# What does it cost to paint a car these days?



## clovis (May 13, 2002)

I was at our local Chick-fil-A the other night, and they were having a cruise-in.

I got to talking to a guy with an Chevelle drag car. I'm not into drag cars, but it was super nice. You could tell that the owner had covered every detail. It was just an incredible car.

We got to talking about paint, and how expensive paint supplies were, and how much they've gone up.

What is a paint job cost on a ready-to-spray car that has already been blocked and primered, with no sheet metal work needed with all glass, chrome and lenses already removed?

What does it cost to paint a show car, if you were restoring an old car? (Assuming that it isn't a custom color, a solid colored car (not two tone))

What does it cost for a newer car...lets say you wanted to repaint your late model family Buick? (same color as the original)

I know it is an ambiguous question, with a million variables...I'm just looking to learn what a 'round about cost would be.

FWIW, not an Earl Schieb job, but not as high end Chip Foose car either. Just a nice paint job for a mid-sixties Chevelle, GTO, Lemans, etc.


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## Blu3duk (Jun 2, 2002)

My Uncle had his rod painted a couple years back and it was a mere $6000.00......

My friend who has painted some of the nicer tractors for those in the tracor pulls [coors light 2] is fairly reasonable on just the plain ole toss on the paint and he still figures about $2000.00 for a job well done which includes paint. Another friend does the big nice jobs and was also in on the coors light tractor cause he painted for that fela before already he starts at about $25,000.00 and goes up from there.... but its custom of course and no two have EVER been anywhere alike.... 

Got some talent here... but i spect you could git it done for cheaper.... just not as nice looking.... difference is in the few minutes of caring about equipment and paint.... and a few other things the blow and go fellas dont do all the time.

William
North Central Idaho


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## Windy in Kansas (Jun 16, 2002)

A Maaco franchise is the company that does okay paint jobs in the Wichita area. 

Not sure how recent the web pages are but they are telling that a gallon of modern paint costs about $300. Because of bulk purchasing, etc. Their base price is somewhat around that. Extra work, extra $$$$$.

http://maacopaintprices.com/

What someone could paint a car for and what someone could have a car painted for are different for sure.


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## clovis (May 13, 2002)

Wow.. $6000 for a paint job...just stunning.

Actually, the Chevelle owner said he paid $6000 for his paint too, but I thought he misunderstood what I was asking. 

It was an unbelievable paint job that appeared to be perfect in every way. 

Just to be clear, I'm not saying a paint guy isn't worth it, but if good paint jobs cost that much, I have been priced out of the market. I know supplies and overhead are expensive, but I doubt that I'll ever have $6000 to blow on a paint job.


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## Windy in Kansas (Jun 16, 2002)

clovis said:


> I doubt that I'll ever have $6000 to blow on a paint job.


I buy vehicles to use. If I need to drive though an area that has standing weeds I do so though I don't like to. I'd never drive a $6,000 paint job vehicle through such.

Implement paint is beginning to sound better and better. lol


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## clovis (May 13, 2002)

Windy in Kansas said:


> Implement paint is beginning to sound better and better. lol


LOL!!!!!

One thing of note that you might find interesting...a crew member for a major IndyCar team lives in my hometown.

He told me that they often mix the paint in their shop, and sometimes take an Indy car to Maaco, or a place like it to have it painted. 

They said that it was cheaper for them to pay Maaco the $800 than to paint the cars themselves.


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## Beeman (Dec 29, 2002)

I just finished completeing a paint job on my drag car. Body was fair and I stripped all of the paint, did the body work, primering and blocking myself. i pre shot all of the openings, behind fenders and inside hood myself as I was changing colors. Paint was high build 2k primer and high quality single stage white urethane. I had over $600 in materials alone and don't even want to figure how many hours of labor, at $1 per hr. this would have been an expensive job. The spraying was done at a friend's commercial body shop and done as a favor.
Common to see $30 k paint jobs at high end car shows, that's not a mispreint I'm talking 30 grand in paint job alone.

Paint can cost upwards of $100 per quart depending on what you want. Clear is $300 per gallon and you don't get to spray that until you sparay $80 per qt. sealer over $75-$200 per gal primer that you sand most of it off on the floor.

You want real sticker shock? Google tofind out how much a paint booth costs.


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## zant (Dec 1, 2005)

Paint booth cost.... a very high end body/paint shop I used to install their glass for bought the same paint booth Ferrari uses-he would'nt tell me price but this was in 1998 and he said "over 500,000.00"....WOW....


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## plowjockey (Aug 18, 2008)

clovis said:


> Wow.. $6000 for a paint job...just stunning.
> 
> Actually, the Chevelle owner said he paid $6000 for his paint too, but I thought he misunderstood what I was asking.
> 
> ...


Why not learn to paint vehicles yourself.

It's not rocket science.

Many years ago, I made a "paint booth" in a barn, read a book on vehicle painting, used a chinese-made gun and a borrowed air compressor.

Not a "pro" job, but turned out very well, with the only problems equiment related. If I had sealed the paint room a better (mosquitos sticking to paint) and had a better compressor (condensation spritzing out the gun), it would have turne out as good as Maaco or Earl Scheib.

Painted 5 vehicles so far.

Invest in a good equipment setup (which you get to keep) and it might still cost way less than having someone else do it.

The vehicle I painted recently was a horse trailer, but the paint was only $30 gal. (tractor Supply) You should be able to get really good paint for way under $300.gal.

Good luck.


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## Beeman (Dec 29, 2002)

Implement, equipment,trailer and TSC paint is alkyd enamel. Pretty much what Rustoleum is. It will fade and chalk pretty quick if left out like a car is. It is a paint that cures by drying. Automotive paint is now all 2 part that you add an activator to. It doesn't actually dry, it hardens like a 2 part epoxy.


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## superd02 (May 18, 2010)

clovis said:


> What does it cost for a newer car...lets say you wanted to repaint your late model family Buick? (same color as the original)


if your car has a decent paint job on it with minor chips and dings its fairly easy to repair -blend and re-clear the whole car. it gives you a new paint job basically without the cost. we do a couple of those a year its usually around 2000 dollars, depending of course, on the condition of the car.


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## clovis (May 13, 2002)

Beeman said:


> Implement, equipment,trailer and TSC paint is alkyd enamel. Pretty much what Rustoleum is. It will fade and chalk pretty quick if left out like a car is. It is a paint that cures by drying. Automotive paint is now all 2 part that you add an activator to. It doesn't actually dry, it hardens like a 2 part epoxy.


So that is what makes paint on cars so durable and long lasting.

I learn something new every day.


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## clovis (May 13, 2002)

zant said:


> Paint booth cost.... a very high end body/paint shop I used to install their glass for bought the same paint booth Ferrari uses-he would'nt tell me price but this was in 1998 and he said "over 500,000.00"....WOW....


I was at a commercial business foreclosure auction several years ago. When they got to the paint booth, the auctioneer told the crowd that the bank would have to agree to the selling price before it was considered sold.

They couldn't get any bids, so the auctioneer started to move on to the next item. One bidder got upset, and said "I'll give $10,000 for it right now." The auctioneer said "You aren't even in the ball park."

It makes sense now. 

I knew those booths were pricey, but I had no idea they were _that_ much.


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## Beeman (Dec 29, 2002)

Check the price of a high end HVLP (high volume low pressure) spray gun. That's just the gun itself.


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## clovis (May 13, 2002)

Beeman said:


> Check the price of a high end HVLP (high volume low pressure) spray gun. That's just the gun itself.


Save me some keystrokes and digging around...I wouldn't know what I was looking at quality wise.

What are the high end brand names? How much???


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## Beeman (Dec 29, 2002)

$600-$1,000 for a high end gun. Most are German or Japanese.


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## clovis (May 13, 2002)

Beeman said:


> $600-$1,000 for a high end gun. Most are German or Japanese.


That doesn't sound too awful bad, considering the price of stuff these days.

What would the life expectancy be for a gun like this? If you owned a shop that painted a bunch of cars in a year's time, and assuming that your paint guy took meticulous care of the spray guns...how long would you expect it to last?

I would imagine that a decent sized shop would have a shelf full of these.

For a little thread drift...my good friend bought a $79 spray gun that originally retailed for $150, and paints his own stuff in his garage. It is kind of amazing that he can get such nice paint jobs in that old garage, but he is super detail oriented about everything, from body work to mixing the paint, almost to a fault.


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## superd02 (May 18, 2010)

clovis said:


> That doesn't sound too awful bad, considering the price of stuff these days.
> 
> What would the life expectancy be for a gun like this? If you owned a shop that painted a bunch of cars in a year's time, and assuming that your paint guy took meticulous care of the spray guns...how long would you expect it to last?
> 
> ...


i have three german spray guns that are right around ten years old i have a japanese gun that is about 6 years old. use them everyday thousands of days so far, i have rebuilt them once. and only cause i thought i should. as far as the "100 dollar guns" ive used them before and most are quite capable of producing a quality job when used in the right pair of hands. for a home hobbiest thats all i would buy

edit the guns i have are SATA and Iwata


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## plowjockey (Aug 18, 2008)

I purchased a 2 gun, HVLP kit from harbor Freight.

Extremly well built for $50 for the pair(on sale), IMO.

Have not used the small "hobby" gun yet, but the large gun, put out a great paint spray. It was the first HVLP gun I have used and I liked it better than a high pressure gun. A lot less overspray.


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## foxtrapper (Dec 23, 2003)

You can have the job:
1. Done well,
2. Done fast,
3. Done cheaply.

Pick any two you want. 

In the case of the Chevelle, this was a flawless showcar, cheap wasn't in the equation.


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## clovis (May 13, 2002)

foxtrapper said:


> You can have the job:
> 1. Done well,
> 2. Done fast,
> 3. Done cheaply.
> ...


That car, like many at that cruise in, had near flawless paint jobs. All looked nice, but that Chevelle and a couple of Roadrunners really, really stood out.

I knew paint was expensive, but I had no idea that it was that much for some of those paint jobs. I haven't been hanging out in the old car world for quite some time now, so I've lost touch with prices. 

The last I heard, a friend of a friend was having a real Super Bee painted. The body work was completed, but it needed to be primered and painted, and a local, high quality shop quoted $4,000 and expect a year for completion. That price included spraying all the parts, just like what had been done in the factory.

We all thought that amount of money was borderline outlandish at the time. I understand it was a bargain now!


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## Blu3duk (Jun 2, 2002)

sorry not to chime back in but i have been waiting ona picture of my uncles street rod... aint got it yet and he is about to take off for Hot August nights so i know its being washed and prepped and all detailed up for cruising which ever shows he is going to.....

I will get one or three yet and post em up.... Ive thought about implement paint ona rig, but it too is pricey..... i know several folks who buy a case of spray cans and do a make over on a pickup and do a really decent job, but they got way more patience than i do for that..... after pulling trigger painting houses i know how much area a real paint gun can cover in minutes and do it right the first time.

One fella here in the area bought flat green, flat black and priner grey and laid white fir limbs on his rig and commenced spraying with cans, looks perty decent on his old isuzu 4x4.... he did his canopy too.... but in the sun it attracts heat.

William
Idaho


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## zant (Dec 1, 2005)

This is just a funny aside-one of the most beautiful paint jobs I've ever seen was on a ............stock Subaru Legacy..flip/flop


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## clovis (May 13, 2002)

Blu3duk said:


> i know several folks who buy a case of spray cans and do a make over on a pickup and do a really decent job, but they got way more patience than i do for that..... after pulling trigger painting houses i know how much area a real paint gun can cover in minutes and do it right the first time.


I've been a little impressed with the newer style rattle cans that are paint code matched to each vehicle's color. 

I painted my old S-10's bumper, and used the base coat and the clear coat spray cans. For an old 1995 beater that was rode hard and put away wet before I got it...it looks nice, and was a wonderful face lift for the old truck. It now looks respectable, instead of looking like someone's old beater.

For $15 for the two cans, it was a great investment.

My friend repainted a dog house on an old 89 Buick using the same stuff. I swear that you can't tell it was painted with rattle cans. It looks shop painted, but then again, he is a perfectionist.

I know these style cans aren't for painting show cars, or anything nice, but for those of us who drive old, paid for cars that aren't worth spending $$$ on professional paint jobs, especially like the bumper on my old truck, those cans are kind of impressive for what they are.

Anyone know what I'm talking about?


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