an idea of how far they’re going on disassembly to determine if the time quoted is accurate.
With that being said, it sounds like you’ve inspected their work and are happy with quality which is the most important part of the process. Now you just need to ensure that the scope of work aligns with your expectations. Personally, I would gladly “overpay” by a few thousand for a quality job completed within than anticipated timeframe than deal with the headache of a budget paint job. I’ve painted five cars using deals/hookups/friends and had a different headache during each one, including unfinished jobs and flat-out bad paint jobs.
I don't believe there would need to be any bodywork done..... there isn't a single ding on the car. The gaps seem consistent too (to me.)
My paint is thin in one spot on the roof...... really thin. A load of rock chips on the front. An array of scratches and a horrible spray job on one fender. Though I sort of enjoy the rough look, she needs to be painted.
Paint work Includes door, frunk and engine compartment JAMS but not inside the frunk or engine compartment.
It's my understanding it's a complete windows out and all trim work/gaskets removed and replaced with new (I supply) less the sunroof. I'd get that in writing before proceeding.
They said I could be scheduled for February and expect 3 months turnaround.
Sounds like fair pricing. The market price here is So. Cal. can be significantly higher due all of the regulatory restrictions and cost of living. I've had quotes with scope of work sounds similar to yours from $12,000(small shop and pay cash) to $30,000. References, references, references. Talk to some of the shops customers and ask them about their experience. You'd be amazed in what you will find out. At that price is not going to be a Concourse paint job but it should be really nice. Good luck and look forward to the other feedback you get.
I would also discuss what happens when/if it goes over 3 months.
Great advice...nothing worse than having a disassembled car sit at a shop for 2-3 years and then towing home incomplete/unorganized boxes of parts when you get tired of "excuses."
My first S4 turned into a donor car by the time I was able to collect the pieces years later from the defunct paint shop. Luckily I was able to buy a clean roller for chump change to remedy the situation (doubt you'll have the same luck with a 964 chassis though).
I would ask, "Do you know how to reassemble the car back together just like it is today?" I think this is the question most people assume the body shop has the knowledge on how to properly align the body panels, doors, sunroof seals, windows etc.
I would pull my fender liners and get a good look up where the fenders meet the cowl. On my MY91 C2 Coupe There wasn’t any sign of rust. I have been returning my car to its original color the estimate of 220 hours sounds about right that is about where I’m at but still ain’t done 😫
At least two or three estimates is always a good idea, also with references from recent jobs. Glad to be in rural west TN, rates are much lower, but high quality work is hard to find. There's an inherent problem with getting a really good paint job, as right now if you get a chip it's NBD, after $14k on new paint, every little chip will be painful.
My '91 Targa presents well, but really needs a repaint, which I won't do as I drive it as much as possible and another rock chip won't break my heart.
Paint guys scare me. There seem to be an unusually high number of flakes. I suspect. Fumes.
Body guys in general scare me. I've had so many bad experiences and so few positive ones. I've seen 5k paint jobs that look great and 20k paint jobs that were really disappointing. I've had the same shop do excellent work on one car and then botch the second one so bad it needed to be redone. I look forward to the day that I find a talented and reliable painter that isn't going to charge me more than the car is worth.
My car looked super clean on the outside with no visible rust. When we pulled the fenders off, there was surface rust at the joint on the chassis, and both fenders needed patching in small places on the mounting flange.
I'm budgeting $20k in California. The shop I'm working with only bills time @ $70/hr. Supplies are billed directly to the client with no markup. They had a 300 SL, an Alfa Montreal, a 959, and a 1963 Corvette in the shop when I dropped off my car. Work looks very solid and so far I'm very happy with the progress. I delivered them an empty body shell on a dolly, with all bracketry cleaned and powder coated.
11-20-2018, 04:45 PM
Getting Set for a Repaint..... What Questions Should I Ask?
