if your payign that much for a paint job they do paint all the little details like the insides of your dorr frame trunk outline ect. You can get a good quality paint job for like $1000. Personally im gonna order the paint myself and have maaco or some other cheapo place just spray it over (same or very similar mazda fc3s color) to make her look decent till I can afford a $1000+paint job.

 

You get what you pay for, and if you pay for Maaco you might get crap.

 

 

ok, call me dumb but why are those springs there and how do you close the damn hood?

btw, black sucks. My TII is black and it's impossible to keep clean.

 

nicest FC i had was this marble green TII

http://rx7cz.net/photos/green/
http://rx7cz.net/photos/works36/
http://rx7cz.net/photos/workshop15/
http://rx7cz.net/photos/workshop17/
http://rx7cz.net/photos/workshop22/IMG_1461.JPG
http://rx7cz.net/photos/workshop31/IMG_1794.JPG

 

You CANNOT get a good paint job for $1000. Unless you're sleeping with the painter or something...Minimum for a "good" job is about $3000.

 

The Springs Are There To Keep Hood Up , And To Give It A Nice Look When Showing The Car , At A Car Show.

 

Aaron is right again. I've seen good looking (Original color, mind you) repaints for 2000, but that's absolute miniumum. You'r enot going to change the color of your car (door jams and such) for less than 4 grand. MAYBE $3500 if you're a good negotiator. Please don't do a macco job. I made that mistake a few years ago when I was young and stupid (at least I'm not young anymore ) with my eclipse. Cost $1300, lasted about 2 years.. maybe.

Higgi - I love it! I've seen that style paint before, which brand did you use?

 

Do you have a matching bowling ball?

That's totally sweet though, I would do it.

 

I've always heard that paint jobs cost as much as you guys are saying but around here there are some guys that work out of a paint shed in their back yard and do great body and even frame repair as well as great paint jobs for a fraction of the price or a large body shop, just an idea to look around for on of those guys in your area

 

That's a bit of a special case. If you are painting with a stock colour (not necessarily Mazda), and have someone who can do it "on the side", then you can get away with saving some money.

Think of it this way though: The materials for my job (paint mostly, and masking, sealers, etc.) came to WELL above $3000 alone.

 

I ust be really really lucky then, I could go to about five backyard places and get a paint job that i promise would be outstanding for like 1500, or go to the local body shop who does great work but everone around here, (and when i say everyone i don't meen everyone who is cheap like me lol, i mean everyone i've talked to) but the paint jobs there are considered very expensive around here at 2500 or so for a complete color change. I know it may sound unheard of copared to the prices you guys see but your guys prices seem unreal to me, maybe because i live by the coast and people need paint jobs more often they have to be more competitive or something i really don't know but after reading this thread i'm glad i live here

 

Or, perhaps our view of "quality" is slightly different.

$1500 sounds like an entry level job to me. Especially with materials cost being what they are. Remember, stock colours are cheap. Start mixing and matching, and things get real expensive real quick.

Base-clear is also cheap. Multi-stage ups the price dramatically.

 

$2,400 paintjob. This was a friend who took the car apart and did it right. 2 years strong almost 3. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.

 

I have always thought about doing a gloss black with a ghost image on the hood, like the transformer sticker i have on the bumper but larger and not so obvious.

 

^ I hope that is a photoshop...

 

CHINOOO, your headlights are broken but the paint is beautiful.

 

theres a honda's H on the transformers face thats why the honda drivers put that on there car.

 

Mine was done in 03 Vette Silver, from top to bottom. Rather not talk about how much it was but its one of the nicest paint jobs I've seen in a while.

 

I did mine Black Pearl Metallic.

 

pink lol, pink is for girls or distrot men

 

You can have a $5000 paint job for $1000 IF you paint it YOURSELF. $1000 in paint supplies is good quality paint. All the extra money for expensive paint job comes from the prep work. Now if were talking about metallics and flakes, you gotta put some more money on top of that. If you wanna paint your car to sell it, $245 macco is awesome I only like this color for minitrucks, this is my old isuzu painted stock DODGE lime green (cuda) not bad for $250 macco. Painted it to sell it.

 

I always thought that Nissan's Forest green looked badass.... My dad had it on a maxima and it looked black until the light hit it just right... then the green would come out.

 

Here's the problem though. Most people don't have a good compressor, dryer and gun, plus all the necessary safety gear (if you paint without a full approved mask and suit, you are just stupid...read the warnings). So to buy GOOD tools, you're looking at quite an investment. Then, you need to set up a dust free environment, with the proper ventalation. More money.

$1000 in paint supplies is cheap in my book, but then I wouldn't consider dealing with ANY stock colours. If you are just painting red or blue, then paint is cheap.

Yes, prep is vitally important, and I don't think that anyone can argue that's where 95% of the work goes. So if you do that yourself (and do it PROPERLY), then you can save serious money.

But we're sort of splitting hairs here. I have to assume that when someone says they want a cost on paint, they are thinking of having a body shop do all the work. 90% of people, including me now, NEVER want to mess with painting a car. So you have to give them a cost taking this into account.

Of course it is very possible to get a cheap good job done if you have connections or do all the work yourself. But most people don't have the equipment, knowledge or talent to pull this off.

One more thing. If you are putting on a $250 paint job to sell a car, shame. That's just dishonest, unless you inform the buyer that the car was painted by monkeys.

 

oh they knew, I was selling it for $800 and I did it FOR the new owner, this was just a fun slow ride, The white paint job was nasty, and as for mask and suits, if your buddies with a local paint shop, using the booth and the right safety equipment is a good idea. I have some friends with auto shop hookups and a friend who is a dam near professional painter. So that $1000 paint job is possible in my position, but others aren't as lucky as me. As for that $1000 dollar "cheap" paint, my friend painted his 72' charger yellow, you can see it in the back of the pic, he painted it 4 years ago and not a single chip in the paint or peel.