I bought my car used and had previously been in an accident. The paint is like crap, like, there is clear coat on top of scratches, orange peel, unsprayed area, etc...

I would like to get my car painted just a flat white but I am curious how I can keep quality high but costs down. For example, are there brands of paint that look as good as BMW paint but cost less? Any special process that would not use as much paint? Is a clear coat always necessary? Things like that.

My main point is I don't mind stuff that isn't factory spec, so long as the paint looks nice.

Oh yeah, and I've got plenty of flaming about my car, why the hell I bought it, am I crazy, etc, so no need to waste your time asking that stuff.

Thanks!

I bought my car used and had previously been in an accident. The paint is like crap, like, there is clear coat on top of scratches, orange peel, unsprayed area, etc...

I would like to get my car painted just a flat white but I am curious how I can keep quality high but costs down. For example, are there brands of paint that look as good as BMW paint but cost less? Any special process that would not use as much paint? Is a clear coat always necessary? Things like that.

My main point is I don't mind stuff that isn't factory spec, so long as the paint looks nice.

Oh yeah, and I've got plenty of flaming about my car, why the hell I bought it, am I crazy, etc, so no need to waste your time asking that stuff.

Thanks!

we painted one of my dads vintage vws a flat white. it was hard to keep clean, but that color was awesome! it almost glowed-in-the dark, with the moonlight hitting it.---btw i dont really like flats/satins, thyre really hard to spray, because the sheen can be different if sprayed to slow +you cant sand it. not for begginers

anyway, if you plan on taking it to a shop and saving money... the best way to do it is to do all the bodywork yourself. sand and smooth the surface, fix imperfections, and remove/mask off parts to be painted seperately. the bodyman will still have work to do but youll save money, because the bodyman will have half the work done.

if you plan on painting the entire car... you have to take a lot things into consideration. youll need to get supplies:and that, on its own, can end up costing more than dropin it off at a shop. youll need lots sandpaper, a gun, paint, polisher, cleaners, mask, booth setup etc... plus without the experience, you may end up using more paint then you normal. i suggest a base coat clear coat.

When it comes to paint jobs what you ask is impossible. You get what your pay for.

When it comes to a paint job, the materials are only 20-30% of the cost. Most of the cost is labor.

spend less on either and your quality will suffer. Thats the reality of auto paint. It sucks.

The only way to make it cheaper is to do things yourself.

I never painted anything myself.

I gave my vintage race car (1969 Bmw 1602) a $4000 dollar paint job for $550. That was the cost of all the materials. I did everything else myself......

many, many many, many, many , many , many hours sanding.......prep.......prep.........prep and prep.

Spraying was easy and only took a couple hours and thats because I painted the interior (racecar).

90% of the labor time is spent in prep. 10% spraying

that said .......... I NEVER WANT TO PAINT ANOTHER CAR AGAIN.

spray bomb and wet sand

The only way to make it cheaper is to do things yourself.


This is the key.

You can do some of the prep work yourself, before you give the car to the painter. You can remove and replace trim pieces, lights, grills, and stuff like that on your own.

Start with that and you could save a couple hundred dollars on that few hours labor you do for yourself.

I did an Alpha a while back. I removed all of the trim, headlamps, bumpers, etc. Did the bodywork and primed and sanded the car. I then drove it about 15 blocks to a guy who had a booth at his home garage. Paid him $150 to shoot it for me. Came out nice He kept the car for few days, and I drove it home and re-assembled it. It was worth the $150 as he had good equipment and an adequate paint environment.

http://www.honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1555133&page=1

if the paint is trash this might be worth a look.