YYC930

Ron......

A body shop is going to tell you that wet sanding the entire car is a waste.....because they want the $5K paint job......so, before you spend that money, find an exceptional long time professional detailer who knows his job, if you want to look into wetsanding the existing paint finish.

Of course, the current paint could already be very thin as well, since red is a very soft paint finish that easily wears when frequently cut polished, which commonly occurs as it fades easily. You may have no choice but to paint.

wsybert

The wet sand idea sounds good. You may also try a light cut polish. Something like 3M Finesse II Finishing Material. This is one of the steps after a wet sand. If you try it just be careful not to keep you buffer in one area, may burn through the paint. I have done this on faded cars with great success. Use a random orbital buffer, can be purchased at a Wal-Mart for around $40. Get some good pads for the buffer and work in small areas, about 2 ft square. Buff for a short time and wipe it off, keep doing this until you can gauge the amount of time to buff until a good gloss is achieved. You can also put it on by hand, just takes a lot of work. Be careful in areas that stick up, like down the side of the fenders, across the wheel wells. You will take off more paint in those areas that are higher than the rest. When you are done with the Finesse II, go over it with 3M Machine glaze. This will take out the very fine scratches the Finesse II leaves behind. Then wax with a quality wax.

sww914

I have been in the autobody business for most of my career. Sometimes I'll do a complete at home if the deal's right, of course I rent a spraybooth for the actual painting, I have a complete on a 69 911 that I'll be doing soon for $6500.00, R&I everything, light bodywork, Glasurit basecoat/clearcoat, colorsand and polish, and he supplies any parts necessary. He jumped on it at that price because he can't find anyone else to do a complete for him for less that $10,000.00.
This should give you an idea of prices, it may be a little less in Washington, but you won't be happy with a 2-3 thousand dollar job.

Jay H

I also agree to take the route of having a professional detailer look at your car and see if they can bring it back again before you fork over for a full repaint.
You would be amazed at what a good detailer can do on old paint.

Bearclaw

Whether or not your MY is clear-coated would change your approach quite a bit. If it is, you won't effect much color change. I would get recommendations on the best detailer you can find, and take it there for an assessment. They may use a paint-thickness meter to map what you really have right now. Wet sanding may be a good option, but it takes a deft touch with a sanding block and this is not a situation where you want to experiment if you've never done it before. I like using the 3M products with my Porter-Cable for driveway jobs, but to do the kind of cutting you may need, you really need a good old-fashioned rotary buffer to generate the kind of heat necessary for the compounds used - and again, this is a job for an expert, not a lot boy that has little experience with single-stage finishes. Let your professional detailer be your guide.

500

By all means it makes great sense to try the detailing route first. Excellent results can be had and original paint is a nice selling point (not critical, just nice).

If you do go the repaint route, the dated photos idea is excellent. If I were buying a repaint, what I would want to know are:

1) Did the car have any rust before (not likely with these cars, but not impossible either)?
2) Was the repaint because of accident damage?
3) Where was the job done (I would check the shop out...) and what products were sprayed on?

If everything above checked out, then an good repaint would not frost me at all. I repainted by "ultra-rare" 944S as part of the restoration with Glasurit BC/CC and I am really pleased with the result. It looks much better than the original paint which was "OK" but definitely tired after 147K.

Paradox

Save the five grand for paint and instead use it to:
1. Prep the car for the track, 2nd set of tires and gas.
2. Buy some wicked cool forged 3 piece wheels
3. Go to Germany and rent a Porsche for a week.
4. Invest in a Spec Racing 944/924S and race!
5. Spend it on track instruction- you can bring that to your next Porsche
6. Invest in risky stock options and role the dice- you just may be able to buy that Twin Turbo instead!
7. Give your girl those new "headlights" she has always wanted!!

My theory has always been to have Porsches that I can drive and not worry about... so lease and give it back or buy one that isn't pristine with some miles on it. Let that other person worry about having the perfect cosmetic car. Don't you know, soon as you get that fresh paint some hat wearing blue haired geezer is going to plow their Buick right into you. Now, I am not saying it isn't fun to have a perfect car, but why try to make it perfect when you have one you can truly drive hard?!! If you want cosmetic perfection, it probably is a better investment to trade up to one with perfect original paint...

(Ok, I guess I would try the wet sanding thing or just have that one section repainted to match)

Preeble

I believe that you will be adding to the value of your car by repainting it.

However, in general I would say that repainting an otherwise original car with no significant 'events' (accidents) in its history would decrease the value of the car.

I respectfully disagree with a previous poster that we should expect that a 12-15 year old car will need painting. A properly cared-for car will last much longer than that without needing a new paint-job. As previous posters have stated, a good detailer can do wonders with a car's paint and appearance.

Again, it depends on the car but when trying to sell it, having to explain why you decided to repaint the car will almost always result in a lower overall selling price.

forklift

Great advice!