Body shop owner just about gave me a heart attack

[mopar-or-no-car]

here is my  the guy that quoted my chally told me their paint jobs start at $15,000.00!!!! but they strip the car down to metal and start from there! I about had a heart attack!! and moved onto the next shop!!  again tho it sure is expensive to live in Cali !!!

[hemi-hampton]

The cheapest I could do a Paint job for is probably $500. That's a 1 day blow & go with no Materials included & no guarantees, What I spray is what you get. Any Takers? LEON.

[Drop Top]

That price is not far off Bull. For a good top notch job. If you brought it to me It might be more depending on what color you chose. Materails alone run at least $2000 for good quality base coat clear coat paint. In my shop I don't charge the customer any more for the materials then it costs me. Just the materails to get it ready for paint will run close to $1500. Then usually around $2000 to $2500 for the rest of the materails. Remember when I say materails I talking about everything from sandpaper to buffing suplies. I block a car at least 3 times by hand after the body work is done. All with differant grade of paper. Between each blocking, another layer of blocking primer is sprayed on. If you brought your car into my shop I would paint but I would only grantee down to what I put on. Don't forget a good paint job dosen't stop at the paint. It must be color sandedand buffed. That alone runs around $1000 by the time you buy the sandpaper and compounds. It takes alot of work to paint a car the wright way. You don't just squirt a car anymore. Thanks to the rules a regulations set by Uncle Sam the prices arn't going to get any cheaper.Remember, Body shops are kind of like. You can't judge a book by its cover. My shop is behind my house, its an old farm shop. Its not that well kept up on the outside its dirty on the inside (except when I'm painting). I just don't have time to clean up enough to eat off the floor. I have at least a 6 month to a year waiting list. You get what you pay for. The shops around here that do the same type of work are all just as run down as mine. They charge about the same and none of them compare to the work that comes out of my shop. So it pays to do your homework and talk to other people that have had there car done by any certain shop. Reputation goes along way. The sting of a large price of the job will go away long before a bad job bites back. Theres a reasion why Macco charges so little.

[bull]

It's just that I've gotten five or six quotes, all from reputable shops and individuals, that were between $4,500 and $6,500. It seemed odd to me that this guy would come in at $3,500 more than my highest quote. 

[The70RT]

It's just that I've gotten five or six quotes, all from reputable shops and individuals, that were between $4,500 and $6,500. It seemed odd to me that this guy would come in at $3,500 more than my highest quote. 

He probably has plenty of work and for that kind of money he could fit you in....or it in you!

[Joshua]

Let's see....you've already spent 15K just on bodywork? And you have estimates of @ $6500 just to paint it??? Are you having it repainted a Factory color??? Or custom stuff like pearls.....?

BTW....many high-priced, "show-quality" paint jobs don't hold up as long as one would think......many times in order to get a show finish, the entire car has so many coats of surfacer to get it smooth, then blocked......some areas of the car will be thicker, and later on down the road, WILL start cracking..........
I have a PU that was painted by a guy that pretty much just does show stuff......won't paint a car for under 10K(no, I didn't pay that, already was when I got the truck)....anyway...the paint is NICE, basecoat w/ pearl in the clear.....like glass,....but it is also @ 5-6 years old and is cracking and showing small bumps/blisters......solvents trying to escape I think......

Remember the saying...."you get what you pay for"? It isn't always true.........

I've painted a few cars.....look really nice, but not a "show" car....paint has held up 10+ with no cracking or blistering issues........