How many of you guys had to beat on your body shop to get your car painted right?

[TurboJim]

Originally posted by JRSGN
zam70,
What Color is your car?? Not to take this thread off course But it looks GOOD.

Jim

You know platehead, I was thinking the same thing. Looks like BMW dolfin gray metallic... hmm...you used a Ford color huh?? Shame on you.....whats that?? My car?? oh, its Midnight Saturn blue metallic...ala 1989 Ford Taurus.... Paint code 8835B

Zam..stick to your guns. These turkeys who are talking 1k for a paint job just dont get it. I got $1500 into my car in MATERIALS. Hell, the primers I used cost more than most Maaco paint jobs. Actually, the 2nd primer coat is so durable, I wish now I had tinted it darker. Chips go thru the paint, but NEVER chip the primer. I dont know what you use, but my car was done in Dupont products from start to finish. Variprime on the bare metal, Uroprime over that (tinted different colors each coat to block oout), Cronar color and Chromaclear..er..7600?? clear. The variprime was just over 100/gal, the Uroprime was the same PLUS the hardener was another 30-50 I forget. The cheapest part of my paint job was the sanding block....AND ITS NOT PERFECT. I spent a whole summer prepping the car (after work of course) and think I have more than 60hrs into it, and again ITS NOT PERFECT. Now, pay a real bodyman to do this type ofwork, in a shop that has overhead, and a warranty (dont think warranties arent built into every ticket at some stage of the game) and you got big bucks for a NICE paint job. Not even approaching show quality. My buddy whose shop I used told me the amount of work I did would have cost 7-9k in 1991, yes, 12 years ago!! Add to that, inflation, cost of keeping employees and I bet my car would have cost 12-13k to do what I did. (What did I do?? Well, at one point my car used to look like a Delorean )

I'm not saying the shop in question should cut corners. Not at all, if they quoted you a great job for 5K, then they should give you an excellent job for 5K, just dont think its an exorbanent amount for paintwork. Because its really not.

BTW...Zam..what you running for tunes in that ride? That an old ALpine V12 amp in the trunk?

 

[BlownZ]

This turkey never claimed that for 1k you will get a great paint job....this turkey did claim that for 5000 dollars your paint job should be far better than an OE quality paint job and I still believe that. As far as 10k for a show quality paint job I don't know...I drive my car so I don't much care. Just this turkeys opinion.

 

[Red Regal T]

ALL I GOT TO SAY IS..........GOBBLE GOBBLE!

 

[455 oldz]

ZAM70
Your guys make 80,00+/- a year? Do you need any help??

 

[zam70]

I've got 2 guys who make $80,000+, 2 more who will be at 65+ this year...it's good money but HARD hard hard work...Anyone who WANTS to be a body/paint guy is NUTS.

 

[AsphaltAnihil8r]

Originally posted by zam70
Johns right on - Very accurate depiction.
I'm lucky to have the guys I have. Most of the people who work for me have morals and personal pride in their work...they are payed accordingly as well. ($80,000+/- a year for the good ones).

Good to hear they are taking care of you.

If it's a GREAT job, I still stand by the statement that $5000.00 is a good deal. For those who think it is outrageous, do a complete paint job sometime...you won't think it is anymore.

Thats it,,,with $10k a car they should be making that a month

See thats the Problem, all paint jobs should be the same,, Freaking PERFECT...regaurdless of the product ,the paint should be flawless...
The guy that comes buy to clean your windows on your business leaves streak all over ,,,,owe,, you didnt want streaks ,,my bad.you should have requested that..No streaks is much higher in price...

 

[zam70]

Originally posted by AsphaltAnihil8r
Thats it,,,with $10k a car they should be making that a month

The guy that comes buy to clean your windows on your business leaves streak all over ,,,,owe,, you didnt want streaks ,,my bad.you should have requested that..No streaks is much higher in price...

See, you got something for free and you're still not happy!
typical


This brings up a good point though...how long do (any of you) think it takes to do a GREAT paint job in a professional shop? Just curious...

 

[BlownZ]

I think the confusion is coming from our idea of a great paint job and your idea of a great paint job. I would say with a pretty straight body to start with....40-50 hours in labor and the spray....however this likely could vary dramatically from car to car.

 

[turbosam6]

If you think you got it bad, check this out: I had a chevy suburban work truck, not rusty but needed paint. I was driving one day and a pole jumped out in front of me. It needed a hood and fender, plus all the grill/ lights, etc. I knew a guy who was awesome with collision repair, and he had just opened his own shop. But he didn't have a booth yet, so he was going to paint it in his personal garage, where he's painted many cars that looked great. No problem, I said, I know it'll look good. So too much time goes by, can't get ahold of him, blah blah blah, so I show up one day, his old lady kicked him out for being a drunk. So I find him, in a hotel, drunk, and ask him wheres my truck? Its in his garage still, but theres a problem: A TREE FELL ON HIS GARAGE, WITH MY TRUCK IN IT!!! But he swears he'll fix it. And he did, I go to get it, its very dull. He says it'll need buffed, to bring it back, and he would do it. A few days later I washed it, and some of the paint came off. Then I went to wash the roof- the old paint was peeling, and he didn't even sand it! He painted right over the peeling paint, so it was still peeling! He didn't even knock off the big chunks, or the bird crap!

Moral? You get what you pay for, and people make mistakes. You gotta give them a chance to fix them. Like zam70 said, my car needs some repairs, he's gonna fix it, alls well. I'm not even concerned. Alot of my problems are with the actual paint itself, out of his control. I've been in his place, it happens. Actually, I've been enjoying just beating on it, since he's gotta fix it anyway, so I just lay junk on it, stand on it, use it as a workbench, practicing painting graphics on it, you know, just playin'. You don't mind fixin' all that, right Scott? j/k

 

[Gbodyolds]

i beg to differ on the macco comments my girl friend has an 86 cutlass supreme with an 87 GN drivetrain in it the entire car was painted and the body work was done by macco 8 years ago for $1500 and that included removal of the stupid wide band of chrome across the rockers and welding the holes closed..

what people dont realize is that all maccos are indapendently owned and operated and some do really nice work some dont this car took about a month and a half but it was worth it considering the quality and price in my eyes it isnt quite show quality but the car has brought home awards for the external appearence

ill post some pics if someone tells me where i can do so

 

[BEATAV8]

Preach on Zam
I dropped over $7k on my paint and I was glad it was soooo cheap and it only took 8 months. Once you have an appreciation for lazer straight bodywork, silky smooth paint, and the effort required to get there, the $ value becomes obvious. It is well worth the money and the time.

My joke with my body man is : "be nice or I'll tell people it only cost $2500 and that you had it done in 2 weeks". The line of wannabes in front of his shop would be a mile long!

Oh... and factory finishes SUCK!

 

[gmpower6]

Not even go tell what i am paying for my repaint. I will let you guy's guess on what i am paying for the job. Will have pictures real soon.

Scott i have seen your repaint up close looks good to me but you said it had some flaws but i could live with those.

Materials do cost alot but that's the way it is. Oh by the way i am helping with my car to keep cost down also.

Later Sean

 

[Red Regal T]

Originally posted by gmpower6


Materials do cost alot but that's the way it is. Oh by the way i am helping with my car to keep cost down also.

Later Sean

I WOULD CHARGE MORE IF THE CUSTOMER WANTS TO HELP.

 

[gmpower6]

Hey john be nice i have known him for 25 years and we go racing together. Just a very good friend. He is the same guy who bought your 455 front cover off to finish his gsx.

Sean

 

[Little6pack]

Originally posted by TRBON8R
Yes, I got a reference direct from a local TR owner. I've also heard through a friend of mine of a second GN owner who had his car done there.
I've found it to be true of car guys that many of them wouldn't even tell you the truth if they actually were unhappy with a shop's work. No one wants to admit that in hindsight they might have made a better choice.

Ben remember when these other guys had cars done the shop may have had better workers there.

When I had my GTO done over they put a guy on it & the car was coming out flawless. He was doing a great prep job until they fired him. Then they put someone else on it & it came out sucky.

KEEP HOUNDING THEM.. REMEMBER the squaky wheel gets the grease.