Anyone know the cost of a Porsche paint job?

[AaronLewis]

Getting ready to consider paint for my 79' 930, and was curious if anyone has any recommendations for paint shops in Florida, but my main question is, does anyone know the cost of a paint job performed by Porsche?

[AG81]

Aaron,

I have no idea about the cost from Porsche, but I have had a very high end paint job performed in the past year. It was $30,000. I have to guess Porsche would be double that.

[Flat6pac]

I would stick with the patina....
Bruce

[Cairo94507]

"Performed by Porsche" as in you send it back to the factory? No Porsche dealers I have ever seen have their own body/paint shops- at least here in CA. They all sub their work out to local shops. No thanks.

I would prefer to get recommendations from other hi-end car owners and go visit the shops they recommend and speak with the owners and make my decision. Here in CA, a great quality paint job, likely in the $30K range, give or take.

[RarlyL8]

Porsche dealerships don't do paint, they sub it out as previously replied.
Paint runs the gamut, anywhere from $7K to $50K depending on the amount of prep work needed and who is doing the work. To save money and still get a good job find a hotrod shop with a good reputation. P tax on paint jobs can be brutal.

[MIAdragon]

Where in FL, pretty large area.

[Flojo]

taking the car apart and putting back together as well?
probably 50% of the overall cost.
Maybe even more as especially assembly is freaking time consuming to get it right.

At least at disassembly I'd try to save money and rib it apart myself if I were you.

[Tommy Z]

Does anybody know of any good independent Porsche repair shops in the Bonita/ Fort Myers / Naples area of Florida? really need a good recommendation for the stuff I'm not comfortable trying myself.

[75 911s]

Don't let a painter take apart or put your car back together.

[porschyard]

Originally Posted by Flat6pac

I would stick with the patina....
Bruce

I am with Bruce depending on how bad it is. I dont have any recommendations for you down there and i had my shop in south Broward for 25 years. I will tell you this, i don't care who does it or how much you spend i Guarantee i would be able to show you flaws, i personally have never seen a 100% perfect paint job.

Richard

[nathanbs]

Doesn’t depend on it being a porsche it depends on how many hours your specific job looks to be. For example a car that needs to be stripped to bare metal, all panels re-aligned, all gaps fixed or improved better than porsche ever had them, repair any/all damages incl rust can easily be 500-1000 hours x ? Labor rate. The rate at high quality restoration shops is likely $75-125 per hour. Your biggest pitfall is how long will it take. Draw up a contract that includes a bonus or penalty of a certain deadline is reached or missed. Any decent job will take 2-3 months or longer.

[nathanbs]

Originally Posted by porschyard

I am with Bruce depending on how bad it is. I dont have any recommendations for you down there and i had my shop in south Broward for 25 years. I will tell you this, i don't care who does it or how much you spend i Guarantee i would be able to show you flaws, i personally have never seen a 100% perfect paint job.

Richard

Pretty hard to accomplish but with the right amount of time and money anything is possible. Typically takes a certain amount of redoing to get it perfect.

[Tommy Z]

Originally Posted by MIAdragon

Where in FL, pretty large area.

Does anybody know of any good independent Porsche repair shops in the Bonita/ Fort Myers / Naples area of Florida? really need a good recommendation for the stuff I'm not comfortable trying myself.

[OldSpool87]

I had my 930 painted a few years ago due to an accident. I gave the shop a ton of time (too much) to get it done. Job involved much more than paint (real body/frame work). Paint turned out very nice, experience sucked. All in I was at $30k. The thing to think about is when that car comes back with a beautiful paint job, how OCD will you get about driving it. It happens. Happened to me, I got very protective, stupid really. Then I relaxed and adopted the thought: what can be painted once can be painted again.

[coldstart]

Find a shop that has done a complete paint job on a 'classic' 911 before.

I got a recommendation from a local owner who had a great experience at a shop. I visited the shop and the owner appeared to be knowledgeable and trustworthy. My car was stripped to bare metal (removing multiple layers of previous paint) and painted extremely well. They allowed me visit the car any time I wanted and take pictures. The car was finished on time. Excellent experience and reasonable cost given the amount of labor that went into the project.

I was extremely happy with the results besides some minor issues (they did not paint inside the oil door and gas door areas and a few other minor areas). Make sure that they cover off the interior and engine bay properly.

[Mike Andrew]

Don't know about your area but I went to a very reputable shop outside the Chicago area to avoid Chicago price penalties. Shop had done many, many P cars, several for a very discriminating collector. I had also used them in the past to repair a couple of my Sciroccos, one of which has a very difficult paint to match. They also had a Cellett bench, just in case.

All in, I laid almost $13K on them and supplied over a grand in parts myself. Glass out, disassembled, reassembled with perfect gaps, all new seals, etc. Took them a year as it was a filler job and they got really busy due to a tough winter and lots of crashes involving insurance and dd's .Initial discussion was start November, finish by April. They discounted because of the length of time involved and me missing a driving season.(Almost. Picked up a Boxter to drive that season) I had almost no rust except where a P.O. had used silicone seal to install a new frunk seal and it had etched thru the paint and rusted in the seal track.
As mentioned above, I would shop around a lot, get a handful of quotes and chase input from local PCA people.
One guarantee; it won't be as cheap as you would like and you will be OCD about any scratch or rock chip.

[Flojo]

Originally Posted by Mike Andrew

you will be OCD about any scratch or rock chip.

OCD= Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder ?

[Mike Andrew]

Yes, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
You develop a keen sense of hearing every rock, piece of debris or leaf that hits the car.

Had 2 beechnuts drop on it at Road America while I was moving from one area to another. Surveilled the car numerous times until I finally found the miniscule dents that they left. Panic mode for about a week until I got back to the body shop and their paintless guy fixed them. Of course, I had masking tape outlining them just in case he couldn't find them

Yes, OCD at its best.

[David 23]

Interview past customers of the shops you consider, that had the same level of work done that you are contemplating, Their experience will give you a much better idea of what to actually expect than what the shop tells you. Once you decide on a shop, make certain to have a highly detailed contract signed by both parties. Include ALL the details of what will and will not be done by the shop, as well as what parts are included etc. This cannot be too detailed. Include an agreed timeline and payment schedule. Make payments as work progresses, past the initial deposit, do not pay anything in advance of work completed. Leave mechanical work to be done by a mechanical shop, not the painter.

[creaturecat]

i couldn't bear to do this. way too many bad experiences with body shops. all bad, actually. varying degrees ......
then there's the Porsche tax ............

if i truly desired a concours-ish unit (i don't) - i'd sell the patina car and buy a shiny one.