Painters rant

[johncmng]

For the past month or so I have been talking to many paint shop to paint my 3.2 (Black). They all gave me a quote for 10K to 15K!!! Yikes, is that the going rate for a full paint job? I drive this car daily so this is definitly not a garage queen. I don't need a concours show car finish. All I want is a descent paint job that'll look good and last for many years. I know there a lot of prep work done before the paint is applied, But geeeeeez! They told me that 1 gallon of paint was going to cost $300! It must be the one with 24K gold/platiunum/titanium/diamond/bling bling/carbon fiber flakes in em. Hmmmm How many gaollon does it take to paint the car.....10 gallon? So, (the wheels are turning in mine brain)...3K for material and 12K for labor... (1 week) assuming 40hours... that $300 per hour!!! Dang, a over night hospital stay in intensive care is cheaper. Do we have NASA engineer painting our car now? I'm looking into spending 2K to 3K for a paint job. And don't tell me "you get what you pay for". Macco and Earl Shy is not an option for me. I've seen what a $500 presidentail special looks like. Maybe living in the Bay Area has some disadvantages.

John
3.2 Carrera

[w21055]

Seems high to me. I am interested to see what the going rate is everywhere right now. I know it will be more expensive if it is a color change or black.

[HelmetHead]

Depending on what paint you choose, $300 per gallon is not too far out of line... I just priced Dupont paint (forget the codes) and it was close to $250 per gallon in white.....Reds and Blacks were even more expensive.

Good Luck,
Helmethead

[Axiom]

I am sorry for your frustration, if you were near by, I am sure we could beat that price.

Sprayable top coats are about $800.00 to a grand, with little difference to single stage and two stage, then add primers, fillers, masking paper and masking tape, among other products, it can get pricey.

If quality and durability means a lot to you, you should research each shop that you are considering, make sure that you get what you pay for.

[DW SD]

A round trip drive to Rudy's shop in Los Angeles and two round trip tickets might be worth it.

I live in San Diego, 90 miles away. They kept me up to date via email photos.

They dropped me off or picked me up at the train station a couple of times. Being very close to LAX, they probably could do the same.

Contact Axiom. They did a great job for me.

And no, I'm not on their payroll

Doug

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Subscribing. Good to know. Do they have a web site or link?

[DW SD]

http://axiom-motorsports.com/ (or email / PM Rudy above)

[Bobboloo]

I just bought a gallon of Glasurit base coat for $400 and that was with a discount. Retail is close to $500. Materials for a complete paint job will run over a $1000 for quality stuff.

[rw7810]

Yes, i'm doing my own right now. I'm in the block sanding phase. I've priced PPG top of line products and it will be about $1000 total for primer, filler primer, base coat and clear coat with all the activators ,etc. Still allot cheaper than having a shop do it and more fun, but it is still a major expense. A top of the line spraygun costs at least $300-400. There's allot involved, but it's all in the name of.....I forget, must be the fumes.

[cgarr]

If its a porsche black it should be a single stage paint, thats an off the shelf color, no mixing which makes it nice too.

[rw7810]

I'm going with black, but I'm going with 2 stage (bc/cc) and it will be the PPG 9700 with 2021 clear coat. 9700 is apparently the blackest of black....

[rw7810]

I'm going with black, but I'm going with 2 stage (bc/cc) and it will be the PPG 9700 with 2021 clear coat. 9700 is apparently the blackest of black....

[Axiom]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

Subscribing. Good to know. Do they have a web site or link?

I f we could be of any assistance, please, don't hesitate, and I hope you resolved your issue with the window trim, if not, you are not to far from us, feel free to stop by.

Doug: Thank you for always put in a good word for us, we try to give our clients the best service we can provide, and I have now a few projects from outside the L A basin.

[rvanderpyl]

It's quite simple, they are pricing you a job based on an expectation that as a Porsche owner you will flip if it isn't perfect, even if you say you just want a driver. Bet the only way to get anything else is to find someone else who has had their Porsche repainted to what you feel is an acceptable level, and then check with their shop. Who knows, you may just need a $14,000 paint job.

Otherwise spray it with Cans and drive fast

[KevinP73]

Another consideration is basic math. I have in my shop an average of two "high end" paint jobs at any given time. Jobs that have an invoice of $8 to $10G's. Why would I want to fill one of those spots with a job that is only $2,500.00.
I understand that Porsche' are your hobby, I think too often some people fail to realize this is my business. I'm here to pay my bills and put my kid thru college, pay a mortage, buy corvair parts, feed myself, etc. etc.etc.

[Jeff Alton]

Kevin, that post is a little differnt from the one you deleted!

I think as long as you are not paying extra per hour because of the type of car you brought in, and you are only being charged for the number of hours actually spent on your car +materials then it is ok.

Kevin, wouldn't the 2500 dollar jobs be done that much quicker and allow more of them to be done, assuming my previous statement is true.

Cheers

[KevinP73]

Originally Posted by Jeff Alton

Kevin, that post is a little differnt from the one you deleted!

I think as long as you are not paying extra per hour because of the type of car you brought in, and you are only being charged for the number of hours actually spent on your car +materials then it is ok.

Kevin, wouldn't the 2500 dollar jobs be done that much quicker and allow more of them to be done, assuming my previous statement is true.

Cheers

I didn't want any misunderstandings.
My labor rates are the same no matter what I work on although 99% of what I do are Porsche',
I'm not looking to do quantity. Plus other considerations that I'll elaborate on a little later. I need to close up shop and head home. I'll post more later.

[88 Club Sport]

I guess it all depends on where you live and how much you want to do yourself. While it has taken a while to take my SC apart, I now have doors off, lids off, glass out, etc. The time I spent doing it is time I am not having to pay the painter.

A friend and I rented a booth from the painter a year back to spray his car. While we were there, we looked at some of the work done by the painter. I remember asking him about how much color sanding he did to get the finish on a hot rod he was building and he replied "that's how I spray, I have not color sanded yet" The guy is good and will be charging $2500 to prep, prime and paint. I'm estimating $1000 for rubber and misc trim when I put it back together, hopefully during Spring break and the family is at the monther in laws

[outlaw912]

I have to defend the painters here. I've put roughly 90 hours into my project already and am just ready to start shooting primer. Granted, I'm not an expert, and am learning as I go along but these are very involved cars to paint. When I started I thought my car was almost rust free, and would require no body work. Wrong.

So far I'm thrilled to be doing the work myself. I know my car so well now, and have developed even more of a love for p cars. When I brought my car to kevin, he quoted me similar numbers to yours, and I think it was every bit reasonable considering the amount of man hours involved.

Erik

[Jeff Alton]

I agree painters who do good work earn their money, period.

Cheers