ozmaster

iTrader: (3)

Hi guys, I was thinking about painting my car (phoenix red) since I just got a Ken style kit and I was wondering what would be an average price for painting the WHOLE car.

Archangelite

iTrader: (32)

poor job=900
good job=2000

Iamkar33m

iTrader: (26)

That's a lil high

Maaco = Poor Job = $500

Auto Fix Collision = OK Job = $1200

Private owned custom paint shop = Awesome Job = $2000

pjork-master

I thought for a really awesome job with nonconventional colors, you'd be looking at at least 3-4k, if not more. Especially if your changing the color of your car.

Myszkewicz

iTrader: (2)

Sure, you can spend 3-4k on a paint job, if you must have 12 color-shifting paint base coats, 6 coats of clear, and metal flake sparklies all over it.

For a factory color that they can mix from a recipe, I'd say it shouldn't be more than 1500 for a pretty damn good job, as long as there's no body work to do (dings, dents to fix) before prepping the car for paint.

One caveat to that, though, is that that price applies to MY area. Your mileage may vary. I'd imagine that in SoCal it'd be more expensive, as most things are.

Iamkar33m

iTrader: (26)

3-4k is a show-car finish.... for a daily driver that's a huge waste. The car has to be sheltered 98% of the time in a trailer or a garage and it can barely be driven in order to protect the paint.

Alchemist

iTrader: (23)

Here's a frame of reference for you. This is north of Seattle, where things tend to be a little cheaper than in the city itself...
Last summer I got a scratch on my driver's side front fender when a friend's girlfriend tried to pull out of her driveway. no damage to the fender, it just peeled paint. I took it to the place I've had paint work done at before, and a very professional strip-to-bare-metal, re-primer, proper coats of paint and sealer job cost $743 (paid by the other person's insurance). The guy cut me a deal and did the hood (very chipped because of the crappy mitsu paint), the bumper and the other fender for a total of $900. I asked about a total reshoot in a Dandelion yellow, and he said around 4K, mostly for the labor of taking the panels off and prepping them for paint- the paint itself is cheap. This is an independent shop with over 100 years experience between the 5 or so techs and paint guys.
Yes, I DO have to take good care of it, but it is so much nicer than the Mitsu paint.... better color, way less chips, no warping or flakes.... I'd almost gladly pay that out of pocket to not have to deal with the OEM paint. And it's easier to get a good looking result from a detail (even just a wash 'n' wax) than it was with the stock paint.

If you're worried about getting the kit color and body color to match perfectly, stop worrying. It never will. I had to have the entire front end replaced last winter after bashing my passenger's side front panel. Even with three coats of primer and several coats of paint and sealer (don't remember how many of each) you can STILL see that my plastic bumper is a little different than the metal body panels. It's very close, but you can see a difference (although it's much less of a difference than you'd notice if you looked at a lightning yellow at the dealership).

If it's just your kit being painted, $700 should be a good ballpark for a very pro job. If they tell you 2 weeks, be prepared for just over a month wait time.... I've never heard of a pro paint shop (i.e. not MAACO) getting a job time in less than twice the time they've quoted somebody (at least in the Seattle area).

Good luck!!

ozmaster

iTrader: (3)

Ok so I take it that
Maaco=sucks
privately owned=awesome

mars

iTrader: (3)

i recommend just shopping around. go to shops and check out their set-up if you can't trust or respect the way they conduct business then you won't trust them with your car.

broeli

iTrader: (19)

A simple color change done right from a good shop will run about $4k. I had a color change done on my Mustang..from red to sapphire blue. It was stripped down to the shell...windows and trim removed, interior removed, engine/tranny pulled. A nice job requires a lot of work. You can do it a little cheaper without removing interior, engine, etc. it just won't be as nice
BTW, my doors and fenders were also removed to get quality finish in all the jams

Centrylancer

iTrader: (2)

there are a few lancers on here that have custom paint, the great ones are around 2k

as an example, here is my favorite, great job done on this one

belongs to JerseyLancer02, by far one of my favorite rides on here

https://www.evolutionm.net/registry/...essfully+rated.

bullet002

my dad's friend's body shop charges ~$300 CDN/panel and it's right on par with good factory paint jobs. I only had the fron end touched up, but a whole car (coupe) would be about $2700, and sedan would be $600 more (2 more doors). But this is high quality. I'm sure if I've of decent quality jobs for about $1800-2000 in my area. But paint is usually you get what you pay for.

skylancer

Mostly cost $2500 for rapaint the whole car...but for just the kit, I think should be around $1000 in my area.

deeznuts

iTrader: (3)

yeah i think thats about the same here.