How much does a good paint job cost?

[JeffreyNMemphis]

Hello Peaches,

I have never had a complete paint job done on a car. To accomplish a quality body and paint job I imagine that the chrome parts like bumpers and trim would have to be removed, preparation of the sheet metal would need rust protection and dings etc. straightened, painting engine bay, door jambs and exterior body completely and re-assembly of parts removed for paint.

Do you have any idea, wild guess or experience to suggest what a quality body and paint job would cost for a vintage Mercedes Benz? How about a range of dollar figures for Good, Better and Best?

A discussion about body and paint costs is something that will inform and help many understand and evaluate future projects. Thank you in advance for your wisdom and experience!

Jeffrey

[Bogfrog]

$ 4,400.00 for a complete refinish in factory original color with no body work, completed in September 2015, on my 1998 Toyota 4Runner. Took a full two months. In Decatur, Georgia. I would place the results in the Best category.

[JamesDean]

We paid about $800 for a paint job on our black 420SEL. Its a pretty good job actually. It looks good but there are minor things here or there that some additional prep work or panel removal would have resolved.

At the other end of the spectrum, I am currently in the process of having my 91 300D repainted as result of a deer hit incident. The deer hit required replacement of the fender, hood, headlight, turn signal, and upper radiator support. It didnt make much sense to me to have a body shop install a new fender, hood, etc and paint to match a terrible paint job... so..

The paint quote was nearly $7K. This involved a complete tear down of all panels and strip down to bare metal. Its about 2 months into the project now.

I also bought a new driver's side fender as well. It had some holes in the bottom of it.

Evidently the car had 8 different paint jobs done to it over its life.

[meltedpanda]

$3800-$5000 is a good range. That would be in the A+ grade result

[TX76513]

Just a rule to thumb. Don't judge the quality of a paint job by the estimate cost. Do your diligence and look at past work.

[berfinroy]

I second the comments of TX76513. There are SO many ways to cut corners that will be covered up in the final result. Your "contract" should specify exactly what you expect them to do, and you should insist on inspecting their work at each critical stage. Reputation and references are important.
That said, you can expect very different quotes from more or less equally competent shops, depending on how busy they are and whether or not they are accustomed to dealing with wealthy people with valuable collector cars. Steer clear of the prima donnas!

[gmog220d]

When having cars painted I've always removed the trim, lights, bumpers and even glass myself and taken the body in on a trailer. Even shops that do good paint sometimes fail to keep track of all the tid bits and fasteners and end up improvising when putting all those finishing touches on a car. You might even get a little off the total by doing that work yourself, and you also get the bonus of knowing it will be put back together with all the correct fasteners.

[BWhitmore]

The cost of a quality refinish depends on many factors: is there a color change? Will the door jambs be painted? For the engine compartment - will the engine need to be removed? Location - labor rates vary widely depending on your area of the country. Doing the dis-assembly yourself can save some money and some headaches because of lost parts, BUT proper re-assembly procedures are very important also. Depending if the car has had quality re- paints in the past will help the painter determine if the car needs a bare metal re-spray and of couse the choice of color is a factor (some colors are $500+ per gallon). A quality show refinish will also require color sanding and polish along with a complete professional detail of the car. For a show car refinish you are looking at a minimum of $7500+ depending on body work/ rust work required.

[scotty b]

Originally Posted by meltedpanda

$3800-$5000 is a good range. That would be in the A+ grade result

Uh, that's a good starting range. High end materials alone will run 1000.00-1500.00 depending on the color, brand and single vs 2 stage ( base clear )

The last Benz I did was a " fill in the rust holes with bondo" fix dents, remove glass and paint. His bill was around 4500.00 for mid grade paint, minor wet sanding ( pretty much just any trash that got in it) and the body work all done with a D/A. Most of my paint jobs are around 15,000.00 with MINIMAL rust work, and minimal body damage. For that you are talking hand blocking the old paint off, fixing any imperfections in the body, high build priming, hand blocking that, priming, hand wet sanding that, re-priming and final wet sanding to 600 grit, painting, full hand wet sand an buff the final finish, and reassembly.

NOW if you want to start talking about prices including major rust repair, the super anal, nut and bolts refinished restorations, your talking $$$$$$$+

[alabbasi]

How long is a piece of string?

Good paint job depends a lot of the prep work required, color, materials, skills and what the person doing the work thinks he / she should be paid for their labor.

Prep work: Depending on the condition of the existing body and paint will dictate the amount of labor required to prep the paint, fix dings dents or rust and strip peeling paint that can't be sealed.
Color: White hides imperfections better then dark colors, metallic are a challenge in themselves.
Materials: Can they just scuff the paint and shoot another coat of the same color. Will they need to strip to bare metal, go back in with etch primer, primer, base , clear. Depending on color and metallic, it can get expensive.
Skills: There are very few jacks of all trades so a good painter, may not necessarily be a good body guy or prep guy.
What they should be paid: If the shop does insurance work and collision repair, they can make a lot more money working with insurance companies then taking on completes.

My advice would be to visit car shows and ask around for a recommendation. People don't usually talk price but they will say if they got a good deal.
Take as much as you can off and try to fix any dings yourself before taking the car in.
Don't take the painters out of their comfort zone. If they're used to shooting with a paint system or doing things a certain way, don't talk them into something else. You won't be happy.

I have a pretty decent painter here that paints my cars inexpensively. However he will mask over anything that I don't take off. I paid him double once for a car to take stuff off and he just took the money and masked it because that's all he knows to do.

[Idle]

Some higher end Mercedes, like the 109, were painted with Lacquer. I don't know if this was the standard paint for the 109 of if it was special order. I do know that Lacquer will crack and this means a tear down to bare metal.

(Lacquer is no longer available in the US due to its' cancer causing properties.)

Water gets into the cracks and starts to rust the steel body, so if it is painted over you are just leaving a coating of surface rust under the new paint.

So if you are working with a car like this then then be ready for an eye-ball popping estimate.

And something I have found helpful is to check with your insurance agent. They know, or can find out, which body shops do good work at the right price. They might not know off the top of their heads but a quick call to their adjusters will give you a lot of helpful information.

[alabbasi]

Originally Posted by Idle

Some higher end Mercedes, like the 109, were painted with Lacquer.

MB may have used lacquer in the 1920's but not on the W109. Solid colors were single stage and metallic colors were base / clear. Just like any other Mercedes.

DIYers use lacquer paint to the 80's here in the US and still use it in the UK because it's so easy to paint. You can still buy lacquer paint today but you'd have to be nuts to.

[Idle]

Originally Posted by alabbasi

MB may have used lacquer in the 1920's but not on the W109. Solid colors were single stage and metallic colors were base / clear. Just like any other Mercedes.

DIYers use lacquer paint to the 80's here in the US and still use it in the UK because it's so easy to paint. You can still buy lacquer paint today but you'd have to be nuts to.

Them mine must have been a special factory order or had been painted by the PO. The several paint shops I took it too all said the same thing, and all of them gave me prices in the $10,000 to $12,000 range for a new coat of paint.

I know we used a lot of lacquer in the early 70's on antiques but it was due to it being a paint that would last for up to fifty years before needing a new coat. When you consider that most of the cars were only going to be driven to show the expected life of the paint job was one hundred years.