Ok, i got in an accident on july 2nd where the other driver was at fault. I am since going to repaint my car. This may sound dumb, but I dont know anything about paint or paint jobs for that matter: ie. prep work or what kind of paint/clearcoat/pearl etc...I want a very good paint job, so should i tell them to strip the paint off the car then add clearcoat? when does the clearcoat go on and what does it do? What is good paint to use? how many layrs of clearcoat, and how much pearl? thanks guys. sorry for being so nieve...

 

Take it to a good body shop, not the cheap one the insurance wants you to goto. Then give them the keys, they will call you when its done.

They are not going to like you telling them how to paint the car. They are pro's and if its a good body shop they will know what to do.

 

Where are you taking it Danny?

 

Hope the insurance company writes the check out to you and not to a place you got an estimate from. At any rate either way take it to a paint shop you prefer(or the one the check is written out to if it's written out to a certain shop) and tell them basically what you want and what $$ you have to spend. This works best if the check is made out to you as then you can shop around and go to a custom paint shop as they usually do the best work.

There's no real need to know specific paint brands, how many coats of clearcoat, etc. Just basically pic a color, tell them what color pearl you want if you're getting that too, and tell them what all you want painted, and that you want a superb job.

Do you know how much you'll have to spend on the paint work, not including any body work/repairs??

If your check does get made out to a dealership/paint shop in which you got an estimate from then just take your car to them, say you got an estimate for repairs and you have the check but you want something special done like a little pearl(or even a different color then your estimate was for) added and usually they'll say we'll need a little more $$ plus this check and we'll do it.. I used the example pearl because it's probably not written on your estimate to put pearl on the car.

 

That's your answer right there. Just take a picture of what you want your car to -look- like to a professional, reputable (ask around) bodyshop, and they'll get the job done correctly.

 

Ask the body shop if they'll take off all the weather stripping before painting the car instead of just using tape to cover it up......For custom paints a lot of people go with House of Color, PPG, or Dupont. All good paints IMO. Clearcoat goes on top of the paint and protects and give a nice glossy look. Since your getting a custom color shops charge by the pint, now I was told that a good painter uses only 3 pints, someone correct me if I'm wrong, so anymore shop might be trying to rip you off. In my case I bought 4 pints, since you can't go to your local auto zone and get chameleon paint touch up