The cost of a paint job.

[AR67GTX]

I have an old Corvette I painted 30+ years ago myself in my garage and it still looks great. Cost me very little compared to today. But I’ve been hearing these reports of $20k, 30k paint jobs today that just sound insane. Then I stumbled across this Vette on BaT with an invoice for body repairs and paint @ $40,000 plus.

1967 Chevrolet Corvette Coupe 427 4-Speed

I couldn’t help but post this on Corvette Forum which sparked a bunch of responses including one from a guy who’s friend had a bill for $72,000 for body and paint on a 63 split window, and another in CA who was only getting quotes in the $40k to $50k range.

I’ve painted two of the cars I own and these prices just sound unreal. I have a couple of friends who are using custom paint shops here in AR for their restorations and they are generally spending about $12k to $17k which is still a chunk. Definitely makes one double think about taking on a project unless you know a guy or can do it yourself.

 

[451Mopar]

The cost of automotive paint is crazy.
I think they figure insurance money is paying for most repair work to they charge hospital insurance rates too.

 

[6PKRTSE]

Yes, the cost of paint and supplies is unbelievable. I have had buddy's that have tried Rustoleum right from the hardware store and then clear coated. My buddy's wagon was like $300.00 and came out beautiful. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of photos of his car before or after. Here are some with him parked next to my blue Challenger back when his wagon was the original blue. Then parked with my red Charger and other buddy's cars after he painted white with Rustoleum.

 

[Bighouse]

That’s the cost of doing business in busy areas. Overhead, employees etc. My area is super expensive to do business in. Shops can either crank out 40k collision jobs in 2 weeks with parts markups accounting for some of that. Or they can deal with your 60 year old disaster for months upon months for the same money which is just straight labor with no parts. Time and costs do not compute.
Here, locally, a lot of restoration work has gone underground. Restoration work is more feasible for business in more rural areas.

 

[Michael_]

Idk. but 40k for a paint job sounds like straight up THIEVERY to me.

 

[3sloppydogs]

Buddy of mine completed the body work on his 70 mustang. He then took it to a place that paints in addition to other services. The business is well established and does all kinds of body work on various vehicles. They quoted him 7k just for the paint he chose. I was floored. I knew the costs went up but not that much.

 

[451Mopar]

Idk. but 40k for a paint job sounds like straight up THIEVERY to me.

Maybe they are using BASF Glasurit paint.

 

[VANDAN]

Idk. but 40k for a paint job sounds like straight up THIEVERY to me.

You've been away for a while. A quality job has skyrocketed beyond what an average "blue collar" hobbiest can afford. Add in body repair, and mods to update, Six Figures + is what your seeing at the High End Auto Shows. Unless You have the Shop, Tools, and Skills to perform the Entire operation, it's getting out of reach for many now. The $100 note, is now the New $20...

 

[Don selleck]

The cost of certain paints are crazy, a friend of mine ordered the paint for the underside, trunk, and engine compartment, for my Cuda, got his discount, was still over 2k for the complete system, gallon of epoxy primer, 2k primer, sealer, base, and clear coat Akzo-Nobel. nice stuff but damn.

 

[F4R/T]

They got it and you need it! Supply and demand and a dash of price fixing!

 

[r4sedan]

The best way is to find someone working on their own. I had a guy do my Foxbody Mustang last year. Did a color change engine compartment, door jambs, trunk compartment and even painted undercarriage. He also had to do make a couple patch panels. Five thousand. I couldn't believe it. And he did an amazing job.

 

[zyzzyx]

I did all of my bodywork and purchased all of my primer, sealer, paint, activator, clear, and reducer and had a friend
that owns a body shop squirt my 68 GTX. He charged me $3200.00 for his one week of labor. All he had to do was
mask off the car, wipe it down, apply the sealer, color, and clear. That was about three years ago. Paint prices are nuts!
It's getting to where you can buy a car DONE for what it costs for bodywork & Paint!

 

[gkent]

I have 125k (Canadian) into body and paint on my '69 RR - not including sheet metal and replacement - probably another 30k there. I'm not proud of paying that but it was all justified.

 

[eldubb440]

Maybe they are using BASF Glasurit paint.

I was raised on European cars and Glasurit in the 80s, when my GTX was worth 2500 tops....... great stuff, user friendly, ect

but our cars all stay inside, almost never see rain, and don't live in direct sunlight........ I see no reason to spend absolute top dollar on paint and primer

I might even argue there is little to no difference between top of the line and middle grade....... I have an akzo nobel store near me, Sikkens/Lesonal/U-Tech/ Wanda

I usually opt for Wanda base coat....... Cleared over with Lesanol or SPI........ SPI epoxy is the only primer I use, it seals, fills, sands, ect

primer/paint/clear for this was about 3K.......red may have added 500-1000 (2023 prices)

sandpaper, buffing materials, grinding wheels, welding gas and supplies, filler, sound deadener, seam sealer, thinner for cleanup, electric was about another 2K

"cost of a paint job?" depends on how much work it takes to get it "ready to paint"

 

[440 4 speed]

The best way is to find someone working on their own. I had a guy do my Foxbody Mustang last year. Did a color change engine compartment, door jambs, trunk compartment and even painted undercarriage. He also had to do make a couple patch panels. Five thousand. I couldn't believe it. And he did an amazing job.

You should purchased lottery tickets!

 

[R413]

Labor os high, materials are high, time is money. Many cars being restored need lots and lots of repairs before paint.

 

[RemCharger]

We're down to the crumbs as far as nice cars left to restore.

 

[threewood]

If you cannot do it yourself, you will be in for more than the car is worth (Not counting the rare and highly desirable models).

Paint is expensive, but not as expensive as the labor. I looked around for anybody to clean up and re paint my rust free Belvedere and the closest to someone wanting to do it said $15k and up, sight unseen. So I did it myself. $700 in primer and paint. I did all the body work.

When I bought my GTX I knew I wanted to do the body and paint so, A) It didn't cost me an arm and a leg, and B) so I could drive it asap without waiting years.

It was fun, frustrating, tiring and rewarding all at the same time.

 

[Runcharger]

I miss the days of Centari, I think the colour cost me $300 for this one and memory is foggy but I think DP40 was in the $90/gallon range. But those days are gone and it takes a bunch of labour and materials with all the coats required and labour required these days. Nobody will accept a factory quality job.

 

[zyzzyx]

When I got out of High School, me and a friend were painting cars with DuPont IMRON. OOOOOooooooHHHHHHooooo!
1972, and three quarts of IMRON in a Gallon can and a quart of 192S was $140.00. Once the local guys saw a couple of
Firebirds and Camaro's with that stuff on them, everyone wanted it! We did a complete for $1200.00. That was then, this
is now.