Dear all,
I was given some advice a while back which I had never really pursued and would like to run it by you guys and see what you think.
I was told that to get a pretty decent paint job at the least cost possible I should go and find a local community college that offers a vocational class in Auto body repair and painting. You would probably have to end up buying them supplies that would probably cost a couple of hundred dollars and let the instructor have his best student to work on it as a grade project. Off course it would probably take the whole semester to get it prepped and painted but I was told that it would be worth it if you could part with your car for a period of 2-3 months. I'm sure that a guy wanting a good grade would do a good job and also the instructor would be there to point him in the right direction throughout the project. I am sure the instructor would be examining the car pretty closely. In the end you would possible have a nicely painted car and you would have helped someone learn a skill.
Did this appeal to anyone or am I nuts?

hey i just rembered the votech school has an autobody class.. i think im going to check that out as my car is in neeeed of a paintjob

Please let me know how this went for you Keep us posted and please post pics here regularly. You would be an awesome help if you DO decide to go for it. THANKS!

I think that used to be the case, but most schools now use wrecks and parts cars for students to work on. The reasons are obvious . . . plentiful supply and there's no worry about liability or damages.

I bet you could talk them into it if you sign some sort of a waiver and you are able to leave the car with them for an extended period of time.

Why on earth would you ever sign a waiver?

Has anyone done this?

The PO had my SD painted at the local tech school. They did a real nice job no orange peel or overspray. They didn't clear coat it but thats they way I think these things left the factory so thats correct at least. The only fualt I found was they didn't alighn the hood properly.

Overall provided you find a good school and are not in a rush this seems like a good option.

On a scale of 1-10 I'd rate this job as a solid 6-7. Considering what he probably paid he got a deal.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I wonder how much he paid for it and I wonder if the students stripped down all the paint to the bare metal and whether they removed the lights, bumpers, molding, etc. Seems like a great option IMO

Well the job is 5-6 years old now and aside from the dents the PO's kids put in it its holding up very well. From what I have seen I think they stripped the body down and seem to have removed the doors, hood ect.

Remember you are getting labor for free and the kids are learning. You pay for supplies usually. If you want a perfect job pay the guy who has been painting MB's for 30 years $65+ an hour to do it.

However if you want a decent job for cheap its far better then Maco.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I will defiately go this route when my Benz needs to be refreshed. I think spending thousand is stupid on an 11 yr old car

My Dad taught auto shop in High School, next door was the paint and body classes. A family friend was a banker and he sold all his repo's to me on a ballon loan....I'd run them through the auto shop and then through the body shop...wait on my clear title, then sell them as a used car (not repo'ed). It was a pretty good high school gig....everybody won....the classes got some real work to do and gained experience...the banker kept his loans cleared up, and I got what ever was left over...sometimes it was good $, sometimes I just broke even.

The quality of work? For the most part pretty good!

Hey thanks for the info. For the 1995 E300D, i would definately take it to one of these places than the local Maaco.

From what I have seen of your E300D you are nuts even to consider this.Your paint is perfect just wax it every 3 months and it will last 20 years.

At the very most if you want it perfect have the front end resprayed and maybe any door dings knocked out. But a good body shop will do that for under $2k.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200