Hey folks,

I have a 2005 MCS, and here in New England the winters to a number on the finish of these cars... yes I know I shouldn't DRIVE it in the winter, but I don't have much choice.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone knew (approximately) how much it costs to repaint a MINI the same color it came in? Ballpark... I'd like to refinish the whole car (including painting on the bonnet stripes and body-color-painting the wheel arches).

Any info is appreciated.

Thanks!
RM2k5

 

The cost is going to vary a great deal depending upon condition of car, quality of materials used and shop rate.
If there is anybody work to be done figure anywhere from $50-$150/hr shop rate. Adds up quickly.
Quality paint (PPG,Dupont,House of Color) cost anywhere from $150-$500 per gallon. Figure at least a gallon of paint plus primer activators etc. I have over $1000 in materials in '56 Chevy truck that I'm painting and I ain't done yet!!!
Bring the car to some painters in your area to get a better idea. Also talk to some street/hotrod guys to see who they recommend.
You also might try a pro-detailer to bring back the finish if there is no extensive body work needed.

Hope this helps and not confuse.

mr.minianni (Steve)

 

Your probably looking into the area of $3000 - $5000 with the work you want done, more if there is any repairs to be made. Unless you have rust or body damage problems I agree with minnianni and find a good detail shop. They should be able to bring back your finish, and fix any small imperfections you might have, and save you a ton of $.

btw, what kind of problems are you having with the finish?

 

No idea how much $, but I can recommend someone to do the job.

Call Julian at Sublime Restorations (978-948-8510) in Rowley. He does the body work for Mini of Peabody, and specializes in Minis and BMW's.

He's done two paint jobs for my Mini and his work is fantastic.

 

Anything over $5,000 is not worth it on a daily driven car. If you get in an accident, you're out that money.

 

Got a quote from our local body shop: around $3000

Victor

 

Well, he's talking about re-painting it the factory colour, so if he were to get into an accident requiring a re-paint, the insurance would cover it just as if he still had the original finish on the car.

Granted, if you had a high-dollar custom paint job on your car, you might have a hard time getting your insurance company to pay to have it re-sprayed under your comprehensive policy (assuming the accident was your fault), unless you had purchased some kind of rider policy specifically to cover the paint.

If you have a custom paint job and someone else is at fault in the accident, their insurance company has to pay to have the custom work re-done.

 

I live an hour from Boston and the 3 1/2 winters have not hurt my finish at all....what is the condition of your paint that it needs repainting.....maybe a detailer could buff out and swirls/light scratches if you do not want to try buffing yourself....can you post pictures of your car'sfinish?

 

thats crazy to want to repaint a car thats only a year old. Surely the paint cant be that bad.

 

deatiler minis are fine to be driven in winter there not like ferraris that have too be locked away they are just a run o the mill hatch back i love mine to bits but its my daily driver thats what its there for and the paint on them is far better than on most modern cars and also has a 6 year warrnty form bmw

 

So you'll get a new paint job every year or two to repair the ravages of winter on the previous paint job? That's a bit over the top, even for NAM. If your paint seriously needs that much attention after one or two winters, you're much better off getting it detailed out to look as good as possible, and then spend the $3000+ you'd spend on a good paint job to park your car in storage for the winter and buy a beater for $2-3k and drive that during the winter. Maybe an old Subaru or something.

-Keith

 

Yeah right, try these guys. They'll paint your whole car for 259.95! And when I say your whole car, I mean your whole car, wheels, tires and windows included at no extra charge! http://www.earlscheib.com/pro1.php You could also try Maaco, I hear they are just as good.

 

They are probably a little better than Maaco, my mom had her Monte Carlo resprayed there (from White to Blue), it has since been back three times for them to fix things that they messed up on. And again the paint isn't sticking correctly to the bumper, so she is looking for a new car (and I've already tried to get her to get a MINI, no dice though.)

 

If you are not painting the jambs, then you are looking at about $3500+ for just a scuff and paint.

A scuff and paint isnt what I would call a GOOD paintjob.

A GOOD paintjob will start at around $5000. Your looking at sanding down to the primer layer, fixing all of the defects and then repainting.

Had I not done alot of the bodywork at our shop and had some of my guys do some work on my Mustang, after paint, including jambs, and removing a few dents from the roof, I would be at almost $10,000 in labor. Thats not including any of the metal work the car needed either.

You get what you pay for, its as simple as that. When it comes to painting your car, dont skimp, becuase you will be unhappy down the road.


I had no idea there were any Earl Scheib's left around!!! Last time I saw one of those was... um.... a while ago!!

 

If I had to pick a hack of a bodyshop to take a car, I would take a car to Macco before an Earl Scheib. Both are total hack job places, but I know most Macco's have pretty modern equipment for being whack pack insurance shops.

Besides, at Macco, they will respray your radiator bodycolor for no extra charge.

 

Take the car to a good detailer. For $200 they should be able to make it look good again. If the finish has deteriorated so badly that it cannot be restored, take it back to the dealer because you have a product failure covered by the warranty.

Then the next question: what car wax are you using? A good wax will protect the surface from salt and the elements. With a good wax, only soap and water is needed to restore the looks rather than a detailer.

 

we haven't heard from the original poster of this thread since the original post......if the paint/finish is so bad after being on earth for only 2 years as to needing to be repainted, that's pretty bad and maybe the dealer should be consulted to see if warranty might cover this...but we would like RallyMINI to give us some description of his paint's condition please.......

 

And pictures

 

I tihnk my body shop quoted me like $1800 for repainting the entire car.

 

Have you tried a carwash? It really restores the color of a 2yr old car.......

 

I had a client change from pepper white to Pink and it cost roughly 4500 to paint underhood, door jams, and boot area. They did an excellent job!!

 

The shop in our area that does the best work charges $6,000 to change the color of a brand new MINI. It would be extra if they had to do any repair work, but I don't know if there would be a reduced price if they were repainting the car the original color.

 

I have been tossing around the idea of getting my car a few extra clear coats to give the paint a real deep rich look. I can't imagine it costing all too much, figure the existing clear coat has to be taken down, probably by wet sanding, and then resprayed with however many clear coats I decide on. But that's not exactly something I'm really putting serious thought into. Just one of those things to think about to pamper my car.

 

The clear is big $$$! This would not be cheap.

 

Funny. I called MINIPeabody when my car got hit and they said that their preferred body shop was a place in Melrose--the name of which I now cannot even remember. I took it to Julian at Sublime instead.