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steveirving Sat Aug 17, 2013 5:36 pm

Hi,

I recently got an estimate for a paint job on my 66 VW Beetle. The car is free of any major body damage and is a perfect daily driver.

The shop came back to me with a $24,600 estimate for painting.

This seems a bit high. Thoughts?

82cabby Sat Aug 17, 2013 6:30 pm

Was the quote itemized? What was the scope of the job?

That is way high for a single color, single stage, scuff and spray. Not unheard of for a strip it down, replace any rusty panels, get it dead straight, paint the shell in a multi color - multi stage format, paint the pan and reassemble the whole car job.

Also, what material were they going to use to paint it? I am in the middle of painting my rabbit. I went with relatively inexpensive, hobbyist quality materials and was still at $750 for primer, base and clear coats. With body panels, fasteners, mig supplies and other materials I am well over $2,000 for a do it yourself in the garage job. Professional restoration with quality materials, applied by a pro, in a professional shop.... well that's gonna be expensive.

MMW Sat Aug 17, 2013 6:53 pm

Not knowing anymore facts I would say it's high. You did type it right? $24,600?

steveirving Sun Aug 18, 2013 11:10 am

Yep, I had to read the quote twice. $24 thousand 600 dollars! I recently redid the pans. The car is completely rust free. I'm not even asking to paint the unseen areas. Just the exterior, dash and door jamb areas. I had asked for them to use L227 vintage paint.

Chad M Sun Aug 18, 2013 11:26 am

I think it's a clever way of turning down the job without saying as much.

webwalker Wed Aug 28, 2013 2:06 pm

I've had just this tactic used on me: "We can repaint your rust free paint ready rolling shell...for $15000. Next winter. When business slows down."

I really do wish that if a shop wants to say "we only take insurance jobs" that they would do so and get it over with.

M

skills@eurocarsplus Wed Aug 28, 2013 7:37 pm

if what you say is true, and it is a rolling shell that needs little to nothing...you do all the reassembly 8,000 to 12,000 is more like it

that was the 'go away you cheap fuckin' vw owner' price, without saying it

webwalker Thu Aug 29, 2013 6:45 am

Z'acktly.

Hey Don, how many body work hours have you got into that 1970?

M

skills@eurocarsplus Thu Aug 29, 2013 9:27 am

webwalker wrote: Z'acktly.

Hey Don, how many body work hours have you got into that 1970?

M

Just hit 200 hrs. I will update that thread tonight

bigbear69 Thu Aug 29, 2013 11:11 am

Got a los angeles superior court judgement on julio monroy dba convertible world.
He will not pay. Wss for bad contract and invoice.
Be very careful.bad workmanship

abritinthebay Thu Aug 29, 2013 5:57 pm

That's not just high - thats highway robbery.

$10k is quite likely if they are stripping the car down to metal, or even if they aren't but it's not paint ready.

$12k would be "you better be doing this exactly how I want and with great quality paints and not a single stage."

But anything over that is getting into rip-off territory.

If it's already stripped and prepped.... $8k tops.

DUBSLIFE5150 Thu Aug 29, 2013 6:06 pm

If there's not REAL gold flakes in the paint then your getting ripped off. come to think 24 large is alot if there WAS gold flake in the paint.

skills@eurocarsplus Fri Aug 30, 2013 5:15 am

Some of the comments are unreal.......

So a backyard guy 'preps' the car and says 'here...paint it'. The shop paints it for 3k and there is waves, sanding scratches, dips and dings in it. The customer says 'gee...it looks like shit'.....shop says you just wanted us to paint it....we painted it.

I have seen it time and time again....people who want a 'paint job' all of a sudden want a show car when it comes out like shit.

Think of it this way....to prep a bug, block, prime etc it is an easy 10-18 hours. At 65.00 per hour just prep is 1170.00

Add 5 hours to tape and shoot the car....325.00

Now you could have over 25 hours wetsanding and buffing....another 1625.00


Now, paint primer tape etc etc etc another 3000.00

At minimum it could be 6147.00....plus you will find some flaw to bitch about for your 'driver' turned show car paint job. I have watched customers pick cars apart at my friends shop.

All you internet heros need to get a grip. Its one thing to do your own car, but try to do it for a customer....they will tear you apart!

MMW Fri Aug 30, 2013 5:23 am

The best way to get a bad rep is to leave someone else's crappy work & go over the top of it. Nice paint makes it look that much worse.

When people are looking at the car & ask who painted it the owner never states "I did all the crappy bodywork & just had so & so shoot it." He will say "so & so did it" & the person will walk away not knowing the full truth & think you are the one who did the crappy work.

This happens in all businesses not just the body biz.

1jarhead2 Fri Aug 30, 2013 5:24 am

Perfectly worded and so very true. I have had this very scenario happen in my shop. I wont work on a car unless I can sand it down and prep it myself.
skills@eurocarsplus wrote: Some of the comments are unreal.......

So a backyard guy 'preps' the car and says 'here...paint it'. The shop paints it for 3k and there is waves, sanding scratches, dips and dings in it. The customer says 'gee...it looks like shit'.....shop says you just wanted us to paint it....we painted it.

I have seen it time and time again....people who want a 'paint job' all of a sudden want a show car when it comes out like shit.

Think of it this way....to prep a bug, block, prime etc it is an easy 10-18 hours. At 65.00 per hour just prep is 1170.00

Add 5 hours to tape and shoot the car....325.00

Now you could have over 25 hours wetsanding and buffing....another 1625.00


Now, paint primer tape etc etc etc another 3000.00

At minimum it could be 6147.00....plus you will find some flaw to bitch about for your 'driver' turned show car paint job. I have watched customers pick cars apart at my friends shop.

All you internet heros need to get a grip. Its one thing to do your own car, but try to do it for a customer....they will tear you apart!

skills@eurocarsplus Fri Aug 30, 2013 6:19 am

I want to make it clear that I am not a body guy by trade, but I know what it takes and I will always defend the guy in the shop (if they are good) because at the end of the day the car owner could give a shit about us in the garage, they want a pebble beach car for maaco money....it never fails

Any you are right, the guy who preps his own car will never own the shitty prep and say so and so painted it and try to pas the blame

The shop who will just spray a car is the shop I would be leary of

bowtiebug Fri Aug 30, 2013 6:42 am

Chad M wrote: I think it's a clever way of turning down the job without saying as much.



my thoughts exactly ^^

I have over priced jobs just to get out of them and on the rare occasion they accept it makes it worth my time .

carnut63 Fri Aug 30, 2013 8:05 am

I had my '62 painted at a collision shop for $2500 and they replaced the front clip and 2 fenders. I brought the old shell to them and they had a lot of dents and dings to deal with. Turned out great and years later I couldn't be happier with the quality. Lower cost quality jobs are out there. No one needs to be spending 10,000 to paint a decent shell, I realize labor is $65-$90 an hour but there is someone the be said when the hours are stacking up as prices get ridiculous.
I had a custom truck build with all metal fabrication a couple years ago. The guy had more than over 500 man hours in it and I ended up spending about 8k just in metal work. Thats 16/hr.

Chrisstieh Fri Aug 30, 2013 10:26 am

i just painted my car on tuesday... but that was after
100 hours of sanding, high build primer, sanding, repairing, priming, sanding, blocking, cleaning, etc.....

and then the hours of taping, masking, cleaning...

and the paint still cost $850 just in materials.... which then took 9 hours to spray properly...

and then theres the wetsanding and buffing that starts tonight...

i can easily see a shop wanting to charge me $8-10k for what i've had to do...

but not $24k.

Lidpainter Fri Aug 30, 2013 12:17 pm

You can buy a REALLY nice VW for $25,000.



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