Severe Paint Damage

[SW03ES]

Its clearcoat failure, that happens. 3 trips through a carwash didnt do that though.

[davenet]

My car looks just like that one. Definately clear coat failure. On mine the front hood and one quarter panel had been repaired before I got the vehicle.

My quote to get the entire car stripped and repainted is $1000 + materials. I'm thinking $1500+ out the door. But this guy has a shop in his garage. Going to a normal business would cost at minimum, twice as much.

David

[93LSOwner]

My car looks just like that one. Definately clear coat failure. On mine the front hood and one quarter panel had been repaired before I got the vehicle.

My quote to get the entire car stripped and repainted is $1000 + materials. I'm thinking $1500+ out the door. But this guy has a shop in his garage. Going to a normal business would cost at minimum, twice as much.

David

Ah, so I'm not alone on this one. The highest I'm going is $1k, other than that according to KBB it’s not worth my money or the painter’s time, HA!

[davenet]

Ah, so I'm not alone on this one. The highest I'm going is $1k, other than that according to KBB it’s not worth my money or the painter’s time, HA!

My thinking is the value of the car will be raised at least as much as the paint job will cost. And I'm planning on driving this for a while since mechanically it is pretty sound. I think the bad paint will push the value of the car quite a bit below book. Maybe I'm wrong.

David

[93LSOwner]

Ah, so I'm not alone on this one. The highest I'm going is $1k, other than that according to KBB it’s not worth my money or the painter’s time, HA!

My thinking is the value of the car will be raised at least as much as the paint job will cost. And I'm planning on driving this for a while since mechanically it is pretty sound. I think the bad paint will push the value of the car quite a bit below book. Maybe I'm wrong.

David

All your points are true concerning book value before and after paint.

I want to sell this as is. If I get it painted then I’m keeping it. But now I want something smaller with better fuel efficiency, and of course not a Lexus.

[davenet]

All your points are true concerning book value before and after paint.

I want to sell this as is. If I get it painted then I’m keeping it. But now I want something smaller with better fuel efficiency, and of course not a Lexus.

All that makes sense. Since I plan to keep mine, then my decision to paint makes more sense for me. I would actually like a '98-'99 model, but I don't want payments.

I really bought a car that was not treated well with this one. I have repaired a number of things on it in the 2 years I've had it. But now it's almost up to par.

David

[SKperformance]

If you really do not want to spend the money right now.

Wetsand the left over clear right off or use a high speed polisher to smooth the finish off.

Once done just keep a goo coat of wax and it will atleast look presentable for about $100.

[93LSOwner]

I got two quotes from major car dealers’ body shops in my area.

From the painters to blend in the color, they will have to paint all four of the fenders, two up front for the hood and two in the back for the trunk. As for the roof, part of the doors (above the window) will get painted, so the bottom of the doors will have to be painted as well.

So, basically the whole car with exception to the bottom darker moldings and bumpers will be painted.

Quote #1: $2500 without bottom molding and bumpers with lifetime warranty.

This is a body shop of a dealer who owns the local Toyota, Nissan, Honda, GMC, Mitsubishi, Isuzu dealership and of course all the cars from these dealerships go to this one body shop.

Body labor 23.7 hrs @ $40/hr.

Paint labor 24.2 hrs @ $40/hr.

Paint supplies 24.2 hrs. @ $24/hr.

Total after tax $2512

Quote #2: $1200 without bottom molding and bumpers & $1550 with bottom molding and bumpers all with 7 year warranty.

This is the body shop of the local Ford dealership.

Both will take about a week. My question is that are these two prices the two extremes (for a regular paint job, excluding Macco)? One being extremely cheap and the other overly priced?

[SW03ES]

$2500 is the whole car without the mouldings? I'd say thats about what a good paint job costs.

The question is how good a job does it need to be on a car that old.

I'd never let anyone work on my car without a lifetime warranty though.

[93LSOwner]

$2500 is the whole car without the mouldings? I'd say thats about what a good paint job costs.

Sorry, I should have mentioned this does not include inside of the doors, under the hood or trunk just the outsides.

The question is how good a job does it need to be on a car that old.

I'd never let anyone work on my car without a lifetime warranty though.

You are correct about the warranty. As for #2, I am pretty certain their paint is not going to last too long after the warranty runs out and neither is this car 7 years from now.

I am just wondering why they are so cheap (compared to the other one). I mean I rather have the car like this instead of a faded Macco painted looking car 3-4 years from now. See all four doors and fenders look excellent and I am not sure repainting them from $1200 people is a good idea. So, I am in a little bit of a dilemma here.

[SW03ES]

Thats a tough one. What rationale did they use to support repainting the doors, paint match?

I still think $2500 for even a surface job is still pretty good.

[93LSOwner]

Thats a tough one. What rationale did they use to support repainting the doors, paint match?

I still think $2500 for even a surface job is still pretty good.

Yup, paint match. Also part of the doors are on the roof so the bottom will have to be painted as well.

[Caleb]

I take my car to a lexus dealership car wash...they do a great job, theirs is automatic. I have the exact same car as his, should i be concerned?

[SW03ES]

No, the carwash didnt cause that damage.

[93LSOwner]

Okay, here is my theory. One painter said that at one point this car was repainted. Steve said it looks like clear coat failure, and I agree, so without clear coat perhaps the brushes smeared harsh scratches on the soft paint, maybe it was something else I don’t know I did not have the car.

I have seen court cases on TV with cars being damaged by car washes. But, they are simple scratches, not like my car. I really don’t have that much experience or knowledge about car washes to say that they are bad and tell everyone I know to stay away from them. I guess you just have to take some precaution.

[SW03ES]

Damaged sure, but not like that. Short of pouring acid on the car theres no way the carwash did that, especially in only a few visits. The clearcoat was simply too thin either beause of a poor quality repaint or overzealous buffing or wetsanding.

Sun coupled with a poor repaint did that.

[jbarhorst2]

What you are looking at is paint failure due to UV exposure.

On basecoat/clearcoat paints, the UV protection is normally located in the clearcoat layer.

After possible multiple buffings in its lifetime, your clear was thin. The sun's rays penetrated and began breaking down the crosslinks that were formed in the clearcoat and the basecoat. The thinner areas failed first.

Tom

[SW03ES]

What he said.

[sgtm7]

You said anywhere but MAACO? Actually MAACO does a pretty good job. I have taken all my cars there. $2500 sounds like a good price. Hell, even at MAACO it cost me $1500. But I have that three stage, pearl white color, that usually cost more anyway.