Cost of spraying a car ...

S

scoobymad555

Newbie
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Location
Uk, Hertfordshire
Car
Subaru Type RA V-Lt
Hey all,

What does a car respray cost?

Something I've been thinking about for a while - well, since I found out myself what's involved in painting a car! What do people think is a reasonable price for painting a car?

I'm not fishing for prices to start doing it as I know what the market rate is (and having not even completed priming my first car yet I'm far from being able to call myself a car sprayer!), I'm just curious as to what other people think because from chatting with a few people I know, they don't realise (as I didn't until recently) just how much time, effort and basic costs go into doing a decent paint job!

Impression most of them seem to have is that you go buy some primer and paint which costs about 50 quid and then sling it on the car on a saturday. Since they don't have the spray rig they figure chucking twenty quid and a few beers to someone that does have it should about cover it - and yes, I have been made that offer! Lol!

Obviously I know kind of what's involved since I'm doing it but I've only had to deal with a diy cost as opposed to a commercial cost which would be even worse! Intersted to know what others think or whether it's just the guys I know being numpties?! ;) So what does a car respray cost?
 
scoobymad555 said:
Hey all,

Something I've been thinking about for a while - well, since I found out myself what's involved in painting a car! What do people think is a reasonable price for painting a car?

I'm not fishing for prices to start doing it as I know what the market rate is (and having not even completed priming my first car yet I'm far from being able to call myself a car sprayer!), I'm just curious as to what other people think because from chatting with a few people I know, they don't realise (as I didn't until recently) just how much time, effort and basic costs go into doing a decent paint job!

Impression most of them seem to have is that you go buy some primer and paint for about 50 quid and then sling it on the car on a saturday. Since they don't have the spray rig they figure chucking twenty quid and a few beers to someone that does have it should about cover it - and yes, I have been made that offer! Lol!

Obviously I know kind of what's involved since I'm doing it but I've only had to deal with a diy cost as opposed to a commercial cost which would be even worse! Intersted to know what others think or whether it's just the guys I know being numpties?! ;)
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Bodywork is not cheap!

Paint and Materials prices are always on the up,
And to do a proper job, it takes alot of man hours or Stripping the car, prep work, odd bit of filler, painting and then fitting.

Not to mention the gas or oven to dry the paint.

We use water based paint, and have a water based paint oven with 50 Air Blowers.
 
Spraying is the easy bit but with modern paints you need an oven to get a proffessional finish on any large panel.

I not saying painting isnt important but even a genius cant get a perfect finish on a badly prepared panel.

and yes I reckon you know quite a few numpties
 
bigbadjoe said:
I asked they guy who did my front bumper and rims how much a full car would cost. He said about 3K.
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And this is why vinyl wraps are proving more and more popular, they can come in under half the price of a spray job and be turned around in just a couple of days apparently.
 
There would also be castraphic effects on your car insurance if you stupid body kits that just do nothing will start then add extra weight to an already underpowered car. While you're at it, why not advance slow things down by adding a fat exhuast wore and disrupt the compression?
 
semonbutler said:
There would also be castraphic effects on your car insurance if you stupid body kits that just do nothing will start then add extra weight to an already underpowered car. While you're at it, why not advance slow things down by adding a fat exhuast wore and disrupt the compression?
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Greetings and Welcome to TorqueCars My Friend! :)

It is his prerogative to do what he wants with his own car, so please keep the caustic comments down! Also if I was lucky enough to be able to own a "Ferrari" I am pretty sure that I would make sure and get the spelling right! :blink:

Take some time to have a good look around the site, we have some marvellous projects being currently undertaken by various members on here! :)
 
£3k is certainly in the upper regions and I would expect a top top class job for that, including engine bay and all of the insides too if a colour change.

Average price you are looking at around £1.5k, paint alone for an average size car can cost around £300.
 
how longs a piece of string springs to mind whenever someone asks how much a respray is

i'll make it a little easier to understand, there are a number of things that can change a quote, prices from north to south of country vary, going to a big insurance approved bodyshop or a small backstreet bodyshop, what colour the car is in the first place, what colour the car is going, if there is any damage ie rust/dents/accident damage, if any body mods are to be carried out, wether the whole interior and engine bay are being painted or just door shuts/back of doors etc, wether all parts are going to be removed and painted or painted on the car, if its just a straight solid/clear over base colour or a special pearl/candy

also taking it to a big insurance approved bodyshop might get it done quicker than a small bodyshop but from my experience the smaller bodyshops will take more care and pride over the job wereas big bodyshop will just want it in and out and done to get the next car in as quick as possible which can lead to poor workmanship/quality
 
MasterAuron said:
£3k is certainly in the upper regions and I would expect a top top class job for that, including engine bay and all of the insides too if a colour change.

Average price you are looking at around £1.5k, paint alone for an average size car can cost around £300.
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£1500 I would expect that to be a cheap job.... I charge £3K to do a Jag XK, for a bare metal respray and colour change you can double that!

I get asked this question a lot and when you tell them £3K you get the sharp intake of breath...... They then go to tell you how much cheaper they can get it down the road.... I always say "well you better go and let them do it for you then", the guy came back a month later with the nastiest looking paint job I have ever seen, over spray everywhere, nothing removed just masked badly, paint looked like it had been put on with a roller the orange peel was so bad, cost him £4.5K for me to put it right, add that to the £1500 he had paid and he could of had a colour change ;)


All I am saying is, be vary wary of cheap jobs, they are cheap for a reason
 
1500 isn't a cheap job, your prices are extortionate then imo. 1500 is the norm for an average paint job round here, everything out, prepped, painted, mopped and put back together. This is what most people would call an average paint job. Obviously add in a full wet sand, engine bay etc the cost is going to rise, then colour change, bare metal, big repairs the cost is going to rise again. I think 1500 is fair for an average to good same colour respray inc door shuts but no bay. A more and you're either being ripped off or expect a good job.

I've seen 600 quid resprays ten times the quality the finish of 1500 jobs. Just because its expensive doesn't mean its good and vice versa.
 
This is of course only IMHO but I did use to restore classic cars for a living.

in the current climate £3k is top money if it is just a respray on a normal modern car without panel work.

Older cars will always need more preparation . Also is it a proper respray with all the glass removed etc - theres a lot more work if it is

Of course it depends on the paint some original nissan colours can cost around £1K for enough to do a car .
OK that is for serious flip paints like the midnight purples (II & III)

But if you are sticking with solid colours or basic mettalics then £3K is an awful lot for an average size modern car unless as said before there is a lot of panel work.
 
It depends from car to car I think. The paint on Jap cars is thin, and lacker is thick. There is a lot of work to be done before spraying. After the bumpers are removed, wheels, bonet, every thing taped up, plastic coverings and everything. The underlay, the spray, the lacker the finish, the mopping ect ect. I was quoted 3k for my Evo. If you have something ells it could be less, it could be more.

The guy who quoted me that is a very good artist. I am getting a full cut and wax for £250 when I get home from the same guy.
This is just some of his work

http://www.tjspaintshop.com/Gallery.htm
 
I guess a lot also depends on your own idea of a good and bad paint job, I do not accept runs, colour sags or orange peel of any amount, it has to be mirror smooth no dull areas from dodgy flat and polishing, that I call a £3K paint job.

There was a new guy who started in the paintshop, been painting all his working life in normal car body repair shops, I returned every car he ever did for me, he said that is how they would expect a good paint job from his last place, not good enough for me, they let him go last week.......
 
when you paint a car its how much do you want to spend 2K for car in good nick is fair.
But remember you get what you pay for if its cheap thats what you get look at briley coachworks and gess what some of them cost
 
Just my two penneth:

I know some very good painters, painters who do show cars for the motor shows in Frankfurt, Geneve, etc. If you want a mega job done to a high standard you'll be looking at £3k minimum.

As with anything it all depends how far you want to go, the quality you want to get, etc. You can get a car resprayed for £1,000-£1,500 but a lot of those places you will find faults.

I've done a respray job myself. Materials cost about £300. The hard work was all the prepping, its serious man hours. For someone on a low painters wage you'd be looking at near £1,000 worth in prepping time in my opinion.

But hey, maybe I'm just slow and methodical, perhaps I'm underestimating the quality of a lot of cheap painters now? But thats my opinion anyways.
 
Very true Austin, although with my post I'm talking quite loosely to try and contribute an opinion, otherwise as you correctly state there is no set price you can put on it.
 
Lol, many many years ago I used to do a whole car respray for £50, using crown or Dulux house paint thined down with triclorothene (dont tell anyone)
I used to do three or four a week in the evenings.
 
claymore said:
Lol, many many years ago I used to do a whole car respray for £50, using crown or Dulux house paint thined down with triclorothene (dont tell anyone)
I used to do three or four a week in the evenings.
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Just how do you sleep at night with that on your conscience? :sad2::lol:
 
Loz said:
I think that's brilliant. :amuse:
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All done with house paints :)

talbot.jpg

mark1.jpg

beemer.jpg

mk2_3.jpg
 
Are there any painters on here that still work in the trade?

Lets make a hypothetical scenario here,

My dear old Peugeot 306...

I would need 2 new front wings and a boot lid (supplied by me) and probably a new sill and I have side skirts that I would want fitting and spraying also...
and a total reblast in the standard paint...
It's a metallic colour called Nile Blue which was avaliable from peugeot from 1996 to about 1999 no idea of the paint code,

I'd reckon about £2.5k? Fair estimate? I'd like OEM quality of course...
 
@ Jarrus, Prince lives up North somewhere J yet he travels down to a bodyshop near Heathrow to get his spray work done so they must be good. Send him a PM for the name so that you can get a quote from them ;)
 
I'll be doing my own soon... I have sourced a clean, dust free garage, a lad I know who has around 5 different paint guns and his own mixer... I'll be doing the spraying and I'll let you all know how it went! Can't be that hard! ;)
 
^^^ I thought the same thing until I tried to spray a simple engine mount bracket :embarrest:

The best of TC luck to you Dave when you attempt it :bigsmile:
 
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Well rub it in why don't you TN! I know, Stevie Wonder could have sprayed the bracket better than me! :embarrest: :lol::lol::lol:
 
Nice job TN

But there is the world of difference spraying a large area like a bonnett or roof. Not to say you couldnt do it TN

For larger areas you need a decent compressor and a proper spray gun (minimum) to get a seriously good finish

Oh and practice and patience helps along with a decent sized enclosed area and maybe a heater in colder weather.
 
Too true unless you get a massive can of spray paint. :lol::lol:
I am a cheat really been spraying for years with my dad.
It's a ghetto setup but we've had some cracking results.
Got a huge oil less compressor and picked up quite a few attachments over the years.
Once rebuilt the whole front end on his 2.8 Capri. Whole new front end and engine bay spray.

SLEEPER said:
Nice job TN

But there is the world of difference spraying a large area like a bonnett or roof. Not to say you couldnt do it TN

For larger areas you need a decent compressor and a proper spray gun (minimum) to get a seriously good finish

Oh and practice and patience helps along with a decent sized enclosed area and maybe a heater in colder weather.
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Nice job T, seriously.good...

@ Dave, sounds good mate, egar to see the results, tell you.what, ill trade you my mechanical tinkering, for your help with spraying in that garage on my car... :) Seriously...... would love to do it...
 
my car is sitting in a garage right now, just waiting to go in for a re-spray.
cant get it in as there so busy, but it's worth waiting for a good job.
i reckon the cost will be around £2500 and its only a metro.
paint alone will be around £600, and it needs a heck of a lot of prep work first.
 
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