Average Cost To Paint A Car If You Hire A Professional Company
An experienced service advisor from North Carolina says the;average cost for a fully auto paint job with minimal bodywork costs anywhere from $2-4k,;and we can back up those numbers as being relevant.;
And sure, you could go and get the cheapest paint job on the market, but it’s probably not going to last you for the years to come as a higher;quality paint job;will.
Each professional painter will likely bid you slightly different prices for the paint job you are looking to get, so that’s why you should get multiple bids from painting contractors to make sure you aren’t being ripped off.
Why Is Painting A Car So Important
If, like most people, you think the only purpose of car paint is to enhance the appearance of your vehicle, think again! Just as important, if not more, it protects its bodywork from the damaging effects of mother nature.
The body of most cars is made of steel, a material thats prone to oxidation, corrosion, and rusting and can weaken over time, especially when not adequately protected. A quality coat of paint provides a layer of protection that helps prevent structural problems, extending the life of your vehicle.
As such, you must ensure that your cars metal body is always protected. If damage to the existing paint leaves the body exposed, you should make it a priority to repair and repaint the damaged area at the very least and as soon as possible.
Deep scratches and other seemingly minor paint damage can lead to more serious problems if not fixed quickly.
Repainting a car is also important because color affects the way people feel. If the paint your car or truck came with makes you feel dreary or doesnt reflect your personality, rather than buy a new car, a color change might be all you need.
Finally, certain paint colors have a higher perceived value than others, so you might want to repaint your vehicle to increase its resale value if the extra money youll make on the sale of the vehicle is more than the cost of the repaint.
Know What Youre Paying For
A lot goes into a quality paint job. It often involves preparing the surface, repairing any damage, and taking extra care to not get paint on other parts of the car.
As you probably guessed, preparation is kept at a minimum for cheap paint jobs, and the results often show it. While the shop will cover up the glass and other areas that shouldnt be painted before applying the paint, the offer might not include repairs to dings, rust, and corrosion.
Sure, everything might look fine from afar, but upon closer inspection, you may notice signs that the surface was merely resprayed rather than carefully painted, signs such as the door jams having a different color and non-paintable exterior trim having paint on them.
Its important to know what youre getting so that youre not unpleasantly surprised by the results. For some peace of mind, get a warranty on the paint job if possible and financially feasible.
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Professional Car Painting Vs Diy Car Painting
Labor comprises a significant chunk of the cost of painting a car if you decide to pay a professional detailer to do the job, that is.
While its usually advisable to opt for a professional paint job, you might consider performing the job yourself if you have the necessary skills, tools, and patience.
Lets look at how much repainting a car costs when done by a professional versus yourself.
How Much Does It Cost to Have A Professional Repaint Your Car?
Professional paint jobs even the cheap ones are expensive. Fortunately, they are offered in pricing tiers that reflect different levels of quality and attention to detail, allowing you to select one that best fits your needs and budget.
Generally speaking, the more expensive the job, the better the results.
Basic paint jobs: These professional jobs typically cost between $350 and $1,000 and involve the bare minimum. Youre likely to get a few coats of lower-quality paint and less attention to detail than higher-priced paint jobs. The results could be pretty rough, to say the least.
Standard paint job: Costing between $1,000 to $3,000, a mid-budget paint job will involve sanding the surface to remove damage such as scratches and rust and using higher-quality paint. Compared to a basic paint job, you get a smoother, longer-lasting finish.
High-quality paint job: If you have an expensive car or truck , you may want to invest in a premium paint job, which can cost anywhere from $2,500 to well over $10,000.;
Price Range And Budget
When you Google how much does it cost to repaint a car, you will likely see a wide range of prices, with some paint shops charging only a few hundred dollars to paint your vehicle and others charging thousands. Low-cost paint jobs can be a tempting option, especially when on a tight budget, but they usually have many pitfalls.
For one thing, the quality of the paint will likely be lower than your car or trucks original paint and the shop might omit necessary touch-ups such as repairing exterior dings and small dents.
Needless to say, a less expensive paint job will give your car less care and attention than a pricier option, and there is a very good chance you wont be happy with the results.
If your car warrants it, save up and invest in a good quality paint job.;
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How Can I Reduce These Costs
Offers & discounts: Car paint shops regularly offer discounts ranging from $50-250. If you are good at paying attention to things like notice boards or billboards, you can save a lot of money by taking advantage of these offers. If you are familiar with the Internet, you can also register in car forums that will send you an email with offers from several car repair shops in your area.
Do it yourself: If you are a person who can plan well and handle tools well, you can reduce costs by making some basic modifications before you go to the garage. For example, you can sand the car and mask the areas you dont want to be painted. If you need more information, just go to automd.com or autobodypaint.com or other car forums. You can save on average between $30 and $100 this way.
I agree that it will take some precious time, but you dont have to be a rocket scientist to do these small processes and pieces of preparation.
Understand The Work Involved
For an inexpensive paint job, preparation will be minimal, and the shop might not include repairs to rust and door dings. The glass area and other non-painted exterior trim will be covered up before repainting, but that’s about it. From 50 feet away it might look fine, but up close there will be numerous telltale signs it was a surface respray, such as overspray on the rubber gaskets around the windows and on exterior trim, differences in the color of the doorjambs, and spots of overspray where the masking off wasn’t perfect. If you know this going into the process, okay. Just understand what you’re paying for, and check to see if there’s any kind of warranty on the work.
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Typical Cost Of The Type And Quality Of Paint
Of importance is the question of how much it costs to paint a car black. Or white. Enamel, lacquer, urethane; basecoat or topcoat; these are the currently available types of lacquer with the variety in their price range and quality. Depending on the quality, a gallon of paint can cost between $17 and $700 per gallon. This changes based on paint quality, gloss, and durability. So, considering the color and quality of a paint job is the most important factor in choosing your plan from high-end to low-end paint jobs.
Why Is Car Painting So Expensive
The reasons why painting a car is so expensive are because vehicles today use more advanced materials than they did in the past and require more knowledge, time, and sophisticated tools to paint.
The cost of paint, primer, and other materials has also risen significantly in recent years due in large part to VOC regulations increasing production costs.
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Medium Budget Paint Job
A medium-budget paint job will cost you about $1000 to $5000. This type of paint job befits someone who wants to make sure the paintjob is properly done with no rough surfaces and a proper finish.
This paint job includes all textbook work such as removing any rust and sanding the body. This equals a nicer surface and also a better look.
How Much Does It Cost To Paint A Car Yourself
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Thinking about how much does it cost to paint a car because your vehicle needs the much-awaited makeover?
If yes, then before you make any hasty decision on the matter, you need to read this article first.
It is common for people to decide on enhancing their rides. Some go for gesture enhancements, while some like to change the outlook.
You can paint your car with the same colour as earlier to give it a brand new feel, or you can go for a completely different shade.
But before you finalize what you need, you need to ask yourself how much does it cost to paint a car a different colour.
A lot of things need to be sorted, and today in this article, we will discuss them one by one.
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Average Cost To Paint A Car Hood If You Hire A Professional Company
Hiring a professional company to paint just the hood will cost you anywhere from $200-$1000+, depending on if there is damage to the hood that needs to be repaired beforehand.
Take into consideration also that some body shops will want to completely remove the hood on your Chevy, Honda, Toyota, SUVs, Mercedes, etc to do the job correctly, so that will add to the labor time.
Cost For Each Square Foot
This is the hard part. Youre going to need to measure the vehicle. You will find that most cars range between 70 to 200 square feet. That is quite the range! This depends on the model of the car too.
For the sake of this article, well use a 60 square foot car. For this, you will need around 2 quarts to completely cover the vehicle in a new coat of paint. Here, 2 quarts of primer, 2 quarts of color coat and 2 coats of clearcoat will be needed.
Youre going to have to spend around $20 on each quart. You may need around 6 quarts. In this case, youre spending around $120 on the paint.
This isnt all you will need to pay for though. You may also need masking materials, which could cost around $50. You may also need a spray gun which costs around $40.
Then, youre spending $210 for this specific job. This is around $3.50 per square foot. Itll cost even less if you can find the paint and supplies on sale.
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How Do I Find The Exact Price For My Car
It would be difficult to answer this question precisely in concrete figures. It can vary depending on paint costs, service providers, and vehicle types. So to clear the fog , we have done some research on some of the best and cheapest car painters, which I have listed as a table. I hope this will help you choose the better service for your car in the future.
So to find out the exact price for the complete painting, I have listed the prices below in 3 categories regarding service quality.
How Much Do I Need To Budget To Paint My Car
First, the vague answer: it depends. What do you plan on doing? Will it be a simple job or something more complicated? In addition to this, are you going to be doing the work yourself or will you be getting a professional to do it for you.
Now, in some situations you may be paying to paint the car using your insurance. In this situation its usually better to take your car to be painted by someone that knows what they are doing.
On the other hand, if you feel like youre prepared to do it yourself and you feel like you can do a good job then by all means you can do it yourself.
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What Types Of Paint Jobs Are There
Mike Frost, owner of Maaco Collision Repair & Auto Painting in Laurel, Maryland, says that his company specifically offers four types of paint jobs. The prices differ greatly:
A basic paint job it includes a single-stage enamel paint to freshen up the vehicles appearance. It includes a one-year warranty and gives the car a nice shine.A preferred paint job a single-stage application with urethane paint. Its more resistant than enamel finishes and includes a three-year warranty.A premium paint job a two-stage application with a shiny finish, color match, and urethane sealer. It includes a five-year warranty.A platinum paint job includes a light chip and scratch repair, priming, and block sanding all areas with a urethane sealer. It comes with a five-year warranty.
Professional Work: Pros And Cons
In this life, there are ups and downs to everything, and car painting is no exception. Below are some of the negatives to pursuing this project.;
- Car painting is usually more of a want as opposed to a need. This money could be spent elsewhere or saved for purchasing a new set of wheels.
- If the job is done poorly, it could bring down the resale value of an automobile.;
On the other hand, there are many upsides to getting a car painted. Some of these pros are listed below.;
- Bringing up the value of the car if the job is done well.;
- This project can help increase your automobiles aesthetic. Whether this is a treat to yourself or you have someone to impress, shiny well-painted cars bring happiness and attention.;
- Protect your vehicle from bad weather and other types of damaging exposure.
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Cost On Masking Off The Non
When using the spray gun, it is not possible to paint the car without spraying some areas of the car that you dont want to be painted as well. By covering or masking the areas such as the door handle, glass, headlights, rear lights, and trim, they are protected from the spray gun. The actual cost of masking these areas comes to almost $500 $1000.
There is also another possibility: to protect the body parts by trimming. This means that the parts that need to be protected before painting must be completely removed.
To protect the paint from contamination from the external environment, the entire booth is covered with polyethylene.
Diy: Is It A Good Idea
If you are trying to save a buck, you may be wondering how much it costs to paint a car yourself? This can be done for under $100! Luckily, there are also a lot of video tutorials online to guide you if it is your first time attempting this project. They will cover everything from how to prep a car for the paint to how to care for it post-paint. When taking on a project like this though, bear in mind that things can go wrong.;
Paint applied liberally can result in uneven colors or product drying and appearing droopy in some areas. Automobiles that cost thousands of dollars can be ruined in twenty minutes by an inexperienced painter. If you are not entirely confident in your ability to get the job done perfectly, it might be best to pass it on to a professional. After spending thousands on your vehicle, what is a few hundred more for a job you know will be done well?
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Paying More Gets You A Better Paint Job
The more you pay, the better the paint shop’s preparation. Some shops simply won’t do slapdash, budget work. Some will offer several levels of paint jobs. As you move up the price ladder, shops will remove more trim pieces and items like the head- and taillamps. This ensures the pain will cover sharp bends in the sheetmetal and get into the crevices in the body where the older paint might have shown through. In more expensive paint jobs, the prep will likely also involve sanding off the older paint, fixing exterior damage, and even removing glass. This adds time and money to the process, which is why something along these lines could cost $5000 or more.
Overhaulin’Restoration Garage,
For most of us, though, those are far better paint jobs than we’ll ever need for our personal rides. Keep the above five points in mind as you consider a new paint job, and you’ll find it easier to match your needs to your budget.
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