Education and some quotations

[TUFCAT]

I charge hourly on my Mopar Resto's

That's the fairest for both parties.   

[hemi-hampton]

Tufcat, I only pictured the Firebird because it was a close match to the Question asked, How much for average job being stripped. My answer to airiflaw was this smilar car was $5,000 & $2,000 in Materials. All very close to what he was asking or expecting for his own car. Far from a showcar, If I new for $5,000 people were expecting to see showcar quality job I never would have posted the pic.  When a Shop charges $2,000 a week the big money adds up Quick, $5,000  does not go far nowadays. LEON.

[TUFCAT]

Amen brother!!  If I hear somebody bitching about costs of a showcar paint job - - I ask them what they do for a living. Then, my next question would be "don't you expect to be compensated for your time and talent??

Before they get all pissy with me, I try ending the discussion by saying: "in your case.... you're better off buying a car that's already done" - - -  some people have no concept of restoration costs.

[aifilaw]

I think you are all overestimating the amount of work. The job I want is somewhere around $2,000 in actual labor costs at $40 an hour, and then add $1k in materials..

This is not supposed to be a body-off restoration

[TUFCAT]

I'm not trying to bust balls here, be the expert, or even defend the body guys who posted....but let's be honest.  To just remove and refinish a scuffed front bumper cover (and for the record is was scuffed, not scratched or gouged) on my Ford Edge with no parts included was $367.60.  Do you really think you can get a whole car prepped, massaged, primed, sealed, blocked and painted for $2K labor .....and be presentable??     You're talking about a 35 year old car with a lifetime of dings, scratches, boo-boo's etc. ......this is far from a brand new car!  I do realize your not looking for a show quality job.  But even if this is your daily driver, or a taxi-cab, I don't think you will find it acceptable. Sorry bro, my two cents.    By the way, the material cost on my bill was $64.99

[hemi-hampton]

Aifilaw, You said in first post you wanted it stripped to bare metal, Then in next post say you figured a shop would charge you $5,000. And you say you want it to last/look good for 20 years. Now your saying you only want to pay $2,000 + $1,000 for materials = $3,000 total. But you still want it stripped & look good for 20 years using what you think is high quality materials for $1,000. GOOD LUCK. If your buddy does it he can do mine too. LATER.

[Todd Wilson]

I'm not trying to bust balls here, be the expert, or even defend the body guys who posted....but let's be honest.  To just remove and refinish a scuffed front bumper cover (and for the record is was scuffed, not scratched or gouged) on my Ford Edge with no parts included was $367.60.  Do you really think you can get a whole car prepped, massaged, primed, sealed, blocked and painted for $2K labor .....and be presentable??     You're talking about a 35 year old car with a lifetime of dings, scratches, boo-boo's etc. ......this is far from a brand new car!  I do realize your not looking for a show quality job.  But even if this is your daily driver, or a taxi-cab, I don't think you will find it acceptable. Sorry bro, my two cents.    By the way, the material cost on my bill was $64.99

Also remember body shops fixing new cars are usually on a quoted/insurance rate.  It takes X amountof hours to do this repair. We will pay for X amount of hours only. Theres lots of body guys putting in 40 hour work weeks getting paid 60 hours of time because they do the job faster then what it should take.  They are either good or they cut corners to get your vehicle in and out.

Its no doubt restoration work takes a lot of time.  You should always plan for the unexpected. I am sure good body guys with experience will see things/troubles that most others can see when they are looking at a car to be done. They also get surprises when they tear into something.


I have noticed reading and watching topics it seems supplys/paint seems to cost more in certain parts of the country.

Aif,

Bottom line you need to decide what kind of a restoration you want and then check around in your local area. Depending on your area the overhead and supply costs may be lower then other areas of the country and you will be able to get the work done for much less then other parts of the country.


Todd

[aifilaw]

It is true that parst and labor costs where i live are probably in the bottom 10% of the country.

What I'm pointing out is that I am starting with a car that is in better condition than 90% of any vehicle brought to a resto shop. rust covers about 2% of this vehicle, no body panels will need to be replaced, and that rust is surface. the actual body work will take someone less than 8 hours to do perfectly (not a cover-up with bondo, but full metal pull, weld, grind, and fill) It's not a body-off restoration, so no panels will be removed.

I am pretty aware of what a shop will charge for a "restoration" of this vehicle, and I am aware of the "quality". But when its all said and done one of three things usually happens to this kind of a job:
A. some soccer mom will reminisce about losing her flower in the backseat of a car just like mine and plow into it totalling the vehicle.
B. I live in fear of driving it, and within 1 year I have enough car-door dents to warrant not driving it again
C. It gets stolen

Somewhere there must exist a quality median between a Maaco garbage $500 and a "well it needs to be done (right) so we will charge $6,000." And unfortunately from what I've seen, no such thing exists. If a paint/body shop were to fill the gap between those two in the $3-4k range, they would make a killing.

[restoman]

It is true that parst and labor costs where i live are probably in the bottom 10% of the country.

What I'm pointing out is that I am starting with a car that is in better condition than 90% of any vehicle brought to a resto shop. rust covers about 2% of this vehicle, no body panels will need to be replaced, and that rust is surface. the actual body work will take someone less than 8 hours to do perfectly (not a cover-up with bondo, but full metal pull, weld, grind, and fill) It's not a body-off restoration, so no panels will be removed.

I am pretty aware of what a shop will charge for a "restoration" of this vehicle, and I am aware of the "quality". But when its all said and done one of three things usually happens to this kind of a job:
A. some soccer mom will reminisce about losing her flower in the backseat of a car just like mine and plow into it totalling the vehicle.
B. I live in fear of driving it, and within 1 year I have enough car-door dents to warrant not driving it again
C. It gets stolen

Somewhere there must exist a quality median between a Maaco garbage $500 and a "well it needs to be done (right) so we will charge $6,000." And unfortunately from what I've seen, no such thing exists. If a paint/body shop were to fill the gap between those two in the $3-4k range, they would make a killing.

*chuckle* If life were like that, you wouldn't need VISA.

[hemi-hampton]

Bring it to me, I'll do it for $3,000. But I wont be Stripping it to bare metal. And it wont be a showcar. LEON.

[daytonakid]

I hope people don't mind my 2 cents worth. Both the gentlemen who own shops sound like reputable competent owners. Its nice to see others out there who do it right. When you have a reputation you get brought the disasters others screwed up and it is easy to think few are willing to do the hard thing and do it right. I own a restoration/collision shop. I am also the lead painter and production manager. I have been painting since 1978 and have more than my share of accolades for my work. I understand how hard it is to find the money for restoring mopars and I wish there was a magic wand to paint cars cheaper. I wish I could provide the answer for every customer who comes in my shop. But there is a reason there are not shops doing the $3-4,000 paint jobs. Trying to meet expections, pay employees, OSHA,Fire department, rent, insurance, overhead, paint and body materials doesn't leave much left for all the hard work. Not to mention when a customer who wants a top notch job  looks at one of your 3-4,000 jobs and he thinks to himself that is not such a good job. You've just lost that customer who was willing to pay for perfection. Nobody hates turning down work more than I do. But I made a decision not to do those kind of jobs. My crew and I must be doing something right we carry about a year waiting list at all times.