Hey All, I've been calling around and trying to gather some estimates for painting my 03' silver 2dr. Cavalier black. Has anyone already gone through the process of switching colors on the car? I assume its much more costly doing it that way? I was just looking for some recommendations on who to go to and how much I should expect to pay. I know I shouldn't ask that question on the forum, but the two shops who are quoting me now have very steep prices. Thanks!
It is more costly. If done correctly, they have to paint inside the doors, the trunklid, and the inside of the engine bay...If you really do want it done, you might have to go that way....
Go to some more shops... if the estimate they're giving you is near the same amount... that's what it is for your area.
Read the sticky... and keep in mind to CHANGE your color is ALWAYS going to be more expensive than repainting it the same, BECAUSE of the fact that you have to do the inside of teh doors, the doorjams, under the hood, engine bay, under the trunk, and the "trunk jam"or whatever you want to call it lol. It's a helluva lot more work... which costs more money.
No one with braincells would charge less than 3k for a colorchange... (i've done that... less than 3k... shouldn't have... it was dumb on my part... I lost a TON of money)
iam ashamed of you charging under 3 grand for a complete, so dude ya get what ya pay for bottom line, my price wold be about 5 grand maybe a bit more cant tell with out seeing the car but ya it`s not cheap
can i haz bondo
big daddy wrote:iam ashamed of you charging under 3 grand for a complete, so dude ya get what ya pay for bottom line, my price wold be about 5 grand maybe a bit more cant tell with out seeing the car but ya it`s not cheap
I"m ashamed myself LOL. Only reason I did charge that little was because the paint he wanted... I'd never sprayed before and it was one of those "special" paints that are a pain in the arse to spray. Didn't want to charge full price because I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out..... turns out I should have just charged more and said if I goofed I'd redo it LOL
oh the "special paint" lol
can i haz bondo
Yeah you know... the "special paints" that arn't like "normal paints"... chamelions, candees... stuff like that lol
I called numerous shops in my area awhile back and $3-$4k was the average. That was getting a color change. One shop said they could do it for like $1200, but I was a little concerned on what the quality would be like if everyone else was charging 2x as much. I was going to get my redone in red, one shop said reds are the most expensive colors. I always thought black was. I may just end up getting it redone in white (current color)
coolgrafix wrote:I called numerous shops in my area awhile back and $3-$4k was the average. That was getting a color change. One shop said they could do it for like $1200, but I was a little concerned on what the quality would be like if everyone else was charging 2x as much. I was going to get my redone in red, one shop said reds are the most expensive colors. I always thought black was. I may just end up getting it redone in white (current color)
Sounds about right. I wouldn't go to the place that said $1200... remember, you do get what you paid for.
And yes, reds typically are the most expensive color... it all has to do with where the pigments originate from, how they're processed, etc. Black actually is about the cheapest color. Granted, reds arn't as expensive as specialty paints (such as chamelion, candee/kandy paints and such), but as far as factory colors goes they're hte most expensive. I can't remember the exact amount, but there's a strawberry type red that was used on Neons... I THINK a pint of that paint was something crazy like $75... like I said I don't remember the exact amount, but it was crazy.
Anyway... if you're going to change your color, go with what you want. A shop
should NOT charge you any more for red than they would white... and even if they do... it's not or should not be by enough to severely impact what you're paying them for. At max I'd say an extra $100 or something... but if you're already paying 3-4k, what's an extra hundred? If you want red, get red. If you'd rather have white, then get white.
Fallen Angel wrote:coolgrafix wrote:I called numerous shops in my area awhile back and $3-$4k was the average. That was getting a color change. One shop said they could do it for like $1200, but I was a little concerned on what the quality would be like if everyone else was charging 2x as much. I was going to get my redone in red, one shop said reds are the most expensive colors. I always thought black was. I may just end up getting it redone in white (current color)
Sounds about right. I wouldn't go to the place that said $1200... remember, you do get what you paid for.
And yes, reds typically are the most expensive color... it all has to do with where the pigments originate from, how they're processed, etc. Black actually is about the cheapest color. Granted, reds arn't as expensive as specialty paints (such as chamelion, candee/kandy paints and such), but as far as factory colors goes they're hte most expensive. I can't remember the exact amount, but there's a strawberry type red that was used on Neons... I THINK a pint of that paint was something crazy like $75... like I said I don't remember the exact amount, but it was crazy.
Anyway... if you're going to change your color, go with what you want. A shop should NOT charge you any more for red than they would white... and even if they do... it's not or should not be by enough to severely impact what you're paying them for. At max I'd say an extra $100 or something... but if you're already paying 3-4k, what's an extra hundred? If you want red, get red. If you'd rather have white, then get white.
True. Only reason I was considering a color change is white always seems to show dirt, even after I clean it! I'm thinking a dark cherry red, or a deep blue, a shade or two darker then the cobalt laser blue metallic. I wouldn't mind trying to do it myself, but don't have a place to do it or the tools to do it.
coolgrafix wrote:Fallen Angel wrote:coolgrafix wrote:I called numerous shops in my area awhile back and $3-$4k was the average. That was getting a color change. One shop said they could do it for like $1200, but I was a little concerned on what the quality would be like if everyone else was charging 2x as much. I was going to get my redone in red, one shop said reds are the most expensive colors. I always thought black was. I may just end up getting it redone in white (current color)
Sounds about right. I wouldn't go to the place that said $1200... remember, you do get what you paid for.
And yes, reds typically are the most expensive color... it all has to do with where the pigments originate from, how they're processed, etc. Black actually is about the cheapest color. Granted, reds arn't as expensive as specialty paints (such as chamelion, candee/kandy paints and such), but as far as factory colors goes they're hte most expensive. I can't remember the exact amount, but there's a strawberry type red that was used on Neons... I THINK a pint of that paint was something crazy like $75... like I said I don't remember the exact amount, but it was crazy.
Anyway... if you're going to change your color, go with what you want. A shop should NOT charge you any more for red than they would white... and even if they do... it's not or should not be by enough to severely impact what you're paying them for. At max I'd say an extra $100 or something... but if you're already paying 3-4k, what's an extra hundred? If you want red, get red. If you'd rather have white, then get white.
True. Only reason I was considering a color change is white always seems to show dirt, even after I clean it! I'm thinking a dark cherry red, or a deep blue, a shade or two darker then the cobalt laser blue metallic. I wouldn't mind trying to do it myself, but don't have a place to do it or the tools to do it.
Trying to do it yourself is really not a good idea unless you already REALLY know what you're doing... painting a whole car is definately NOT a beginner's level task.
The best color for not showing dirt is actually silver. My tC is the first silver car I've owned, and after the first time I washed it... like a month or two after that (I used a clay bar and wax... took about 6 hours lol)... anyway after about a month I was thinking "there's no way my car can still be this clean...", but it looked clean. Well one day I thought I noticed a scuff mark on the paint, took my finger to it and it ended up just being dirt. When I took my finger away from the car, it was BLACK. So yes, my car was filthy, but it didn't show.
Any color CLOSE to a black is going to show dirt VERY well... and yes white will show dirt well and "stain" easier, but not as well as a really dark color.
So if looking dirty is any concern, silver is the way to go... but anything dark is going to show dirt very easily.
Yeah, that's why I haven't attempted it. Might look into silver. And as far as white staining, my brother use to work at a dealership detailing cars and he said they used a little bit of bleach mixed with the water when they washed the white cars, not everytime they washed it, just once to get the stains out.
Sorry Rob, didn't mean to jack your thread. Back to you and your questions, you now know you'll have to fork out probably at least $3k for a decent job, so i wouldn't jump the gun and accept an offer less than that if I was you. Save a little here and there and do it right the first time. Hell, after 8 months I'm still saving up for mine.
Hey Again. I was at the dealership where I bought the car getting some estimates for other parts, when out of curiosity I asked about paint. She quoted me 2,300 to go from Silver to Black, but I am on the good side of a few people there, and she thinks I can talk them down to about $1,900-$2000ish. It sounds good to me, but is this a smart thing to do?
Rob Kroeger wrote:Hey Again. I was at the dealership where I bought the car getting some estimates for other parts, when out of curiosity I asked about paint. She quoted me 2,300 to go from Silver to Black, but I am on the good side of a few people there, and she thinks I can talk them down to about $1,900-$2000ish. It sounds good to me, but is this a smart thing to do?
read the sticky.
is their shop reputable? Do they guarantee their work? If the answer to either of those questions is no, walk out the door.
i had a complete color change done on my old car, from pink to black...everything except engine bay....for 1100$ and it turned out mint!
Thanks guys, I'll make sure I ask these questions and (try) to stop being so money-tight in the process. (It's hard to do so at my age
)
