How much can I expect to pay for a professional paint job ?

[318Sebring]

The subject says it all
How much can I expect to pay for a professional paint job ?
Car has NO rust or existing body damage. Daily driver
Remove all chrome. Sand and Paint. 2 base coats , 1 clear cote. I color
I know Macco can do it for $ 599.00 but thats not what i am talking about.
I am just looking for a ballpark figure.
Reason for question. A friend has a 68 RED firebird . The paint is fairly faded.
He is getting quotes from a wild range of 3K to 5K . These are well known body shops
and a GM dealer

Thx
Fred..

[73Chally]

If you're going through a reputable shop you can probably figure on minimum $10K.  That should give you a real good paint with base/clear, sanded and buffed.  Just don't ask for a "driver quality" job because you probably won't get very far with that unless you go through someone who does it on the side.

[wagesofsin]

im just gonna watch this thread for a bit. id love to hear the pricing.   

[moparmaniac59]

I had my Challenger totally painted about 2 years ago. I provided all the material (rubber seals, gaskets, new trim, new trunk panels and new Goodmark fender ect) and he provided the paint and fixed all the little parking lot dents and dings and replaced the rusted trunk and the front fender that I provided. The car was a virtually rust free California car except for the rusted trunk. He prepped and painted the car and clear coated it and buffed out for 5K. The total cost with material was 8K.


                                            Matt B.

[BIGSHCLUNK]

There's really no cheap date here.

As for Macco, it may look good  a little while, but will fade fast. Family experience on this one....

[71chally416]

My old Boss had his '54 Jaguar painted at Macco and it still looks great. The trick is to get good paint and let them spray it on and not use the synthetic crap they use.
http://www.southfloridajaguarclub.org/album/grsez.htm

[Chryco Psycho]

What kill sus here is the extremely high labor rates & the hours to  do the work with shop rates exceeding 80-100 / hr , materials alone will run $3500+

[318Sebring]

As for Macco, it may look good  a little while, but will fade fast. Family experience on this one....

I thought Macco guaranteed their paint jobs untill you drove you car off their parking lot.   
( sorry could not resist )
Note the edit on my orig post ( reason for the question )

[73Chally]

At $3-5K I would ask a lot of questions about what's included in the way of prep work and material.  At that price it sounds like it's just a quick sand of the body to rough up what's already there, and a quick shoot of color and base, especially if the price includes material.  I can't see any way he would be getting a good professional job that he will really be happy with at that price, but who knows.

[whitesatinmopar]

There could be a major span in cost, as CP said the labor cost factor and another, what part of the country you may live in. Will the car be taken to a resto. shop or a local body and paint shop that generally speaking make their living on insurance jobs. A $5000.00 to $15000.00 is easily a possibility. Nine years ago I had the Charger taken to bare mental, dinks and dings were repaired, and a total of 8 coats were layed on the car (from sealer to clear coat), cost $4500.00. A couple years later same job done to the Chally, cost $5000.00. They were done by the same shop who mainly did insurance jobs, and he basically worked on my cars in between "rushes", had the Charger for 9 months and the Chally for 4 months. You can expect most any quote,............BUT GET IT IN WRITTING, don't depend on a verbal. 

[femtnmax]

My quote includes replacing roof skin and drip edges, both rear quarters, rustproof all accessible understructure with old skins removed, repair taillight panel/rear valance/door skins/front fenders, remove all dings, paint all removable panels off the car, block sand entire car 3 times, paint including 3 clear coats and color sanding.  Estimate was 12-15K.  Dropped off the car in March, is being block sanded as we speak.

[t1971Chally]

Had my Challenger repainted year and half ago.  Paint, labor, block sanding it, replaced fender, aligned panels, doors, hood, etc $7500.00!!!!  The guy did a  beautiful job on it.    Just remember......get references, go look at the previous jobs he/she has done.  DO NOT SPEND THIS MUCH MONEY AND NOT CHECK OUT THE PERSONS PREVIOUS JOBS!!!  DO NOT TAKE ANYONE'S WORD ON THE WORK....GO LOOK FOR YOURSELF!!! 

Last thought - Most of the time you get what you pay for!!!  However, I have seen jobs where the person paid for a high end job and got the Old Macco job!!! 

Good Luck!!!

[HemiOrange70]

10K.......Thats taken apart, painted and put back together

[troutstreamnm]

So much depends on the amount of body work they have to do and how much time you'll pay for for color sanding and clearcoat work.  At $70-$100/hr labor that can add up fast.  I paid about $11K for a fairly nice job on my 71.

[elitecustombody]

depending on how detailed of a job you want, it's funny how some clueless people expect to get a car painted for $ 1500, I get them all the time,as my shop is right next door to Maaco, I had one recently asking what it would cost to do a high quality colorchange on 02 Mercedes,pulling drivetrain,glass,trim,e.t.c., I quoted $12k, he looked at me all confused,so I asked him what was he expecting to pay? He said : "about $2500"

  So as I said it depends on what you want ,as well as the shop and what they're capable of, I can tell you that I would charge about $7k for a very nice quality driver paint job with moderate colorsanding and about $10 -12k for a real show quality job slick as glass all the way around,