Car Repainting

#1
Coug

Coug

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#1
In the Knoxville area does anyone know of a decent paint shop for repainting a car? I'm looking at getting a 2000 Honda Accord repainted, and obviously not looking to spend excessively or over what the car is worth. If anyone has any good experience or info feel free to share.
 
#4
#4
Yeah... Perhaps I should clarify that I'd like the car to look decent after it's done.

I've set aside roughly $700 towards the budget thus far.
 
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#5
#5
82433740.jpg
 
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#10
#10
I know a mexican American that would paint the whole car for 1k maybe less. Lives about 30 mins east of Knoxville. Does a pretty good job too, not factory good, but good enough. Actually getting him to paint my Toyota Tacoma.
 
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#12
#12
Seriously, though: painting a car is expensive as crap. How bad is the current finish?
 
#13
#13
Unless you personally know someone who is good, $700 is really low. $1500 would be minimum and that's on the low side. This is a case of you get what you pay for. $700 wouldnt even cover the amount of work for the prep.

I recently had a bumper cover and fender painted and it was $500 with a personal discount. IIRC the price without a discount was around $900
 
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#14
#14
kiddiedoc said:
Seriously, though: painting a car is expensive as crap. How bad is the current finish?
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Depends on the definition of "bad" really. The clear coat is basically peeling off the whole car. The rear bumper oddly enough was the first to go, that crap was peeling off like pieces of paper. The hood, roof, and trunk lid are the worst with about 80%+ loss of clear coat, the sides and doors still have most of the clear coat. The maroon underpaint is still intact I've not spotted any bare metal or rust anywhere.

Yes, the car is old but it's in great running condition and I expect it to last another 100K, it's only got 159K on it. I honestly just want the outside to look decent again.
 
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#15
#15
My high school had a body shop and they would do jobs very cheap to teach the students how to do body work and paint. The teacher was awesome so they ended up doing good work.

Dont know if you could check the high schools around you to see if they have any programs like that.
 
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#16
#16
Coug said:
Depends on the definition of "bad" really. The clear coat is basically peeling off the whole car. The rear bumper oddly enough was the first to go, that crap was peeling off like pieces of paper. The hood, roof, and trunk lid are the worst with about 80%+ loss of clear coat, the sides and doors still have most of the clear coat. The maroon underpaint is still intact I've not spotted any bare metal or rust anywhere.

Yes, the car is old but it's in great running condition and I expect it to last another 100K, it's only got 159K on it. I honestly just want the outside to decent again.
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I would expect $2500 for a good job. Is it worth that to you?

I considered a custom color for my Jeep and was looking at $4000, but there's much more that goes into that.
 
#17
#17
remove all the trim yourself and do some of the taping and you can get a decent paint job at Maaco or Econo for $700-800. Look on Youtube. plenty of vids detailing the process. the easier you make it on them prep-wise the better it'll come out. I'm much like you in that I buy old cars and try to bring a little life back to them. No need to waste thousands of dollars on a new car when this could run 10-15 more years for pennies in comparison.
 
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#18
#18
Don't know if this will help but......a few years ago a friend needed his truck painted (a girlfriend thing) and he took it to a company called Maacco and it looked good. I don't remember the cost, but I do remember thinking he got a good deal.

Also, had another friend who bought a car that the clear coat had peeled off and paint had faded. He took it to a company called Econo/Economy Paint. It looked good and he was satisfied with the work and price. I do not know what he paid.

Both Maacco and Econo/Economy were located in Knoxville, but I don't know if either is still in business (opened).
 
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#19
#19
MR_VOL said:
Don't know if this will help but......a few years ago a friend needed his truck painted (a girlfriend thing) and he took it to a company called Maacco and it looked good. I don't remember the cost, but I do remember thinking he got a good deal.

Also, had another friend who bought a car that the clear coat had peeled off and paint had faded. He took it to a company called Econo/Economy Paint. It looked good and he was satisfied with the work and price. I do not know what he paid.

Both Maacco and Econo/Economy were located in Knoxville, but I don't know if either is still in business (opened).
Click to expand...


haha, we said the same thing within minutes of each other.
 
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#21
#21
Coug said:
Depends on the definition of "bad" really. The clear coat is basically peeling off the whole car. The rear bumper oddly enough was the first to go, that crap was peeling off like pieces of paper. The hood, roof, and trunk lid are the worst with about 80%+ loss of clear coat, the sides and doors still have most of the clear coat. The maroon underpaint is still intact I've not spotted any bare metal or rust anywhere.

Yes, the car is old but it's in great running condition and I expect it to last another 100K, it's only got 159K on it. I honestly just want the outside to decent again.
Click to expand...
The issue you run into is prep work. Just removing the old properly is more than $700. Bad prep means the paint will do the same.
 
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#22
#22
MR_VOL said:
Don't know if this will help but......a few years ago a friend needed his truck painted (a girlfriend thing) and he took it to a company called Maacco and it looked good. I don't remember the cost, but I do remember thinking he got a good deal.

Also, had another friend who bought a car that the clear coat had peeled off and paint had faded. He took it to a company called Econo/Economy Paint. It looked good and he was satisfied with the work and price. I do not know what he paid.

Both Maacco and Econo/Economy were located in Knoxville, but I don't know if either is still in business (opened).
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lol

Was this a girlfriend who didn't like the existing paint job, or an angry girlfriend with a couple cans of spray paint??
 
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#23
#23
goldenvol said:
My high school had a body shop and they would do jobs very cheap to teach the students how to do body work and paint. The teacher was awesome so they ended up doing good work.

Dont know if you could check the high schools around you to see if they have any programs like that.
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That's actually a good idea except I would check any local colleges or trade schools. I can't remember the school here in Knoxville, but my brother took a body repair course years ago and they would often use cars from friends. I remember a buddy of his had a old 80s model rwd Nissan Maxima painted that looked amazing.
 
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#24
#24
It's old enough to vote. Don't paint it. Plastidip it instead. You can change the color every week if you desire.
 
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