Well so today is the day ive been looking forward to for a while now, my car is getting painted. They estimated the work to end up costing $2350 Canadian, 16 hours refinishing and 16 hours body work at 50 dollars an hour for a total of over 1,700 for labour. So anyways we go to drop it off today and I need to show the idiot how to start my car because my fuel pump is wired to a switch in the dash...

Anyways the guy immediately says "Who estimated this!?!?!?!" .... "what kinda job are you actually expecting" This really made us mad because we are paying alot of money for paint and who the hell asks what kind of job are you expecting... So we told him a damn good one for that price, and he said he will call us before they touch it, what a bastard... The reason he is pissed off is because there is some minor rust on the car right now because my motor blew this summer and it had to be left out in the rain for a few hours there was nothing we could do to prevent it.

So now I have to wait for these idiots, who don't want to paint a car because they realize they are going to do a shotty job on it... Rediculous how can they expect someone to pay a price like that and get a crap job in return.

We almost just told them to screw it and we would find another place but we didn't, these morons are going to try and bump the price through the roof over something that was out of my control.... What do you guys recommend I do?

Heres a couple pictures of the car right now...

Words cannot describe my frustration, I wait about 4 months to get my car into this shop and then they talk to us like we are idiots "Well ya know we are gonna need to acetone this whole car now cause someone left it out in the rain..."

 

It has a tiny bit of surface rust and they act all gay about it. The body shop I use to work at was $3500-$4500 for a perfect paint job, never fade, never crack, door jams, engine bay etc.

 

See im just going for a paintjob of just the exterior not the door jams or any of the stuff that requires actually labour, as far as I see it they only repair vehicles that have a minor dent in it and stuff and then turn around and charge a premium for it.

 

Best bet is to find yourself another shop...these guys attitude leads one to suspect that they will cut corners to save expense if you don't agree to a higher price, which will probably equal a shoddy job

 

Since you have a garage anyway, I would suggest you sand it down yourself. If you are any good at painting you can get a decent primer from a rattle can as well.



Oh, and find another shop...cause they are gonna screw you hard.

 

Is this true though that since it has some really minor rust on the bare metal that they actually need to acetone it off in order to treat it? Even if they do need to do that so what thats another 30 minutes of work, so charge me 25 bucks more for labour... Honestly I was first doing all the body work but I got so sick of it its reduiculous, but I guess if these guys are trying to screw me over I might have to attempt again to fix the body all up...

Oh I also forgot to mention why I didn't do that, because once I said that I was doing the body work no shops wanted anything to do with the car, the only way they will do it is if they do the body work... Seems shady but I guess they are trying to make customers happy and if the customer screws up they get negetive feedback...

 

It's not shady. How can they guarentee a job if you did half the work. The shops around here do the same. They might paint the car, but will not warrenty any of it because you did all the prep work.

 

I agree with what has been said above. Trust me I have been screwed quite a few times and speaking from experience this is a classic. It a shop shows any disgust towards your project it will not be a labor or love anymore but a chore.

Think about it, you have your 7 and if something goes wrong you are out there fixing it. Not because you have to but because you want to. If you have a piecer escort that breaks down all of a sudden it is, "darn that escort" and, "I hate working on it". Take it to a shop that will enjoy doing your project and not feel it is a chore. Don't always go for the best price but the best fit.

2000 sounds like it is in the correct range for a decent paint job. When I didd some looking around a couple years back quality shops were doing quality jobs for about 2500-3000. And that is not including the jams or any of the other bs that you do not need.

Don't get skrewed! Good luck.

~Z

 

This is my thinking exactly the car is not even worth $2350, so this is a big investment for me, like I said the car does not need to have car show quality paint I just want it to turn heads on the street.

and another thing is this is a big thing for me, im only 18 and im spending $2300 to get my car painted... That kinda money does not come easy for me, I have to work like crazy to earn my money...

 

Just got off the phone with this idiots

I am now being told that it would cost 4000 to paint my car because it sat outside 1 night... WTF??? They recommended me to take it to macco and get it quickly sanded and painted there. Bullshit they don't want to put there name on my car, how can they bump there estimate up 1700 dollars for a car sitting outside 1 night.

I am going to post Negetive feedback about this company on my local car club site to discourage people from going there, what a dumb company I could see if it would cost me 200 bucks more for them to correct the minor rust from sitting out for 1 day but 1700 is rediculous, to be honest right now im about to snap....

 

Like Lord Humongus said in Road Warrior "Just walk away!"

Find yourself a good shop that will do the job YOU want at a reasonalbe price. I just had my Rx2 painted last february and it cost me almost $4000 with some frame crack fixing, rusted spots taken out and replaced with metal instead of bondo, and a killer PPG paint job.

Don't settle for that deadbeat shop Dan, are there that many places in your area besides that one?

 

personally if i were you i'd grad that sander start with about 220 grit paper sand the whole car then move it up to 400 and if you want to go higher you can but not very necessary and that would porb take care of all the cars rust and give them a smooth finish to work with then go back to them ... sanding the car down shouldn't take you more than a couple of hours.

 

Theres other shops but I was recommended to this place... Well I honestly will never recommend anyone back there...

What im almost now tempted to do is pick up this widebody engineless rx7 that this local guy has and transfer literally everything over...

What a pain in the *** my dad is freaking out at these guys right now on the phone because they bumped the price up 1700 because the car sat outside for 1 night and it wasn't even in my control there is nothing I could have done differently...............................

 

I would tell them to go F&%* themselfs and try to find somebody else. I know its not a comparison but theres a shop not too far from where I live they would do my 3 gen meaning sandit to the metal take all the dents and all get it all straintend out and stuff and then paint it with 6 coats of black and 8 ciats of clear for $3000 US and I have seen theyr work it looks like a mirror when you take a look at the car.

In your case they dont even need to sand the car or anything like that and they charging you that much I would tell them to go to HELL.

 

so leaving it out 1 nite messed up your paint and now u have to get a new 1 from what i understand

 

No, leaving it out one night put some surface rust on the car.

 

pretty much and apparently some surface rust changed the paint job price 1700, which I don't get cause the car already had some surface rust and they made it clear during the inital estimate that they needed to re-primer the whole car which I was fine with, they came back with the estimate...

How on earth could the price change 1700 when I go in there to get my keys im gonna demand them to explain that concept to me.

Basically what I was saying with the new car thing is that it would be cheaper for me to just by a good widebody body (without engine) and throw my motor in then deal with these morons who are charging me a ton for crappy work... I was told on the phone "go get it done at macco, we don't want our name on that car" thats such an insult to me its not even funny...

 

Get a potato gun

 

they dont want their name on your car...i would seriously mess with those guys at the shop so much for the next few years

 

Honestly, if you have the space and time, for the price of the new bid, you can:

Buy the folowing tools and equipment:

220 v 7 hp 80 gal. compressor, 800

Sata RP 2000 paint gun, 450

Top of the line DA, 200

Decent line sander/air file, 200

A roll of 80, 150, 220, 350 grit sandpaper for the DA, @ 30 ea., 120

Paint mask and dust masks, 50

Air hose, 25

Other consumables: paper for line sander, body putty, masking paper and tape, plastic sheeting, wipe cloths, tack cloths, volatiles and solvents, 200

Paint: primer/sealer, high build primer, base coat, clear coat, 400 and up.

Do the math and decide what you want to spend. The first job won't be perfect and you may end up sanding and repainting more than once. Practice with the high build primer, I find that the hardest to lay out smooth. The base coat will take practice to get an even looking coat, practice on the hood first, spare one if you have one.

The nice thing about doing this youself, you have all of these new tools and you have spent LESS money than farming it out to a shop.

 

although the price is more realistic I dunno I was just looking for a more professional job. Also I don't really have room at home anymore to actually do this in the garage... We have like 7 vehicles and can only park 4 at our house at a time and usually we get away with 5.

"sigh" like I said before my best route is almost just buying this local widebody 7 without a engine and transfering everything over, but what a pain....

 

Surface rust is extremely easy to take care of. It is the rust that rots all the way through that is tricky. If you have the space I reccomend that you do it yourself...then you can be **** and when people say wow that is a nice paint job where did you get it done you can tell them that you did it. Some of the best paint I have ever seen was done in a personal shop.

 

I agree, buy the equipment and do the job yourself, you'll get the satisfaction, do some online research and get advice from the guys who've already done this.

Then drive it back over to these morons and thank them for helping you get the job done right.

 

A little surface rust is not a big deal. Right now my dad and I are fixing areas where its actually rusted a hole in the body (mostly the doors) and even that isn't too bad. Of course it also depends on your situation. If your car has only been painted once before you could sand down the rusted area to the bare metal (80-120 grid sandpaper). Then primer it with a bulidable primer (apply more than you will need to use), let it dry and then wet sand it until its feathered in. If you're really determined you could have the job finished in a day. cheap and effective.

 

Well I just drove past the body shop looking for my car we finally found it inside the garage there... (its closed) and there my car is sitting with the hood open and the battery charger on it, damn morons probally cranked the living **** out of her... Im so pissed I don't know what to do, I don't know whether to be mad at myself for not having a tarp on the car, mad at the shop for being idiots, mad at the local rx7 guru for not tarping it or mad at the engine for blowing...

Anyways we are going to pick it up tomorrow and I have to wait for my dad to get home to decide what we are going to do. I think I might look into the local guy here who has the rolling FB chassis with a roll cage welded in, may be a fun project.