paint questions
 

My car is starting to look pretty shabby and I was thinking that a new coat of paint is in order.
What kind of questions should I ask painters?
What kind of money is fair? Maaco ambasador for $265? How does that differ from the shop across the street asking $3500?
I have a cf hood, should I just get that painted the same color as the rest of the car? The CF hool is all scratched up.

Greg

Answer: As daylight differs from darkness.
Preston

Dont use maaco. Everyone I know that had a car or motorcycle done has been very unhappy with the service.
You can ask what brand of paint they use(Dupont and PPG are very good brands)Ask to see some of there work. Also see if they will let you take a walk around the shop, if so look around, see if the shop is clean and organized. Also ask if they have a paint booth, and what type of warrenty the offer(sould be at least 3 years). There are a lot of shops out there that will charge between $2000 and $5000. Basicly when you want to have a car painted, they should cater to you.
Make sure you look around, the quality of the job is dependent on the quality of the paint, the equipment in the shop, and the person doing the work. Good luck

I would look at some of the jobs they have done in the past if possible. If you are going to change colors, ask what they paint and what they don't paint. That will be a big difference. :)

Oh geeze...here we go....
forst off, let me make one thing clear, with large, bold red text:
A 265$ PAINT JOB WILL RUIN YOUR CAR COMPLETELY. IT WILL LOOK LIKE CRAP, AND MAKE 10 TIMES AS MUCH WORK FOR THE GUY WHO HAS TO FIX THEIR DISASTER
Now, I've worked a a body shop, specificly in the paint department..Ive seen disasters, and had to repair them. Here's why a paint job is 3 grand:

First and formost, the body work itself: On a maaco job, its finished off with 80 grit. On a real paint job, its finished off with 220 + the problem with the rough finish, is when the primer shrinks back, you end up with what looks like scratches in your basecoat. Itll actually look like someone rubbed it with a comb before the paint dried
the primer: Maaco job, they'll put some garbage on it, and if they feel like it, they might sand it. a REAL paint job , they'll use GOOD primer, and wet sand it by hand with 400 grit, before finishing the job with 600
the tape up: a Maaco job "wtf is tape?" , a REAL paint job, the tape up is crucial. No hard edges will be left anywhere. every jamb is taped and papered in to stop overspray. Moldings, door handles, ect. are taped off PRECICELY as not to cause a hard edge along the part. Every emblem is taken off, headlights, tail lights, and anthing that is easilly removed is removed. tape up itself usually takes 2-3 hours for one person, depending on the complexity of the job
The pant: A maaco job will put one coat of some 1$ a gallon garbage on your car, and pray it covers well enough that you cant see how bad it matches. a REAL paint job, the color for your car is researched carefully. booklets of chips for slight variaions of your color can be used to determine exactly what matches best. If its only a partial repaint, a Maaco job will go ahead and paint JUST the fender, or JUST the hood. A REAL paint job, the fender is painted, and the hood and door are painted for blend panels

a 265$ paitn job is utter garbage. that's just about the material cost FOR THE SHOP to paint a whole car, if a decent product is used. Maaco probly takes aout an two hours to have their cars from primer to fuly painted, whereas a REAl bodyshop will take 3-4 hours just to sand the primer down (assuming its a full job) then a few to tape it up, a few more to paitn it, an hour to bake it, and an hour for re-assembly / cleaning

Oh, paint the carbon fiber hood. They fade badly...it might look cool now but next year it sure wont. Though it'd be cool to leave the underside raw cf

Eric, quit beating around the bush and tell us how you really feel. It's ok and we will listen to you. :rolleyes: :o ;) :D :D

I've seen this. It has a dimpled wavy appearance. A friend of mine had his car painted (I don't know where) but when he talked to them they said that they could easily buff it out. However, now when he calls no one will pick the phone up. Imagine that.

Eric, what did they charge for a paint job at the shop where you worked?

Also, I know a lot of people that had a clear coat applied to their car but it severly peeled a year later and looked really bad. Is that a sanding/cleaning issue between coats?

That is generally caused by cheap paint/clear, or not applying the coats of paint or clear at the proper intervals.

I figured that was the case.
Just looking at your sig - it's 4:50 here but in the am, does that count? :)

Having just had my car done & spending 3500.00 Cdn I can tell you there is an encyclopedia of things to ask about. I chose Dupont paint as I had bad luck on repairs to my SVX and other vehicles with other brand. I would never use BASF of RM again. Fade, peeling, blanching ugh.

Dupont has 3 type of paint, ask for the premium. Make sure it is applied with the premium paint system. Dupont warranty on their premium is for as long as you own the car. Make sure you get a copy of the warranty with your receipt.

If the weather strips and moldings are going to be removed, make sure you photograph them and if you can, take note if any are applied with tape and/or adhesive in addition to clips. Make sure they are all there when you get the car back. The SVX has more weather seals than most. Also the clips on our cars which hold the seals have a female portion which is inserted into the door/ body into which the male portion is inserted. Most cars don't have this and generic clips will chip the paint.

There are 4 different grade of clear coat that I know of. You don't want "production" or "standard". You want "premium" or better yet "Appearance". You wouldn't believe the difference. Well worth the extra $.

Ask if the shop applies a sealer over the old surface before applying the new paint. Ask if they use a special light to check for proper coverage on Full Sun and Sunset settings. Ask if they match the primer to the colour of paint, it makes a diff. (Not tint but type of primer.) Many shops don't care about the quality of painting inside door jambs or if there is over spray along the bottom of your sills, inside the trunk lip etc.. If you want a factory finish in these areas tell them.

Write down exactly what you want and expect from the shop, so there is no question about what you are contracting.

Did I miss anything It's Just Eric?

Yes and no. If the clear is peeling off an area they had just painted, it could be junk clear. If the clear is peeling off an area that they were using as, say, a blend panel, odds are the area wasn scuffed well enough, or there was something on the panel that was'nt cleaned off before paint. (Things like wax, silicone srpray, ect are a pain in the ass to get off)

And svxmybaby..Yep. you're prettymuch right, though alot of the mentioned quality grades only apply to Dupont. Take a brand like..I dunno, shirwin williams or montana, and no matter what it says n the can it's junk. Dupont makes really good stuff, as does a company called Glasurit.
pardon my slghtly off-topicness..but you gotta look at what's rolling off the assembly lines theese days. Especially GM and Chrysler...They wont even bother to paint the undersides of the door, where it'll be in the jamb. fenders? Pft, as long as the outside has paint on it. Factory finishes are garbage...Hell, even new masarati's have horrific orange peel