This is just a feeler...

My car is going to need to be repainted -- I'm thinking next summer. So, I called my uncle, who owns a fantastic body shop, for a quote on a body-only repaint (the roof is fine)....

$3500

This strikes me as obscenely high. Yes, I know it's an art and yes, his paint guy is really, really super... but $3500???????? It was only $350 for the door, and when my bumper was repainted last fall that was only $200-something (also a nice job, different shop though).

Is $3500 about what I can expect anywhere, or is my uncle on the northern side of typical prices?

 

Maybe it's due to location, but the shop I work for (in Alabama) would charge around $1100 to $1200 for that job, assuming it's in pretty good shape (not a lot of dents and dings)

 

I recently had a quote for around $2500.00 to repaint the body. I was thinking of a having a body kit put on and then have the body completely repainted. Typically when you paint the entire body all the badges, lights, etc are removed and then re-installed once the paint is done...

'02, EB/W, 17" SSR-GT1, 15% Helix, H-Sport rear, H&R Springs, 100K

 

Is that with or without the family discount? $3500 does sound high, but it's so hard to find a shop that's willing to take the time and do the job right.

 

Most time you can negotiate if your willing to do some disassembly/reassembly on you own. example - debadging, removing lights, handles, etc. Anything that results in less prep work and painting.

You just have to remember to be extra careful when you put it back together again.

 

If you want it done right, you have to pay up. For that much I would expect NO overspray or obvious signs of a repaint. That's what you want. I've had SO many first impressions of cars ruined when I got close enough to see paint on trim, weatherstripping etc. It's just not an area you want to cheap out on.

 

I dunno, Tuls said Emis' pink MINI would cost $6K to do, but I think they used a special paint effect and painted the trim pieces as well. If I recall he had a good tip for changing colors....paint the engine compartment pieces black. I thought that was clever.

Toast, please let us know how your inquiries go...a lot of us will be interested in what you find. I'll check UK prices posted in GoMINI tonight...I think they repaint MINIs much more frequently than we do at this point.

 

are you doing a color change or just a respray?
is he going to sand down the old paint?

 

Well if he does a really good job, that's not bad at all to me. I know with our painter, who paints ferraris and shelbys,etc as well. $3500 would maybe get you the back end of the car.

 

Just a respray -- I'm not changing anything. And there are no dents (ok, 1 supremely minor door ding which I would gladly pay $25 for the paintless dent repair guy to fix beforehand) or body damage of any kind.

Yeah, of course I want the job done well, you're telling me that can't happen for less than 1/5 my vehicles overall value???

Ack.

My mum called some random body shops (this is all around Pittsburgh, by the way) just to see how their prices compared -- not a single shop quoted more than $1500. I will reiterate that my uncles guy does a really great job, but it's not like I'm going for a $500 Maaco jobbie, where I wouldn't be bowled over to find overspray. I'll gladly pay around $1500, and for that price I would gladly expect my car to be gorgeous...

 

90% of the cost is the labor intensive prep work to ensure the paint sticks and the finish is smooth. If you spend 100 hours dewaxing, sanding, and disassembling the parts, then you could get a quality place to mask and shoot it for ~$700.

It will only look as good as your prep work, but just as in detailing you could do a far more careful job than a mercenary would do, though it will take you a lot longer. How much is your time worth to you?

 

Just got my 03 Cooper out of the shop for damage repair to the drivers side door and left rear quarter panel. The guy matched my Chili Red paint perfectly by sending the fuel filler door in to his paint supplier and having a spectrograf done on it. In short, the guy did a fantastic job Even the door sills look factory fresh. He told me he would charge $4000 to re-spray the whole car Then he explained why, taking me step by step through the whole process. As someone said, it's a very labor intensive process. This was a quality shop that works on Mercedes, BMW, etc. He guaranteed the job for as long as I have the car.

From what your uncle quoted you I'd say he's probably in the same class as the guy who did my car and believe me when I say it's worth every penny.
After all, we're talking Minis here

 

i paid 3500 for my fiero a while ago say about three years ago that was to have all panels worked down and repainted

looks better than new

so 3500 for a complete repaint is normal i geuss

geuss your uncle isnt giving you any breaks!

 

this is accually cheaper...I have a friend with a shop...said mini is 4K but ussually doesn't like to do if for less than 6k...but I think that was including jams and everything

this was based on the repaint we did for MLE...her car was vandalized...and so I was like...well...since we have to repaint it...how much for the rest...LOL...

 

3500 is not obscene. it all depends on the paint type and level of prep work.

I've had quotes around 5500 before. Anything less than 2 grand and you'll likely be able to tell the difference between old and new.

You need to ask for specifics as to what $3500 will buy. What prep work will be done, how much will they remove?

You'd be amazed how much work it is to dissasemble a car for proper painting. Doors, hood, gate, all removed, stripped, sanded, etc. And then there's teh whole two tone top issue. unless you have a matching roof.

Expensive paint can cost several hundred dollars a liter.

The actual shooting part is pretty fast. depending on how many coats you pay for, and how many coats of clear are shot.

It just depends.

 

Im expecting to pay around $5K if we do the repaint on my wife's future MC.

Im most likely going to take it to a antique car restoration shop.

 

I worked at a body shop for quite a while and learned that you get what you pay for. For instance; while we did major restoration work on muscle cars and the bill would routinely run north of 8k, we would also do late model re-paints for 3k-5k. A Honda Civic came in red and went out AudiTT silver. Cost: $4100 with a mild body kit painted and installed (supplied by car owner). To do the job I removed doors, hatch, hood, fenders, and bumper covers. All weather stripping was removed, door handles, you name it. The car was stripped down, (not the paint) and hand sanded for prep. Wet sanded, cut and buffed etc etc. What I am trying to say is, to do it right will cost that much.

If you want a factory paint job it will cost you. But it will last.

 

Sorry for the Hijack Om...

I am just about to pick up my MINI today after it had its front end repainted. I am real concerned about color matching. I have the DS which is one of the metalic paints. The shop I went to was a shop that Progressive sent me to. I will of course inspect the car thoroughly before accepting it.
Do you all think it is reasonable to not accept the car if the paint color match isn't perfect? Should I accept the car if there are any blemishes in the paint/clear coat?

Sean

 

Heck, Toast, when my dad had his Mercedes re-painted 25 years ago, it cost him $3000! For that price, the prep was very painstakingly perfect and the paint job was superb, better than factory, IMHO.


Clover

 

Wow...

Thanks for all the info, guys. I'm slowly (verrrrrrrrrrrrrry slowly) coming around to paying that much. If only for quality paint (and a 3M paint shield to follow ). Which brings me around to this question: will a quality repaint be any more durable than the factory paint that's on there? If yes, then it's a done deal, in my opinion, as I am sick of having my paint etched every time a bird thinks about mucking him up...

big... both my bumper and my door match perfectly. In the case of the door (done at my uncles), in particular, the paint guy attempted to match the orange peel effect but alas, his paint job is ever so slightly cleaner. That's the only thing I notice, really. And I'm the only one who notices, unless I do a really thorough job of pointing it out. So I wouldn't take it if it wasn't perfect.

 

I went through the same dilemma and researched through hot-rod owners, (these guys are picky). I then called the paint suppliers looking for painter and shop referrals. Now I had a top five list. Called the shops and asked about paint recommendations. Most suggested PPG brand.

The factory paint is hard to duplicate as they use electrically charged systems that bond the paint to the surface with control methods never seen at body shop level. Have you noticed "new" care finishes always seem to have an orange peel look? So much for perfect paint. MINI's are known for soft, thin paint. New paints are superior for durability but old school lacquer seemed to lay down better.

Well the PPG looks great a year later and color matching was spot on, most shops use spectrum analyzer mixing. The "new car" quality is there and I am very pleased.

The deal is, if it's not a show car, why put thousands into a re-paint when you risk getting hit out there? A proper re-paint not including door jams, under hood etc., should not exceed $1,600. (West coast pricing).



Think before you shoot.

 

Make sure the paint colors match and there are no blemishes. A good body shop would not give it to you if they are not pleased with the work. If this shop was recommended to you then it must please two entities--you and Progressive. Since your message was posted in the morning and mine at night you must have picked it up. I hope it turned out okay.

PS: Back to the original thread: I inquired at a body shop how much to remove my MINI's airfoil, patch and paint. $800 because the shop has to paint the whole roof which involves the sunroof. With black paint I thought it would have been easy to feather the new paint into the old and said so. Not for a high quality car like a MINI I was told. If it's $800 for a roof I can imagine $3500 for a whole car.