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I purchased a new to me R53 a little over a week ago with 24500 miles. Although the car looks fantastic on the inside there are scratches from the previous owner on the rear bumper (luggage) rear quarter fender and several scratches behind the headlights and on the hood.
Are there any really good paint shops someone can recommend in Southern California (preferably Inland Empire, San Diego or Los Angeles) that I can trust to make my car look brand new again? I may even go with the clear bra after it's repainted.
Also how much will I end up spending on a nice job?
As to cost, all I can tell you is that a color change is much more expensive. Door jambs, under the hood, etc don't always have to be done if you keep it the original/current color.
As far as a new paint job....if you are wanting to change the color, any good shop is going to charge you $3000+ depending on what color you go with. a good paint job is not cheap, and not easy to do.
You are better off just taking it to a detail shop and seeing if they can fix the individual scratches.
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Address: 1745 Daisy Ave, Long Beach, CA 90813
Phone:(562) 432-7101
Did a respray on my front bumper and lip. They also repaired a lot of parts of my bumper that were damaged. They painted some parts on a buddies car and paint matched both of our jobs extremely well. Did it for a really good price as well. Call and get a quote from them.
There are also mobile paint guys who spot panels and bumpers at dealerships, and no, not the ones who pull up to you at a light and ask you if you want your car fixed . This would probably be a good alternative to getting a complete, price wise, in time, and overall paint integrity, if the majority of your paint is still in good condition.
See if you can find out who does the cars at some of the nicer dealerships in your area and get a quote. You might also get to see how they work and before and afters in person.
There are also mobile paint guys who spot panels and bumpers at dealerships, and no, not the ones who pull up to you at a light and ask you if you want your car fixed . This would probably be a good alternative to getting a complete, price wise, in time, and overall paint integrity, if the majority of your paint is still in good condition.
See if you can find out who does the cars at some of the nicer dealerships in your area and get a quote. You might also get to see how they work and before and afters in person.
Wow that's low miles, I would keep the same color. How bad is it, do you have pics ?
There are some fairly deep scratches on the hood, paint dings on the front bumper and some deep scratches on the rear bumper probably from luggage. I also noticed some minor paint differences in color where I removed the stripes.
Must be pretty bad, I wold not repaint the whole car , but have those sections fixed and blended. Keep the original color. Or you could wrap the whole car in 3M or something. That's another option.
I purchased a new to me R53 a little over a week ago with 24500 miles. Although the car looks fantastic on the inside there are scratches from the previous owner on the rear bumper (luggage) rear quarter fender and several scratches behind the headlights and on the hood.
Are there any really good paint shops someone can recommend in Southern California (preferably Inland Empire, San Diego or Los Angeles) that I can trust to make my car look brand new again? I may even go with the clear bra after it's repainted.
Also how much will I end up spending on a nice job?
If it was me, I would just take the car to a few different well known body/paint shops in my area and show them the scratches on the car. Most paint places that are worth a darn will be able to fill in the scratches, blend in the base coat so that it will match the original paint, and then re-clear over the repair. When it's done, you won't even be able to be repaired. That would be far less money than having the entire car painted.
If it was me, I would just take the car to a few different well known body/paint shops in my area and show them the scratches on the car. Most paint places that are worth a darn will be able to fill in the scratches, blend in the base coat so that it will match the original paint, and then re-clear over the repair. When it's done, you won't even be able to be repaired. That would be far less money than having the entire car painted.
. This would probably be a good alternative to getting a complete, price wise, in time, and overall paint integrity, if the majority of your paint is still in good condition. 
