# Paint job



## Guest (Aug 21, 2002)

i just bought a 98 200sx se it is a bright red color. Does anyone know how much a complete paint job would cost. I would like to change it to maybe black....Also would Maaco do a good job or no...


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## Nostrodomas (Jun 15, 2002)

expect to pay 1,500 to 5,000 dollars, for a good paint job. Macco from what i have seen, does a pretty good job, and if there is any problems they have great customer service. But if you do decide to go there, make sure you get one of the higher priced packages.
Changing colors is a lot more work than you think it is, and will problly be more expencive.


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## samo (Apr 30, 2002)

There is simply no way to have a cheap paintjob if you want it to look good. Maaco promises a lot for cheap, but take a close look at some Maaco jobs, especially after a few years. The reason a good paintjob is so expensive is not the paint - it's the prep work. Paint is only as good as what it's painted on, and hours upon hours of sanding, filling, and priming a car body is expensive. Last December, I was quoted $1800 to repaint my car with a few dents removed, and that's original color. Anything fancy is going to add up fast. I can't imagine getting a decent color change done for under $3500, and even that's on the low side.

Also, black is a notoriously hard color to paint, much like silver, my car's color. It's difficult to match and shows any defect. Having three black cars in my garage here at home, I really would recommend staying away from black unless you _really_ enjoy washing your car every few days. My mom's Jetta takes two hours just to wash, and even then it still shows a few water spots.


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## toolapcfan (Jul 10, 2002)

Changing colors is expensive because they have to shoot all the jambs and then you're still going to have your original color in the engine compartment and the underside of the hood, maybe the trunk they'd do the underside of. Can you imagine getting a chip in black paint with red underneath? No, they'd probably shoot a primer sealer over the red after they did any body work and blocked it off, and most likely any chips would reveal that primer sealer, but big chips would go through to the red or even deeper. Dark colors show dirt easy and hide no imperfections, light colors do the opposite. My XE is charcoal gray and I love the color, but despite that I like it better than the red on my SE-R, I think I'll be glad to have the red hiding dings and dents better and not showing dirt that much. As nice as metallics look, realize that they cost more, not only because the paint costs more, but they're trickier to shoot, and if you ever need touchup work done, forget about it being a spot repair, because metallics don't blend well after the fact. They'd have to shoot the entire panel and even then you'll be lucky if it matches closely. I'd stay away from Maaco or any cheap places, they're using a single shot enamel for those cheapy paint jobs. Get several quotes from places that you've heard good things about, and don't neccesarily pick the lowest bid. Aside from any body work, assuming typical prep, I'd say that $1500-$2000 would be what you could expect to pay for a good paint job. And believe me, it's worth every penny. You'll be out $500 in materials easy to try and DIY, and you'll spend more than $2K worth of your time trying to do it. 

Quickest and cheapest paint job I ever did was my wife's '91 Tempo. I worked on it two full weekends, and on week nights during a week. I repaired lots of rust and reshot the entire car with Dupont Enamel. I spent $100 on paint. It came out pretty good considering but the rust came back in a few spots, which is to be expected when you do a quickie.


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## MP2050 (May 1, 2002)

I love the red the 98 200 comes in-I say just keep the red and have them shine it up witha new coat-- I havent really heard anything too positive about Maaco--I mean U get wut U pay for so If U are going to do it --DO it right.

Im on a mission to find a good shop with a fair price and Im keeping my car white--I just want to take all the black moldings off and use a "super white"..

Ive only gotten one estimate so far for $1300...I want to bring it down to 1 wit the same work and quality ofcourse....lol


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## Guest (Aug 21, 2002)

nothing personal too what all of those people said... but i use nothing but maaco and i am a car dealer i have a lot of cars painted there... granted they only last 3 or 4 years but if you spend 3500 once it's gone and will probably only last about 5-8 years anyways... i'd rather spend 800 twice and let it fade every 3-4 years.... but that's just me.... i had my car painted at maaco with doorjambs and under hood and trunk for under $1000... so i dont kow where these people are goin..... oh well


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## JT200SX-N-FX (May 30, 2002)

From the bodyshops that paint all the cars down here told they use Sherwin Williams paint, which is the cheapest. Maaco uses PPG, which is a step up from that, then Dupont is the best next to the exotic car paints. But I say go with whatever is in your budget, and make sure you get to know them so you can go back if there's any problem, cause the famous saying is "it's all in who you know"


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## sentragtr20 (Jun 8, 2002)

It is really to bad that you dont live in the South Carolina/North Carolina area... I know some one who paints cars for the price of paint.. Never acually seen a job but have heard nothing but good things.. I have a friend getting his car painted now. For the car show this week end.. If the job is good i will have my car painted,after I get my body kit on..


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## MP2050 (May 1, 2002)

Yo my biggest fear right now is taking my car in and not having it for 3-5 days ONLY to see a half ass job done... I know most would say- Just dont pay till they get it right--BUT I dont have access to any other car- SO I cant afford to not have it done right the first time....

The main thing I ve learned from asking around and talking to different people is that its not so much the paint they use or how many coats but the prep work they put into the car B4 the paint is put on....

SO this is wut Im asking about when I get out there.......


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## JT200SX-N-FX (May 30, 2002)

*sentragtr20*

You are right, I used to live in NC, and I know plenty of shops who do good ass work. I might have to drive all the way down there to get mine done.


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## sentragtr20 (Jun 8, 2002)

What part of North Carolina???


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## JT200SX-N-FX (May 30, 2002)

sentragtr20 said:


> *What part of North Carolina??? *


Fayetteville!!!


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## aphex4000 (Oct 9, 2002)

Today I washed off about three weeks of dirt and road dust off my car only to discover scratches along the right side of my bumper where someone apparently bumped into me. The scratches are long and have exposed the plastic in some areas. I have fixed small dings before but is this something I can do myself or should I just have the bumper professionally repainted?


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## himilefrontier (Jan 21, 2003)

JT200SX-N-FX said:


> *From the bodyshops that paint all the cars down here told they use Sherwin Williams paint, which is the cheapest. Maaco uses PPG, which is a step up from that, then Dupont is the best next to the exotic car paints. But I say go with whatever is in your budget, and make sure you get to know them so you can go back if there's any problem, cause the famous saying is "it's all in who you know" *


Well...It all depends on which PPG system you use,and which DuPont you use!If you use PPG Deltron,it's better than Dupont Centari,or you can use PPG's low line Omni urethane base/clear.It's cheaper than Centari(which is only an acrylic enamel)and offers a good bang for the buck.I've used Omni for years and have no issues of fading or peeling and I live in Florida which is brutal on paint!I recently sprayed my Olds Cutlass with Omni Base/Clear Urethane in 2003 Firebird dark blue -it came out beautiful,and it only cost approx.$300 for everything! I did my AMC Spirit 2 years ago in the single stage (bright white)for only $120.I used to use Deltron,but it has gotten too expensive,and I see no difference in the finished product.( I also do all my own work and painting-otherwise it's too expensive!)


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## himilefrontier (Jan 21, 2003)

another thing: price varies by color.Red is the most expensive paint to buy,white the cheapest.Red also fades badly unless you get a good paint.


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## PrOxLaMuS© (Aug 11, 2002)

My friend actually just got his car painted..... 
from Maaco > they just primed and painted right over the old paint. 
Looks good, but I guarantee.. it'll chip and look liek sh!t.


What if I wanted to paint my car though.
With using Maaco.. and their high priced packages....
and I sanded and filled all the dents and damage.....

Would the Maaco paint, be worth it?

or should I ask my next door neighboor who painted his own truck and looks excellent?


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## aphex4000 (Oct 9, 2002)

Thanks for all the tips and answers guys! Wow! Maaco primes/paints right over the old paint!?! That's scary! I'm still undecided on what I am going to do with the bumper...I'll figure it out over spring break


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## toolapcfan (Jul 10, 2002)

Everybody primes and paints over the old paint. Or are you saying they didn't sand the paint before they primed? As long as they used a good primer sealer it should be fine. There's even primer sealers that are self etching so you don't even need to sand before shooting it. I reshot my wife's '91 Tempo for under $100. I used Morton Easywork 2K high build primer, it's pretty cheap but you should seal it before shooting your top or color coat. Then I shot the car with a single stage Dupont white catalyzed enamel and although I sanded the whole car, there were spots I missed and it all still stuck well, and still looked good several years later when we sold it. I'd never shot enamel and had some hazing but that buffed out. Like someone once said, you can spend $300 or you can spend $3K and regardless, both are going to look like crap in 5-6 years. Most of the money spent on a paint job is prep, at it's wasted if what's put on top of it is cheap or isn't laid down right.


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